External VLC on Windows

Turns out we can't use vlc --version because it pops up a command prompt :/

main/ipc.js

@@ -92,9 +92,9 @@ function init () {
     windows.focusWindow(windows[windowName])
   })
 
-  ipcMain.on('vlcVersion', function (e) {
+  ipcMain.on('checkForVLC', function (e) {
-    vlc.getInstalledVersion(function (version) {
+    vlc.checkForVLC(function (isInstalled) {
-      windows.main.send('vlcVersion', version)
+      windows.main.send('checkForVLC', isInstalled)
     })
   })
 

main/vlc.js

@@ -1,33 +1,15 @@
 module.exports = {
-  getInstalledVersion,
+  checkForVLC,
   spawn
 }
 
 var cp = require('child_process')
 var vlcCommand = require('vlc-command')
 
-// Runs vlc --version. Calls back with the currently installed version of VLC
+// Finds if VLC is installed on Mac, Windows, or Linux.
-// or null if VLC is not installed. (Or 'unknown' if VLC runs and produces bad
+// Calls back with true or false: whether VLC was detected
-// output, but that should never happen.)
+function checkForVLC (cb) {
-function getInstalledVersion (cb) {
+  vlcCommand((err) => cb(!err))
-  exec(['--version'], function (e, stdout) {
-    var version
-    if (e) {
-      version = null
-    } else {
-      // Prints several lines, starting with eg: VLC media player 2.7.0
-      if (!stdout.startsWith('VLC media player')) version = 'unknown'
-      else version = stdout.split(' ')[3]
-    }
-    cb(version)
-  })
-}
-
-function exec (args, cb) {
-  vlcCommand(function (err, vlcPath) {
-    if (err) return cb(err)
-    cp.execFile(vlcPath, args, cb)
-  })
 }
 
 // Finds if VLC is installed on Mac, Windows, or Linux.

renderer/index.js

@@ -306,13 +306,12 @@ function dispatch (action, ...args) {
   if (action === 'mediaError') {
     if (state.location.current().url === 'player') {
       state.playing.location = 'error'
-      ipcRenderer.send('vlcVersion')
+      ipcRenderer.send('checkForVLC')
-      ipcRenderer.once('vlcVersion', function (e, version) {
+      ipcRenderer.once('checkForVLC', function (e, isInstalled) {
-        console.log('vlcVersion', version)
         state.modal = {
           id: 'unsupported-media-modal',
           error: args[0],
-          vlcInstalled: !!version
+          vlcInstalled: isInstalled
         }
       })
     }