Fix: Prevent infinite loading when backend is unavailable (#469)

eduaid_desktop/main.js

@@ -1,73 +1,65 @@
 const { app, BrowserWindow, Menu, shell, dialog, ipcMain } = require('electron');
 const path = require('path');
-const fs = require('fs');
 const config = require('./config');
 const https = require('https');
 const http = require('http');
 
-// Keep a global reference of the window object
 let mainWindow;
 
 function createWindow() {
-  // Create the browser window using configuration
   mainWindow = new BrowserWindow({
     ...config.windowOptions,
     icon: config.window.icon,
-    webPreferences: config.window.webPreferences,
-    show: false, // Don't show until ready
+
+    // 🔥 FIX: Explicit preload path
+    webPreferences: {
+      ...config.window.webPreferences,
+      preload: path.join(__dirname, 'preload.js'),
+    },
+
+    show: false,
     titleBarStyle: config.window.titleBarStyle
   });
 
-  // Determine which URL to load based on environment
   if (!app.isPackaged) {
-    // In development, load from the dev server
     mainWindow.loadURL(config.webUrl);
-    // Open DevTools in development
     if (config.devTools) {
       mainWindow.webContents.openDevTools();
     }
   } else {
     mainWindow.loadFile(config.webPath);
   }
 
-  // Show window when ready to prevent visual flash
   mainWindow.once('ready-to-show', () => {
     mainWindow.show();
-
-    // Focus on the window
     if (config.isDevelopment) {
       mainWindow.focus();
     }
   });
 
-  // Handle window closed
   mainWindow.on('closed', () => {
     mainWindow = null;
   });
 
-  // Handle external links
   mainWindow.webContents.setWindowOpenHandler(({ url }) => {
     shell.openExternal(url);
     return { action: 'deny' };
   });
 
-  // Prevent navigation to external URLs
   mainWindow.webContents.on('will-navigate', (event, navigationUrl) => {
     const parsedUrl = new URL(navigationUrl);
-
-    // Check if the URL is in our allowed origins
-    const isAllowed = config.security.allowedOrigins.some(origin => 
+
+    const isAllowed = config.security.allowedOrigins.some(origin =>
       parsedUrl.origin === origin || navigationUrl.startsWith(origin)
     );
-    
+
     if (!isAllowed) {
       event.preventDefault();
       shell.openExternal(navigationUrl);
     }
   });
 }
 
-// Create application menu
 function createMenu() {
   const template = [
     {
@@ -86,9 +78,7 @@ function createMenu() {
         {
           label: 'Quit',
           accelerator: process.platform === 'darwin' ? 'Cmd+Q' : 'Ctrl+Q',
-          click: () => {
-            app.quit();
-          }
+          click: () => app.quit()
         }
       ]
     },
@@ -149,7 +139,6 @@ function createMenu() {
     }
   ];
 
-  // macOS specific menu adjustments
   if (process.platform === 'darwin') {
     template.unshift({
       label: app.getName(),
@@ -165,64 +154,53 @@ function createMenu() {
         { role: 'quit' }
       ]
     });
-
-    // Window menu
-    template[4].submenu = [
-      { role: 'close' },
-      { role: 'minimize' },
-      { role: 'zoom' },
-      { type: 'separator' },
-      { role: 'front' }
-    ];
   }
 
   const menu = Menu.buildFromTemplate(template);
   Menu.setApplicationMenu(menu);
 }
 
-// App event handlers
 app.whenReady().then(() => {
   createWindow();
   createMenu();
 
   app.on('activate', () => {
-    // On macOS, re-create window when dock icon is clicked
     if (BrowserWindow.getAllWindows().length === 0) {
       createWindow();
     }
   });
 });
 
 app.on('window-all-closed', () => {
-  // On macOS, keep app running even when all windows are closed
   if (process.platform !== 'darwin') {
     app.quit();
   }
 });
 
-// Security: Prevent new window creation
 app.on('web-contents-created', (event, contents) => {
   contents.on('new-window', (event, navigationUrl) => {
     event.preventDefault();
     shell.openExternal(navigationUrl);
   });
 });
 
-// Handle certificate errors
 app.on('certificate-error', (event, webContents, url, error, certificate, callback) => {
   if (url.startsWith('http://localhost:')) {
-    // Allow localhost in development
     event.preventDefault();
     callback(true);
   } else {
     callback(false);
   }
 });
 
-// API request handler for the renderer process
-ipcMain.handle('api-request', async (event, { endpoint, options }) => {
+
+// ================================
+// 🔥 API REQUEST HANDLER (Timeout Fix)
+// ================================
+ipcMain.handle('api-request', async (event, { endpoint, options = {} }) => {
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
     const apiUrl = new URL(endpoint, config.apiUrl);
+
     const requestOptions = {
       method: options.method || 'GET',
       headers: {
@@ -232,32 +210,40 @@ ipcMain.handle('api-request', async (event, { endpoint, options }) => {
     };
 
     const protocol = apiUrl.protocol === 'https:' ? https : http;
-    
+
     const req = protocol.request(apiUrl, requestOptions, (res) => {
       let data = '';
-      
+
       res.on('data', (chunk) => {
         data += chunk;
       });
-      
+
       res.on('end', () => {
         try {
-          const jsonData = JSON.parse(data);
+          const parsed = data ? JSON.parse(data) : null;
+
           resolve({
             ok: res.statusCode >= 200 && res.statusCode < 300,
             status: res.statusCode,
-            data: jsonData
+            data: parsed
           });
-        } catch (error) {
+        } catch (err) {
           resolve({
-            ok: res.statusCode >= 200 && res.statusCode < 300,
+            ok: false,
             status: res.statusCode,
-            data: data
+            data: null,
+            error: 'Invalid JSON response'
           });
         }
       });
     });
 
+    // 🔥 Timeout after 15 seconds
+    req.setTimeout(15000, () => {
+      req.destroy();
+      reject(new Error('Request timed out after 15 seconds'));
+    });
+
     req.on('error', (error) => {
       reject(error);
     });
@@ -268,4 +254,4 @@ ipcMain.handle('api-request', async (event, { endpoint, options }) => {
 
     req.end();
   });
-});
+});

eduaid_desktop/preload.js

@@ -1,19 +1,21 @@
 const { contextBridge, ipcRenderer } = require("electron");
-const config = require("./config");
+const path = require("path");
 
-// Expose protected methods that allow the renderer process to use
-// the ipcRenderer without exposing the entire object
+// 🔥 FIXED: Absolute path for config
+const config = require(path.join(__dirname, "config.js"));
+
+// Expose protected methods
 contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld("electronAPI", {
   // Platform information
   platform: process.platform,
 
-  // API Configuration (NEW)
+  // API Configuration
   getApiConfig: () => ({
     baseUrl: config.apiUrl,
     env: config.env,
   }),
 
-  // Secure API Proxy (NEW)
+  // Secure API Proxy
   makeApiRequest: async (endpoint, options) => {
     return ipcRenderer.invoke("api-request", {
       endpoint,
@@ -36,7 +38,7 @@ contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld("electronAPI", {
     return process.env.npm_package_version || "1.0.0";
   },
 
-  // File operations (if needed in the future)
+  // File operations
   openFile: () => {
     return ipcRenderer.invoke("dialog:openFile");
   },
@@ -46,26 +48,24 @@ contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld("electronAPI", {
   },
 });
 
-// DOM Content Loaded event
+// DOM Ready
 window.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => {
-  // Add any initialization code here
   console.log("EduAid Desktop App loaded");
 
-  // Add desktop-specific styling or behavior
   document.body.classList.add("electron-app");
 
-  // Handle keyboard shortcuts
   document.addEventListener("keydown", (event) => {
-    // Prevent default browser shortcuts that don't make sense in desktop app
     const isMod = event.ctrlKey || event.metaKey;
     if (!isMod) return;
+
     const key = event.key.toLowerCase();
     const blockShortcuts = {
       r: !event.shiftKey,
       w: true,
     };
+
     if (blockShortcuts[key]) {
       event.preventDefault();
     }
   });
-});
+});