Ecosyste.ms: Awesome
An open API service indexing awesome lists of open source software.
https://github.com/halildurmus/win32
Access common Win32 APIs directly from Dart using FFI — no C required!
https://github.com/halildurmus/win32
dart ffi flutter win32 windows
Last synced: 7 days ago
JSON representation
Access common Win32 APIs directly from Dart using FFI — no C required!
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/halildurmus/win32
- Owner: halildurmus
- License: bsd-3-clause
- Created: 2020-03-22T00:03:55.000Z (almost 5 years ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2025-01-01T11:30:27.000Z (23 days ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-01-13T01:37:57.504Z (11 days ago)
- Topics: dart, ffi, flutter, win32, windows
- Language: Dart
- Homepage: https://win32.pub
- Size: 42.3 MB
- Stars: 781
- Watchers: 13
- Forks: 123
- Open Issues: 18
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
- Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
- Funding: .github/FUNDING.yml
- License: LICENSE
- Code of conduct: CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
- Codeowners: .github/CODEOWNERS
- Authors: AUTHORS
Awesome Lists containing this project
- awesome-flutter-desktop - win32 - A Dart library for accessing common Win32 APIs using FFI. No C required! (Packages)
README
[![win32 README banner][banner]][win32.pub]
[banner]: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/halildurmus/win32/main/assets/readme_banner.png
[Homepage][win32.pub] |
[Documentation](https://win32.pub/docs) |
[Examples](https://win32.pub/examples) |
[Packages](https://win32.pub/packages) |
[Blog](https://win32.pub/blog)
[win32.pub]: https://win32.pub
Access Win32 APIs "directly" from Dart.
win32 is a [Dart package][package_link] that provides access
to the most common Win32 APIs using FFI to make them accessible to Dart code
without requiring a C compiler or the Windows SDK.
[![ci][ci_badge]][ci_link]
[![codecov][codecov_badge_link]][codecov_link]
[![GitHub stars][github_stars_badge]][github_stars_link]
[![Package: win32][package_badge]][package_link]
[![Publisher: halildurmus.dev][publisher_badge]][publisher_link]
[![Language: Dart][language_badge]][language_link]
[![License: BSD-3-Clause][license_badge]][license_link]
[ci_badge]: https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/halildurmus/win32/win32.yml
[ci_link]: https://github.com/halildurmus/win32/actions/workflows/win32.yml
[codecov_badge_link]: https://codecov.io/gh/halildurmus/win32/graph/badge.svg?token=RVL4TNLEJA
[codecov_link]: https://codecov.io/gh/halildurmus/win32
[github_stars_badge]: https://img.shields.io/github/stars/halildurmus/win32?style=flat&color=yellow
[github_stars_link]: https://github.com/halildurmus/win32/stargazers
[package_badge]: https://img.shields.io/pub/v/win32
[package_link]: https://pub.dev/packages/win32
[publisher_badge]: https://img.shields.io/pub/publisher/win32
[publisher_link]: https://pub.dev/publishers/halildurmus.dev
[language_badge]: https://img.shields.io/badge/language-Dart-blue
[language_link]: https://dart.dev
[license_badge]: https://img.shields.io/github/license/halildurmus/win32
[license_link]: https://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause
## 🎯 What is win32?
**win32** allows Dart developers to tap into a broad range of [Win32 API] calls
using FFI, simplifying access to Windows hardware and system services. By
offering easy-to-use bindings for both traditional Win32 and
[COM (Component Object Model)][COM] APIs, it enables you to fully leverage
Windows-specific functionalities directly in your Dart code.
[COM]: https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/win32/com/component-object-model--com--portal
[Win32 API]: https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/win32/api/
## 💡 Why Use win32?
**win32** is incredibly versatile and can be useful in a variety of scenarios,
including:
- **Flutter Development on Windows**: Need to access hardware accessories like
gamepads or retrieve settings from the Windows registry in your app? **win32**
makes this possible with ease.
- **Cross-Platform Package Development**: When writing a new cross-platform
package, you can use **win32** for the Windows-specific implementation,
ensuring your package works seamlessly on Windows.
- **Enhanced Command-Line Utilities**: If you're developing a command-line
utility with Dart and require more advanced file APIs than what the
`dart:io` library offers, **win32** provides the necessary functionality.
- **Integration with Existing Windows Libraries**: Smoothly integrate your apps
with other Windows libraries that have published metadata using **win32**.
> The main goal of **win32** is to provide Dart developers with direct access to
underlying Windows APIs, eliminating the need to manually map API conventions to
Dart, simplifying development, and enhancing productivity.
## 📝 Documentation
Explore the full documentation at [win32.pub/docs](https://win32.pub/docs) to
dive deeper into the features and capabilities of the **win32** package.
## 🚀 Getting Started
Add **ffi** and **win32** packages to your project by running the appropriate
command below:
For **Flutter** projects:
```sh
flutter pub add ffi win32
```
For **Dart-only** projects:
```sh
dart pub add ffi win32
```
Here's an example that demonstrates how to display a message box using the
[MessageBox] function from the Windows API.
[MessageBox]: https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/win32/api/winuser/nf-winuser-messagebox
```dart
import 'package:ffi/ffi.dart';
import 'package:win32/win32.dart';
void main() {
final lpCaption = 'Dart MessageBox Demo'.toNativeUtf16();
final lpText = '''
This is not really an error, but we are pretending for the sake of this demo.
Resource error.
Do you want to try again?
'''
.toNativeUtf16();
final result = MessageBox(
NULL,
lpText,
lpCaption,
MESSAGEBOX_STYLE.MB_ICONWARNING | // Warning icon
MESSAGEBOX_STYLE.MB_CANCELTRYCONTINUE | // Action button
MESSAGEBOX_STYLE.MB_DEFBUTTON2, // Second button is the default
);
free(lpText);
free(lpCaption);
switch (result) {
case MESSAGEBOX_RESULT.IDCANCEL:
print('Cancel pressed');
case MESSAGEBOX_RESULT.IDTRYAGAIN:
print('Try Again pressed');
case MESSAGEBOX_RESULT.IDCONTINUE:
print('Continue pressed');
}
}
```
## 🌟 Use Cases
Here are a few use cases showcasing the power of **win32**:
- **Building Windows Apps with Flutter**: Create a Flutter-based Windows app
that relies on Win32 APIs.
- **Accessing System Information**: Retrieve system information not directly
accessible through Dart's core libraries.
- **Enumerating Installed Fonts**: Use [EnumFontFamiliesEx] to list all
locally-installed fonts.
[EnumFontFamiliesEx]: https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/win32/api/wingdi/nf-wingdi-enumfontfamiliesexw
- **Developing Traditional Win32 Apps in Dart**: Build classic Windows
applications purely in Dart.
- **Game Development**: Create a fully-fledged game using GDI, like the example
below.
- **Advanced Console Applications**: Build packages like [dart_console] that
enable advanced console manipulation.
![Dart console ANSI color demo screenshot][Dart console ANSI color demo screenshot]
- **Modern File Pickers**: Use [filepicker_windows] for a modern Windows file
picker experience in your Dart/Flutter apps.
[dart_console]: https://pub.dev/packages/dart_console
[Dart console ANSI color demo screenshot]: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/halildurmus/win32/main/assets/console.png
- **Access .NET Components**:
[Access .NET components through COM interop.][com_interop]
[com_interop]: https://github.com/halildurmus/win32/blob/main/examples/com_interop
- **Monitor System Events**:
[Detect and respond to USB drive insertion and removal events.][usb_drive.dart]
[usb_drive.dart]: https://github.com/halildurmus/win32/blob/main/examples/usb_drive.dart
This package provides minimal modifications to the Win32 API to support Dart
idioms, aiming for high familiarity with existing Windows developers. Other Dart
packages can build on these primitives to provide a more idiomatic API for Dart
and Flutter developers.
A good example is [win32_registry], which offers a set of APIs for accessing the
Windows Registry without requiring knowledge of FFI.
## 📚 Examples
There are many examples included with this package that demonstrate calling
various Win32 and COM APIs. These can be found in the [examples] subdirectory,
and a short description of each example can be found
[here](https://github.com/halildurmus/win32/blob/main/examples/README.md).
[examples]: https://github.com/halildurmus/win32/tree/main/examples
## 📦 Packages Built on win32
A growing number of Dart packages are built on the low-level APIs exposed by
**win32**, providing more idiomatic class wrappers that are easy to integrate
into your Flutter and Dart apps.
Here are some of the packages built on top of **win32**:
- [filepicker_windows]: Provides access to Windows file open/save common dialog
boxes.
- [win32_clipboard]: Access the Windows Clipboard from Dart.
- [win32_gamepad]: A friendly Dart API for accessing gamepads on Windows.
- [win32_gui]: Provides object-oriented API for Win32 GUI development.
- [win32_registry]: Easy access to the Windows Registry from Dart.
- [win32_runner]: An experimental shell (runner) for hosting Flutter apps
without a C++ compiler.
[filepicker_windows]: https://pub.dev/packages/filepicker_windows
[win32_clipboard]: https://pub.dev/packages/win32_clipboard
[win32_gamepad]: https://pub.dev/packages/win32_gamepad
[win32_gui]: https://pub.dev/packages/win32_gui
[win32_registry]: https://pub.dev/packages/win32_registry
[win32_runner]: https://pub.dev/packages/win32_runner
Find more packages on [pub.dev](https://pub.dev/packages?q=dependency%3Awin32).
## 🐞 Features and Bugs
**win32** package offers a subset of the Win32 API, with more APIs being added
regularly based on user demand. If you require additional functionality or
encounter any bugs, please file an issue on our [issue tracker].
[issue tracker]:
## 🔄 Backwards Compatibility
While **win32** follows semantic versioning (semver), some breaking changes may
occur in minor versions due to improvements in the [win32metadata] scraper or
the addition of new APIs.
To avoid potential issues, consider _pinning_ to a specific version of **win32**
or regularly testing with the latest version.
[win32metadata]: https://github.com/microsoft/win32metadata
## 🙏 Contributors
A heartfelt thank you to all our contributors who help improve **win32** by
creating packages, assisting with issues and pull requests, and participating in
discussions.
[![win32 contributors graph][contributors_graph]][contributors_link]
[contributors_graph]: https://contrib.rocks/image?repo=halildurmus/win32
[contributors_link]: https://github.com/halildurmus/win32/graphs/contributors
## 🎉 Acknowledgements
The Tetris example was adapted from a C version by Chang-Hung Liang.
The [C implementation of Snake] by David Jones was ported with his permission.
The original C version of the Notepad example was authored by Charles Petzold,
[licensed by him] without restriction.
The original C version of the [custom titlebar example] is by Dmitriy Kubyshkin
and is licensed under the MIT License.
Win32 API documentation comments are [licensed by Microsoft] under the
[Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License].
[C implementation of Snake]: https://github.com/davidejones/winsnake
[licensed by him]: https://www.charlespetzold.com/faq.html
[custom titlebar example]: https://github.com/grassator/win32-window-custom-titlebar
[licensed by Microsoft]: https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/win32/blob/7b49862e8d58cfad5d4e5e22104c9fca7fd6db2f/ThirdPartyNotices
[Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License]: https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/win32/blob/7b49862e8d58cfad5d4e5e22104c9fca7fd6db2f/LICENSE