How to use remote.require() in Electron, using TypeScript - node.js

Question

Currently, I'm trying to use the opencv4nodejs module within an Electron/Angular application that also uses TypeScript. I've tried several ways to do this. The following codeblock shows what I tried and what error message I get.
// This says cv is undefined:
const cv = window.require('electron').opencv4nodejs;
const img = cv.imread('../assets/poop.jpg');
// Same here:
const cv = window.require('electron').remote.opencv4nodejs;
const img = cv.imread('../assets/poop.jpg');
// Uncaught Error: The specified module could not be found. (Though the module does exist at that location)
const cv = window.require('electron').remote.require('opencv4nodejs');
const img = cv.imread('../assets/poop.jpg');
// Without window I get "Uncaught TypeError: fs.existsSync is not a function"
const remote = require('electron').remote;
const cv = remote.opencv4nodejs;
const img = cv.imread('../assets/poop.jpg');
I had the fs.existSync error before, trying to require something else. I fixed that by using the following tsconfig.app.json:
{
"extends": "../tsconfig.json",
"compilerOptions": {
"outDir": "../out-tsc/app",
"baseUrl": "./",
"module": "es2015",
"types": ["node"] // Included this line
},
"exclude": [
"test.ts",
"**/*.spec.ts"
]
}
As far as I understand, the remote require is needed to load modules that normally only run on the node.js server. Still I can't seem to figure out how to require the module in my application. The author of the module was very helpful with build problems and other problems, but he never used his module together with TypeScript.
How do I remote require a module in a TypeScript/Angular/Electron based application?
[edit]
I also tried the following:
import { Injectable } from '#angular/core';
// If you import a module but never use any of the imported values other than as TypeScript types,
// the resulting javascript file will look as if you never imported the module at all.
import { ipcRenderer } from 'electron';
import * as childProcess from 'child_process';
#Injectable()
export class ElectronService {
ipcRenderer: typeof ipcRenderer;
childProcess: typeof childProcess;
constructor() {
// Conditional imports
if (this.isElectron()) {
this.ipcRenderer = window.require('electron').ipcRenderer;
this.childProcess = window.require('child_process');
}
}
isElectron = () => {
return window && window.process && window.process.type;
}
require = (module: string) => {
return window.require('electron').remote.require(module);
}
}
Injecting this service into my component and calling electronService.require('opencv4nodejs') also did not work.

Answer 1

Since Electron v1.6.10, Electron ships with TypeScript definitions included.
In order to use remote via TypeScript, you can use the following import statement:
import {remote} from 'electron';