[Answered] Cinnamon runs javascript -- How?

[markfilipak]

This file: '/usr/share/cinnamon/js/ui/panel.js' says that Cinnamon is executing javascript. It is not alone. My Mint has 4248 javascript files.
3 in /etc/
1 in /opt/
114 in /usr/lib/ &
4130 in /usr/share/

How is Cinnamon running javascript? What is the runtime? How is a javascript submitted?

Any reference -- anything at all -- will be gratefully received.

Warm Regards,
Mark.

[Fred Barclay]

I'm afraid I can't tell you how since I try to stay as far away from writing javascript as possible , but GitHub reports that Cinnamon is 46% javascript so this isn't that surprising.
Maybe looking at the source can help? I think most of the javascript stuff is in js/
https://github.com/linuxmint/Cinnamon

Hopefully someone else with more knowledge can chime in here.
Cheers!
Fred

[JosephM]

It's done via cjs which you can fiind here: https://github.com/linuxmint/cjs

Cjs is a fork of upstream gnome gjs which gnome-shell uses for the same purpose. They in turn use libmozjs.

[markfilipak]

It's done via cjs which you can fiind here: https://github.com/linuxmint/cjs

Cjs is a fork of upstream gnome gjs which gnome-shell uses for the same purpose. They in turn use libmozjs.

Thanks Joseph. But you misunderstand my question -- my fault.

I do not have 'cjs' installed, yet Cinnamon runs javascript. The whole UI is javascript residing in '/user/share/cinnamon/js/'. My question is: How does the javascript: '/user/share/cinnamon/js/ui/main.js' get started? -- As you see, I've learned a little bit more since I posted the question.

CORRECTION: I just checked with 'synaptic'. I do have 'cjs' installed. So is 'cjs /user/share/cinnamon/js/ui/main.js' how Cinnamon is started?

Regards,
Mark.

[JosephM]

No, it's actually more complicated than that. That is where the js code is started. Cinnamon is actually started by cinnamon-session which starts all the needed pieces. For the shell itself it also actually starts from the C code which in turn starts the js code. That's super simplified but you get the idea.

Is there a specific purpose you are wondering? You might get a better answer if I understood better what you were after.

[markfilipak]

No, it's actually more complicated than that. That is where the js code is started. Cinnamon is actually started by cinnamon-session which starts all the needed pieces. For the shell itself it also actually starts from the C code which in turn starts the js code. That's super simplified but you get the idea.

So it's 'cinnamon-session' that makes the transition from ELF to JS, eh? Thanks. Is it 'cinnamon-session' that loads 'cjs' & runs 'cjs /user/share/cinnamon/js/ui/main.js'?

Is there some documentation for this stuff somewhere that you can cite?

Is there a specific purpose you are wondering? You might get a better answer if I understood better what you were after.

I'm a retired engineer. Knowing how systems work makes it easier to maintain & fix them. You're welcome to peruse my profile. Also, I've decided to hack the way the Switcher (default keybinding: Alt-Tab) works -- or, alternatively, crafting & adding handlers to implement exposing/hiding/operating the Panel's 'Window list' applet via the keyboard - and understanding what to touch and what not to touch is part of the needed understanding.

[JosephM]

Also, I've decided to hack the way the Switcher (default keybinding: Alt-Tab) works -- or, alternatively, crafting & adding handlers to implement exposing/hiding/operating the Panel's 'Window list' applet via the keyboard - and understanding what to touch and what not to touch is part of the needed understanding.

You can modify anything inside of /usr/share/cinnamon/js. It's reloaded anytime you restart Cinnamon. Just be aware that if you make a syntax error or something in there it can cause Cinnamon to crash on restart so make sure you are comfortable getting back to a working version. If you do make changes, they will be overwritten with any Cinnamon update.

If you want to modify the window list, since it's an applet, I would simply copy it, rename it, and put it in ~/.local/cinnamon/applets. That way it won't get overwritten and you can use it instead of the built in one.