README

:warning: this library is under active development and breaking changes are expected

universal-worker: beta

Worker that Works in All Environments, including Internet Explorer.

install

npm install universal-worker

features

Converts import to require for NodeJS Worker Threads
Works in Internet Explorer with Frame Worker
Automatically Wrap Files with Worker Events
Works with Webpack
Supports Data URLs and File URLs
Use Web Worker API in NodeJS

limitations

No Support for importScripts outside the Browser
import syntax runs as is without fallback conversion, in the browser

supported API

usage

loading

You can load the universal-worker in several ways:

CommonJS Require

const { Worker } = require("universal-worker");

JavaScript Modules

import { Worker } from "universal-worker";

Script Tag in the Browser

When you load universal worker via a script tag, it will check if Worker is fully supported (including transfers). If not, it will polyfill Worker with a "FrameWorker" that fakes a Web Worker by running the worker script in an iframe.

<script src="https://unpkg.com/universal-worker"></script>

creating the worker

const worker = new Worker("./path/to/worker.js");

inside the worker.js file

You can define your worker in three different ways: (1) events, (2) module.exports = function, and (3) export default function

using Web Worker Events

You can define your worker using Web Worker events. When run on NodeJS, universal-worker will automatically polyfill these web worker events, so your worker script will automatically use the worker_threads API without having to create a separate worker file.

onmessage = event => {
  const { data } = event;
  const result = Math.pow(data, 2);
  const transferList = undefined;
  postMessage(result, transferList);
};

using module.exports

If you don't define an onmessage event in your worker script, universal-worker will automatically look for module.exports and assume that a message should be sent as an argument to this function.

module.exports = data => Math.pow(data, 2);

using export default function

If you export your function using, export syntax, universal-worker will automatically pass a message onto the default export

export default function square (data) {
  return Math.pow(data, 2);
});

Usage no npm install needed!