HTMLUI

HTMLUI is a modern, lightweight C++ UI library that lets you build powerful native GUI applications using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It leverages GTK and WebKit2 to render HTML content and seamlessly integrate JavaScript callbacks into native C++ logic.

Created by ghgltggamer — Licensed under the MIT License

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🚀 Features

• Render HTML and CSS in native C++ windows
• Load HTML from strings, files, or URLs
• Call native C++ functions from JavaScript
• Execute JavaScript from C++
• Fine-tune WebKit settings for performance or security
• Auto flush queued JS when DOM is ready
• MIT licensed and fully open-source

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📦 Requirements

• GTK 3
• WebKit2GTK
• C++17 or newer

Install dependencies on Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S gtk3 webkit2gtk

Or on Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt install libgtk-3-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.0-dev

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🔧 Build Instructions

You can build your application with any build system. Example using g++:

g++ main.cpp -o app `pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-3.0 webkit2gtk-4.0`

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✨ Basic Example

#include "htmlui.h"

int main() {
    HTMLUI app("My HTMLUI App", 800, 600);
    app.loadFile("index.html");

    app.registerFunction("sayHello", [](const std::string& name) {
        std::cout << "Hello, " << name << "!" << std::endl;
    });

    app.run();
}

Then in your index.html:

<button onclick="sayHello('World')">Click Me</button>

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📘 API Documentation

HTMLUI(const std::string& title, int width, int height)

Creates a new window with the given title and dimensions.

void loadHTML(const std::string& html)

Loads raw HTML content into the window.

void loadFile(const std::string& filepath)

Loads a local .html file using a full or relative path.

void loadURL(const std::string& url)

Loads a remote or local URL (e.g., http://example.com or file:///path/to/file.html).

void run()

Starts the GTK main loop.

void registerFunction(const std::string& functionName, std::function<void(const std::string&)> callback)

Exposes a C++ function to JavaScript with a given name. JavaScript can then call window.functionName(arg).

void executeJS(const std::string& script)

Executes a JavaScript string. If DOM isn't ready yet, it will be queued and run after load.

void setWebKitSetting(const std::string& setting, bool value)

Changes WebKit settings dynamically.

Supported setting strings:

• "javascript"
• "developer_extras"
• "webgl"
• "file_access"
• "universal_access"
• "resizable_text_areas"
• "smooth_scrolling"

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🧠 JavaScript Bridge

You can invoke C++ functions from JS like so:

window.nativeBridge.invoke ("sayHello", "yourargs");

Behind the scenes, HTMLUI injects:

window.nativeBridge = {
    invoke: function(funcName, arg) {
        window.webkit.messageHandlers.nativeCallback.postMessage(funcName + ':' + arg);
    }
};

When you register a function in C++, it's automatically exposed to JS.

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🪪 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

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🔗 Links

• GitHub: https://github.com/darkyboys/HTMLUI