Frequently Asked Questions

Requirements

Does Finsemble work on OSX? Linux?

• Currently, Finsemble is supported on the Windows and macOS operating systems for production use. Virtual machines, such as Parallels, can also be used to run Finsemble while using the operating system of your choice.

What are Finsemble's requirements?

• Monitor: Resolution - Minimum 800x600 / No max, Scaling - Multiples of 100
• Build: Node.js - version >=12 up to v14
• Container: Electron 11.3.0

Release cycle

What is your release cycle?

• Finsemble operates on a lean software development life cycle. We prioritize features, but don't assign delivery dates.

How do I submit a bug report or feature request?

• If you encounter bugs with Finsemble, you can reach out to support@finsemble.com for support. If you have a perspective on something that would be worthwhile for your organization, touch base with us via info@cosaic.io.

UI options

What are the UI options for my Finsemble application?

• We've created production-ready UI components. These were built using React controls, which are discrete UI elements. You can use these React controls to extend our sample components, or they can be completely replaced with components of your own devising. We'll always support the controls we used to build our UI components, but you have the ability to go in new directions and completely tailor your application's user experience.

Can I disable the toolbar in my Finsemble application?

• Sure. We included the built-in UI components (e.g., linker panel, toolbars, dialogs) in the seed project so you'd have an example of the sort of UI that an end user might expect. However, we kept them in the source directory so you'd have the ability to change or remove them. The toolbar is disabled by removing its definition from the systemComponents.json. If you remove the "Toolbar" property from that file, the toolbar will no longer show up.

Developing with Finsemble

Why shouldn't I just build an application from scratch?

• Essentially, Finsemble allows your developers to focus on the parts of the application that bring value to your organization while we do the plumbing necessary to get the application to work. Finsemble accelerates your development cycle and time to market drastically. By building on the Finsemble framework, it takes comparatively little development work to build an application of interlocking components. This is because Finsemble comes with a pre-built infrastructure: it comes (nearly) assembled out of the box, batteries included. That said, Finsemble affords you total freedom in creating exactly the application you want for your organization. Additionally, Finsemble is built by developers for developers. Windows only need to be aware of data objects, not necessarily other windows, so cross app communication is simple. The Distributed Store allows windows to share and sync data in real time. Finally, the Central Logger simplifies debugging an application built across multiple windows and services.

How do I use Finsemble with Typescript? Finsemble ships with a TypeScript loader and TSLint to allow the use of TypeScript in the src and in the preloads folder.

This means that you can write your React components using files with tsx extensions. You can also write preload scripts using TypeScript files.

How can I control native JavaScript window functionality?

• We provide a file that contains a set of overrides that will convert HTML5 window actions to corresponding Finsemble actions. It can be found in ../src/preloads/nativeOverrides.js. Overrides must be specified for each component via a "preload" script. You do this by adding the preload to the component config. Full instructions are found inside nativeOverrides.js.

Can I use Grunt instead of Gulp to build my own components?

• Sure! It's possible to run Grunt tasks from Gulp. You can follow the instructions from gulp.js here.

Is it possible to switch to a different storage engine?

• By default, Finsemble stores data locally. The Storage Client API uses your storage adapter to save and retrieve data. The default storage adapter in the seed project stores data locally via IndexedDB. However, the storage adapter can be replaced with a custom version to work with another type of data store, e.g., a remote database. You simply need to adjust the adapter so that it interfaces the Storage Client API with that data store. More information about how you can do this can be found in our Storing Data tutorial.

Can my application start on operating system startup?

• Absolutely! Both developers and users can make it so Finsemble launches at start-up. In your application's manifest file (in our seed, it's in ..configs/application/manifest-local.json), edit the shortcut property. You'll need to modify the target property. Simply add "automatic-start-up" to the array and your application will launch on start-up. It looks like this:

    "shortcut": {
        "company": "Cosaic",
        "description": "Cosaic Local",
        "icon": "http://localhost:3375/components/samples/src/assets/img/Finsemble_Taskbar_Icon.ico",
        "name": "Cosaic - LOCAL",
        "target": [
            "desktop",
            "automatic-start-up",
            "start-menu"
        ],
        "force": false,
        "startMenuRootFolder": "Cosaic Local"
    },

• Users also have the ability to choose which applications are opened on start-up. This functionality is baked into Windows. The instructions on how to utilize this feature are dependent on the version of Windows you're running:

  • Windows 10: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4026268/windows-change-startup-apps-in-windows-10

Debugging Finsemble

Why don’t I see heartbeat messages in the Finsemble’s log?

• Internal heartbeat messages tend to be frequent, so they clutter up logging and make debugging difficult. Therefore, the Logger Client will filter out (i.e., not send to Central Logger) any log messages with the substring "heartbeat."

I'm having workspace switching problems. How can I troubleshoot this?

• If you're encountering workspace switching problems, set the Central Logger to "Default" and filter APPLICATION LIFECYCLE. This will surface messages tracking the workspace switching process. Export the log, as specified in the Central Logger tutorial, and email it to us for evaluation.

My preload isn't working. Why?

• A common problem with preloads occurs when a 404 error is returned from the server hosting the preload file. In this instance, Chromium tries to process the 404 HTML response as JavaScript and fails. Because this happens so early in the page rendering, it shows up as a console error: "Unexpected end of input on [filename] preload."

  It's possible your preload asset is hosted at a bad path. Try loading the preload directly in a browser. This might also be a problem with your security permissions. Make sure you have specified the preload as trusted.

If you haven’t yet found the answer for your question please feel free to email us. We'd be happy to help you.