Developing Downloadable JS Services

A downloadable JavaScript (JS) service is a 3rd party JS service that can be installed on the webOS target device.

This tutorial shows a step-by-step guide for creating a downloadable JS service from scratch.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you must install the Command-Line Interface (CLI).

The CLI enables you to create, install, and launch apps or services using in a command-line environment.

1. Install Node.js (Recommended version: v16.20.2).

2. Install the CLI.

   sudo npm install -g @webos-tools/cli
   

3. Change the profile.

   ares-config --profile ose
   

4. After installing the CLI, you must register your target device. Enter the ares-setup-device command to start an interactive mode:

   Note
   In the interactive mode, pressing the Enter key means to use the default value.

   document@document:~$ ares-setup-device
   name                deviceinfo                connection  profile
   ------------------  ------------------------  ----------  -------
   emulator (default)  developer@127.0.0.1:6622  ssh         ose
   
   
   ** You can modify the device info in the above list, or add new device.
   ? Select add                             # Select 'add'.
   ? Enter Device Name: webos               # The nickname of your target device. Use the short name.
   ? Enter Device IP address: 127.0.0.1     # The IP address of your target device
   ? Enter Device Port: 22                  # Just press the Enter key. Do not change this value.
   ? Enter ssh user: root                   # Just press the Enter key. Do not change this value.
   ? Enter description: new device          # Descriptions about your target device
   ? Select authentication password         # Select 'password'
   ? Enter password: [hidden]               # Leave it blank (Press the Enter key).
   ? Set default ? No                       # Enter 'y' if you want to set this device as the default device.
   ? Save ? Yes                             # Enter 'Yes'.
   
   name                deviceinfo                connection  profile
   ------------------  ------------------------  ----------  -------
   webos                root@127.0.0.1:22        ssh         ose
   emulator (default)  developer@127.0.0.1:6622  ssh         ose
   

Step 01. Creating a Dummy App and Service

Let’s get started by creating a dummy app and service from templates. CLI provides various templates for webOS apps and services.

App

webOS OSE’s service requires an app to be packaged with. In this tutorial, we will use a web app.

Enter the following command:

# Comannd format
# ares-generate -t <TEMPLATE TYPE> <YOUR APP NAME>
ares-generate -t webapp sampleApp

JS Service

Enter the following command:

# Comannd format
# ares-generate -t <TEMPLATE TYPE> <YOUR SERVICE NAME>
ares-generate -t js_service sampleService

If the command succeeds, the following directory will be generated under the current directory:

sampleService/
|---- helloclient.js
|---- helloworld_webos_service.js
|---- package.json
|---- services.json

Descriptions for each file are as follows:

Step 02. Packaging the Service

To install the service, you have to package the service with an app first.

Enter the following command:

# Command format
# ares-package <APP DIRECTORY> <SERVICE DIRECTORY>
ares-package sampleApp sampleService

If the command succeeds, an .ipk file will be generated under the current directory.

# Generated .ipk file
# com.domain.app is an ID of the dummy app
com.domain.app_1.0.0_all.ipk

Step 03. Installing the Service

It’s time to install your package to the target device.

Enter the following command:

# Command format
# ares-install --device <TARGET DEVICE> <PACKAGED APP>
ares-install --device webos com.domain.app_1.0.0_all.ipk

Step 04. Testing the Service

You can check whether the service is running or not.

Enter the following command:

# Command format
# ares-shell -r "luna-send -n 1 -f luna://<SERVICE NAME>/<METHOD NAME> '<PARAMETERS>'" --device <TARGET DEVICE>
ares-shell -r "luna-send -n 1 -f luna://com.domain.app.service/hello '{\"name\":\"webOS\"}'" --device webos

In the above command,

• <SERVICE NAME> is the service name defined in services.json and package.json.
• <METHOD NAME> is one of the method’s names defined in the main service file.
• <PARAMETERS> is a JSON string containing the method’s input parameters.
• <TARGET DEVICE> is the nickname of the target device set by ares-setup-device.

If the command succeeds, the target device returns the following message:

# Return
{
    "returnValue": true,
    "Response": "Hello, webOS!"
}

Since this JS service is dynamic, it will be terminated automatically after a certain amount of time (5 seconds). For more information about the dynamic service, see Static and Dynamic Services.

Debugging the Service

Node’s Inspector is used to debug a JS service.

By communicating with it on the host machine, Node’s Inspector lets you observe variable values and control JavaScript execution.

To start the Inspector on a webOS device, use the ares-inspect command. For detailed usage of the command, see ares-inspect.

# Command format
# ares-inspect --device <TARGET DEVICE> --service <SERVICE NAME>
ares-inspect --device webos --serivce com.domain.app.service

If the command succeeds, a URL for Node’s Inspector will be returned.

ares-inspect --device webos --service com.domain.app.service
 
[Info] Set target device : rpir
To debug your service, set "127.0.0.1:63532" on Node's Inspector Client(Chrome DevTools, Visual Studio Code, etc.).

To start the debugging window, you need a client tool to connect to the Inspector. For a list of tools that can connect to Node’s Inspector, see Inspector Clients | Node.js.

In this tutorial, we will use the Chrome DevTools as the client tool.

1. Copy the URL in the above return.

2. Open the Chrome browser.

3. Go to ‘chrome://inspect’ and do the followings:

   

4. Click inspect.

   

   Then, the debugging window will be displayed.

   

Appendix. Code Explanation

This section explains the sample source codes in this tutorial.

helloclient.js

helloworld_webos_service.js shows a typical way to call a service on webOS.

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const Service = require('webos-service');
 
const service = new Service("com.example.helloclient"); // Register com.example.helloworld
 
console.log("simple call");
// Change @SERVICE-NAME@ to real service name
service.call("luna://@SERVICE-NAME@/hello", {}, function(message) {
    console.log("call @SERVICE-NAME@/hello");
    console.log("message payload: " + JSON.stringify(message.payload));
    const sub = service.subscribe("luna://@SERVICE-NAME@/heartbeat", {subscribe: true});
    const max = 10;
    let count = 0;
    sub.addListener("response", function(msg) {
        console.log(JSON.stringify(msg.payload));
        if (++count >= max) {
            sub.cancel();
            setTimeout(function() {
                console.log(max+" responses received, exiting...");
                process.exit(0);
            }, 1000);
        }
    });
});

A brief explanation of the above file:

• Line (1): Loads the webos-service module.
• Line (3): Registers the service.
• Line (7-21): Calls methods that are defined in helloworld_webos_service.js.

helloworld_webos_service.js

helloworld_webos_service.js shows a typical way to register a service on webOS. For more details, see webos-service Library API Reference.

const pkgInfo = require('./package.json');
const Service = require('webos-service');    // webos-service module provides an interface for the webOS system bus.
                                             // The interface is wrapped in a familiar Node.js idiom.
 
const service = new Service(pkgInfo.name);   // Create service by service name on package.json
const logHeader = "[" + pkgInfo.name + "]";
 
...
 
// The hello method returns "Hello, <name>!" to the client
service.register("hello", function(message) {
    console.log(logHeader, "SERVICE_METHOD_CALLED:/hello");
    console.log("In hello callback");
    const name = message.payload.name ? message.payload.name : "World";
 
    message.respond({
        returnValue: true,
        Response: "Hello, " + name + "!"
    });
});
 
...

services.json

services.json stores the metadata of the service.

{
  "id": "com.domain.app.service",         // An ID of the "services" array. Typically, this value is the "name" of the first object of the "services" array.
  "description": "HelloWorld Service",
  "services": [
    {
      "name": "com.domain.app.service"   // A unique identifier of the service.
                                         // This value MUST START with the app ID, which is packaged with the service.
                                         // For example, if the app ID is com.domain.app, the service ID must start with com.domain.app.xxx. (e.g., com.domain.app.service)
    }
  ]
}

package.json

package.json contains information for packaging.

{
  "name": "com.domain.app.service",             // A unique identifier of the service. This is the same value as the "name" in services.json.
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "Helloworld service",
  "main": "helloworld_webos_service.js",        // The main JS file for this service
  "scripts": {
    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
  },
  "author": "",
  "license": "BSD"
}