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README iOS (0.6.1)

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Eric Lange edited this page Apr 25, 2019 · 2 revisions

The LiquidCore Project

LiquidCore enables Node.js virtual machines to run inside Android and iOS apps. It provides a complete runtime environment, including a virtual file system.

Version

0.6.1

LiquidCore is distributed using CocoaPods. In your project's Podfile, add:

pod 'LiquidCore'

API Documentation

Version 0.6.1

Table of Contents

  1. Architecture
  2. Node LCProcess - Run raw Node.js instances on iOS
  3. The LCMicroService - Run enhanced Node.js instances on iOS
  4. "Hallo, die Weld!" Micro Service Tutorial
  5. Native add-ons
  6. Building the LiquidCore iOS framework
  7. License

Architecture

iOS Architecture Diagram

LiquidCore for iOS includes the Node.js runtime, but without the V8 backend. Instead, it marshalls calls to V8 through an interpreter to Apple's JavaScriptCore engine. It provides two APIs for apps to interact with:

  • Node LCProcess API, which allows developers to launch fast isolated instances of the Node.js runtime.
  • LCMicroService API, which is an abstraction of a Node.js process and supports dynamic code fetching and native add-ons.

Native add-ons enable extending the basic runtime environment with additional native functionality. Add-ons have access to the above APIs, plus the ability to use the V8 API. This allows projects that depend on V8, such native Node modules to use LiquidCore directly.

Node LCProcess

Jazzy API Doc v0.6.1

LiquidCore allows creation of raw Node.js instances. Each instance runs in its own thread and is isolated from all other instances. Instances can share a virtual file system, by using a common unique identifier.

It is not recommended to use the LCProcess API directly for most use cases. The LCMicroService API is more robust and has additional functionality, like support for native modules and downloadable JavaScript bundles.

The LCMicroService

Jazzy API Doc v0.6.1

A micro app is built on a micro service. A micro service is nothing more than an independent Node.js instance whose startup code is referenced by a URI. For example:

Swift

import LiquidCore
...

let url = URL(string: "http://my.server.com/path/to/code.js")
let service = LCMicroService(url: url!)
service?.start()

Objective-C

#import <LiquidCore/LiquidCore.h>
...

NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:@"http://my.server.com/path/to/code.js"];
LCMicroService *service = [[LCMicroService alloc] initWithURL:url];
[service start];

The service URI can either refer to a server URL or a local resource (e.g. NSURL *url = [[NSBundle mainBundle] URLForResource: @"somefile" withExtension:@"js"];). LiquidCore is designed to primarily use remote URLs, as dynamic updates are an important value proposition, but local resources are also supported.

A micro service can communicate with the host app once the Node.js environment is set up. This can be determined by specifying an LCMicroServiceDelegate in the LCMicroService constructor:

Swift

let url = URL(string: "http://my.server.com/path/to/code.js")
let service = LCMicroService(url: url!, delegate:self)
service?.start()

...
func onStart(_ service: LCMicroService) {
    // .. The environment is live, but the startup JS code (from the URI)
    // has not been executed yet.
}

Objective-C

NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:@"http://my.server.com/path/to/code.js"];
LCMicroService *service = [[LCMicroService alloc] initWithURL:url delegate:self];
[service start];

...

- (void) onStart:(LCMicroService*)service
{
    // .. The environment is live, but the startup JS code (from the URI)
    // has not been executed yet.
}

A micro service communicates with the host through a simple EventEmitter interface, eponymously called LiquidCore. For example, in your JavaScript startup code (code.js in this example):

LiquidCore.emit('my_event', {foo: "hello, world", bar: 5, l337 : ['a', 'b'] })

On the iOS side, the host app can listen for events through the LCMicroServiceEventListener protocol:

Swift

// ... in the onStart:synchronizer: method:
service.addEventListener("my_event", listener: self)

...
func onEvent(_ service: LCMicroService, event: String, payload: Any?) {
    var p = (payload as! Dictionary<String,AnyObject>)
    NSLog(format:"Event: %@: %@", args:event, p["foo"]);
    // logs: Event:my_event: hello, world
}

Objective-C

// ... in the onStart:synchronizer: method:
[service addEventListener:@"my_event" listener:self];

...

- (void) onEvent:(LCMicroService*)service event:(NSString*)event payload:(id _Nullable)payload
{
    NSLog(@"Event: %@: %@", event, payload[@"foo"]);
    // logs: Event:my_event: hello, world
}

Similarly, the micro service can listen for events from the host:

Swift

var payload = ["hallo" : "die Weld"]
service.emitObject("host_event", object:payload)

Objective-C

NSDictionary *payload = @{ @"hallo" : @"die Weld" };
[service emitObject:@"host_event" object:payload];

Then, in Javascript:

LiquidCore.on('host_event', function(msg) {
   console.log('Hallo, ' + msg.hallo)
})

LiquidCore creates a convenient virtual file system so that instances of micro services do not unintentionally or maliciously interfere with each other or the rest of the iOS filesystem. The file system is described in detail here.

"Hallo, die Weld!" Micro Service Tutorial

Prerequisites

(You can find all the code below in a complete example project here if you get stuck).

To use a micro service, you need two things: the micro service code, and a host app.

We will start by creating a very simple micro service, which does nothing more than send a welcome message to the host. This will be served from a machine on our network. Start by installing the command-line interface:

$ npm install -g liquidcore-cli

Next, generate a project called HelloWorld using the tool:

$ liquidcore init HelloWorld
$ cd HelloWorld && npm install

This will generate a small Hello World project for you. We are going to change it a bit, but the important thing is that this sets everything up correctly and provides you with some nice features like a development server and production bundler.

Once installation has completed, edit the file index.js in your helloworld directory and replace its contents with the following:

/* Hello, World! Micro Service */

// A micro service will exit when it has nothing left to do.  So to
// avoid a premature exit, let's set an indefinite timer.  When we
// exit() later, the timer will get invalidated.
setInterval(function() {}, 1000)

// Listen for a request from the host for the 'ping' event
LiquidCore.on( 'ping', function() {
    // When we get the ping from the host, respond with "Hallo, die Weld!"
    // and then exit.
    LiquidCore.emit( 'pong', { message: 'Hallo, die Weld!' } )
    process.exit(0)
})

// Ok, we are all set up.  Let the host know we are ready to talk
LiquidCore.emit( 'ready' )

Finally, you can now run your development server.

$ npm run server

This will fire off a server built on the metro bundler. Metro does everything we need and more, so if you've used the old liquidserver in the past, this replaces that. Anyway, congratulations, you just created a micro service. You can test that it is working correctly by navigating to http://localhost:8082/liquid.bundle?platform=ios in your browser. You should be able to find the contents of index.js that you just created with some additional wrapper code. The wrapper is simply to allow multiple Node.js modules to be packed into a single file. If you were to require() some other module, that module and its dependencies would get wrapped into this single file.

You can leave that running or restart it later. Now we need to create a host app.

  1. In XCode, create a new project by selecting File->New->Project->Single View App
  2. Fill out the basics and press Next (Product Name: HelloWorld, Organization Name: LiquidPlayer, Language: Swift). Leave the rest as defaults.
  3. Select a location for it and press Create
  4. Open the ViewController.swift file and replace the code with the following contents:
import UIKit

class ViewController: UIViewController {

    var text: UILabel = UILabel()
    var button: UIButton = UIButton(type: .system)
    
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()

        text.textAlignment = .center
        text.text = "Hello World!"
        text.font = UIFont(name: "Menlo", size: 17)
        self.view.addSubview(text)
        
        button.setTitle("Sprechen Sie Deutsch!", for: .normal)
        button.titleLabel?.font = UIFont(name: "Menlo", size: 17)
        button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(onTouch), for: .touchUpInside)
        self.view.addSubview(button)
        
        self.text.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        self.button.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        
        let top = UILayoutGuide()
        let bottom = UILayoutGuide()
        self.view.addLayoutGuide(top)
        self.view.addLayoutGuide(bottom)
        
        let views = [ "text": text, "button": button, "top":top, "bottom":bottom ]
        let c1 = NSLayoutConstraint.constraints(withVisualFormat: "H:|-[text]-|", metrics: nil, views: views)
        let c2 = NSLayoutConstraint.constraints(withVisualFormat: "H:|-[button]-|", metrics: nil, views: views)
        let c3 = NSLayoutConstraint.constraints(withVisualFormat: "V:|[top]-[text]-[button]-[bottom(==top)]|",
                                                metrics: nil, views: views)
        self.view.addConstraints(c1 + c2 + c3)
    }
    
    @objc func onTouch(sender:UIButton!) {
    }
    
    override func didReceiveMemoryWarning() {
        super.didReceiveMemoryWarning()
        // Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
    }

}

You now have a basic app that does very little. Go ahead and run it in your simulator. You should see a white background with a message that says "Hello World!" and a button below it that says "Sprechen Sie Deutsch". This is just a simple Hello World app. We are going to teach it to speak German by using our LiquidCore micro service.

Now it is time to connect LiquidCore. First, you must add the framework using CocoaPods. Assuming you have already installed CocoaPods,

  1. Close your project
  2. In the project's root directory, generate a Podfile with liquidcore pod HelloWorld > Podfile
  3. Install the pod: pod install
  4. Open the workspace generated by CocoaPods, not your original project (HelloWorld.xcworkspace, not HelloWorld.xcproject)

Once this is done, re-run your app. It should continue working as before.

Now, let's connect our button to the micro service. Edit ViewController.swift in our app, and replace the first couple of lines with the following:

import UIKit
import LiquidCore

class ViewController: UIViewController, LCMicroServiceDelegate, LCMicroServiceEventListener {

Now, replace the onTouch() function with the following:

    @objc func onTouch(sender:UIButton!) {
        let url = LCMicroService.devServer()
        let service = LCMicroService(url: url, delegate: self)
        service?.start()
    }
    
    func onStart(_ service: LCMicroService) {
        service.addEventListener("ready", listener: self)
        service.addEventListener("pong", listener: self)
    }
    
    func onEvent(_ service: LCMicroService, event: String, payload: Any?) {
        if event == "ready" {
            service.emit("ping")
        } else if event == "pong" {
            DispatchQueue.main.async {
                var p = (payload as! Dictionary<String,AnyObject>)
                self.text.text = p["message"] as? String
            }
        }
    }

Now, restart the app and then click the button. The "Hello World" message should change to German. You have successfully connected a micro service to a host app!

To demonstrate the instant update feature, leave the app and server running. Now, edit index.js on your server machine to respond with a different message and then save:

...
    LiquidCore.emit( 'pong', { message: 'Das ist super!' } )
...

Go back to the app and press the button again. Your message should update.

That's it. That's all there is to it. Of course, this is an overly simplified example. You have all of the capabilities of Node.js at your disposal.

A quick note about the LCMicroService.devServer(): this generates convenience URL which points to the loopback address (localhost) on iOS, which is used to serve the simulator from the host machine. This won't work on actual hardware. You would need to replace this with an actual URL. LCMicroService.devServer() assumes the entry file is named liquid.js and the server is running on port 8082. Both of these assumptions can be changed by providing arguments, e.g. LCMicroService.devServer(fileName:"another_file.bundle", port:8888) would generate a URL to fetch a bundle with an entry point of another_file.js on port 8888.

Native Add-ons

Introduced in version 0.6.x is experimental support for native node modules (add-ons). In Node, native add-ons are compiled (or os/architecture-specific prebuilts are downloaded) during npm install. For example, npm install sqlite3 installs the JavaScript interface to SQLite3 to node_modules/sqlite3, but it also compiles a native module node_sqlite3.node which is a dynamic library that contains the C-language SQLite3 library and native V8 interface code. The code is built for the specific machine it is running on using node-gyp.

Unfortunately, there are several issues with this on mobile devices. Primarily, although dynamic frameworks are supported, for security reasons, those frameworks must be embedded in the app to be used. So it is not possible to download a native framework at runtime and link to it (unlike with pure JavaScript modules, where this is perfectly ok). Secondly, node-gyp is not really a cross-compiler (although some have hacked it for this purpose). That is, it is optimized to build for the machine on which it is being run (e.g. your Mac machine), not for some remote device like a mobile phone, and not for multiple architectures at once (i.e. ARM64, X86_64).

To support these requirements, native modules have to be modified to work with LiquidCore. Documentation, frameworks and tools for how to build a native module for LiquidCore are forthcoming, but for now, here is an example of how to use an existing add-on. This fork of node-sqlite3 has been modified for use with LiquidCore. We can install it using npm.

In your iOS project's root directory, create an empty package.json file. This will allow us to install node modules locally.

% echo "{}" > package.json

Then, install @liquidcore/sqlite3:

% npm i @liquidcore/sqlite3

Now, generate the Podfile to include the framework into your app using the liquidcore utility (make sure you have installed at least version 0.4.4 of liquidcore-cli):

% liquidcore pod <project-name> > Podfile

This will generate a Podfile with all required pods. If you are already using CocoaPods, you can just copy the source and pod lines from this output into your existing Podfile.

That's it. The SQLite3 add-on will now be available for your JavaScript code to use.

To use it, install @liquidcore/sqlite3 instead of sqlite3 with npm in your JavaScript project and use the module exactly as you would otherwise.

If there are specific native modules that you would like to use with LiquidCore, please file an issue to request it. In the near term, I will build a few in order to document and simplify the process (it is a bit arduous at the moment) or I can help you to build it. Once the documentation stabilizes, I will stop.

Building the LiquidCore iOS framework

If you are interested in building the library directly and possibly contributing, you must do the following:

% git clone https://github.com/liquidplayer/LiquidCore.git
% cd LiquidCore
% pod lib lint

You can use the pod locally, by specifying the --liquidcore option when creating your podfile:

% liquidcore pod <project-name> --liquidcore=/path/to/local/LiquidCore

License

Copyright (c) 2014 - 2019 LiquidPlayer

Distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.md for terms and conditions.

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