无法使用TypeScript的remote.require（）

Question

I'm developing an Electron application in TypeScript, and I've run into a frustrating issue.

I'm attempting to run a module from a renderer process with the following code:

import { remote } from 'electron'

const myModule = remote.require('./my-module')

The only way I can use remote.require with my module, is by adding module.exports = myModule to the my-module.ts file.

// my-module.ts
export class myModule { ... }

module.exports = myModule

After adding the module.exports = myModule line, it causes errors where ever I import myModule with a standard TypeScript import.

For example

// main.ts
import { myModule } from './my-module'
// Error here

To fix this error, I can simply replace the import statement with

const myModule = require('./my-module')

But when I replace the import statement to the one above, my TypeScript does not recognise myModule and all it's members. The intelisense shows nothing for myModule and TypeScript throws a bunch of errors even though the program runs just fine.

---

Some things to note:

1. The contents of my tsconfig.json are:

    { "compilerOptions": { "target": "es5", "module": "commonjs", "moduleResolution": "node", "outDir": "./", "emitDecoratorMetadata": true, "experimentalDecorators": true, "alwaysStrict": true, }, "exclude": [ "node_modules" ] } 

2. In the compiled JavaScript code, it results in something like the following when used with a TypeScript import statement:

    var my_module_1 = require("./my-module"); my_module_1.myModule.foo('bar'); 

   Which gives me an error of TypeError: Cannot read property 'sayHi' of undefined .

   The JavaScript should look like this instead for it to work:

    var my_module_1 = require("./my-module"); my_module_1.foo('bar'); 

---

How can I use remote.require() with TypeScript?

Answer 1

When you implement your code in ESM and import it in commonjs (that's what remote.require() does), you will get the module namespace object:

// myModule.ts
export function foo() { ... }

// and to access the default export:
export default const boo = 'boo'

// consumer.js
const myModule = require('./myModule')

myModule = { foo() { ... }, default: 'boo' }

Therefore, your to use your myModule class, you need to do this:

const myModule = remote.require('./myModule')

const obj = new myModule.myModule()
const boo = myModule.default

UPDATE: remote.require() is a dynamic call, so TypeScript can't detect the type of the myModule and set it to any .

You can do the following to get the type back:

import * as MyModule from './myModule'
const myModule: typeof MyModule = remote.require('./myModule')