Locate-executable NPM

Locate Executable

Locate executable files for specific commands (useful for `child_process` inside Electron apps)

After building an Electron app using electron-builder, the $PATH variable inside child_process may get set to /usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin which makes it virtually impossible to spawn additional non-UNIX commands.

This package allows you to locate paths of executable files for such commands. You can then use these paths to spawn child_process inside the compiled app.

Install

Tested on macOS only. Let me know if it does/not work on Linux/Windows.

npm install --save locate-executable

`locateExecutable(command[,subpath][,callback])`

Looks for executable files for specified command in user's home directory recursively. You can narrow down the search by specifying additional subpath.

command (String) Command you need the executable of
subpath (String) (optional) Specify a particular subpath you want to look at
callback (Function) (optional)
- error (String)
- paths (Array) List of absolute paths to executables

// Example
import locateExecutable from 'locate-executable'

locateExecutable('jupyter-console', (error, paths) => {
    if (error) console.log(error)

    console.log(paths)
    return
})

NOTE: As the search inside the home directory recursively can take some time, consider running it only on the first launch and saving the paths persistently in something like electron-store.