Unleashing the Power of Lightning Web Components in Pulsar: A Game-Changer for Salesforce Developers
March 28, 2024
Empowering Developers to Bridge the Gap Between Online and Offline Worlds
The Pulsar app from Luminix, brings Salesforce to mobile devices with or without connectivity, wherever the job requires.
In alignment with Luminix’s commitment to adopting the latest technological advances and responding quickly to customer feature requests, we bring you a preliminary look into a new feature. A future release of Pulsar could introduce an innovative feature to revolutionize developers’ work with Lightning Web Components (LWC). In the future, developers could compile, bundle, and deploy LWCs to run disconnected within Pulsar.
This new feature would not just be an enhancement; it would be a leap forward in LWC development. Developers could work in a more unified environment, simultaneously bundling LWCs for Pulsar and deploying them to Salesforce servers.
Watch this video for a sneak peek demonstration of this new feature during our development process.
Seamless Integration and Enhanced Flexibility
The fundamental design goal of this new feature is simple to state: Allow JavaScript code that uses Salesforce and Lightning data APIs to run in Pulsar with little to no modification.
Most JavaScript code written to run on Salesforce is expected to run in Pulsar without change, even when running completely disconnected. This capability extends the versatility of LWCs, allowing developers to create components that are powerful, feature-rich, and adaptable to various environments – online on Salesforce servers and online/offline in Pulsar.
Note that this design goal only covers code written in JavaScript (and related tech like TypeScript). The Pulsar platform cannot handle VisualForce pages, Apex code, or other server-side-specific technology as they are written. One solution for Apex code, if desired, is to write a JavaScript variant specific to deployment in Pulsar.
Practical Implementation
The practical application of this technology is impressive. The video shows a proof-of-concept demonstration of a simple ‘pulsarTest’ LWC accessing Salesforce data running on Salesforce servers. Then, the same component is displayed running disconnected on the Pulsar platform. This illustrates the feature’s robustness and highlights its flexibility across different operating systems, including Windows, Android, iOS, and macOS with Apple silicon.
Technical Deep Dive
The process begins in the familiar Salesforce development environment, using Visual Studio Code and the Salesforce command line tools. A typical LWC, such as the ‘pulsarTest’ component, is created in the standard ‘force-app/main/default/lwc’ directory. This component, while simple, effectively demonstrates the usage of Salesforce APIs, including imports from ‘@salesforce/user/Id’, ‘lightning/uiRecordApi’, and ‘lightning/uiObjectInfoApi’.
To bundle LWC components into the Pulsar platform, the Luminix team has been developing modifications to the Salesforce LWC toolchain, enabling it to target Pulsar’s unique offline environment. Using the modified LWC compiler, the imports of Salesforce and Lightning data APIs are replaced with the Pulsar-compatible variants. The culmination of the build process bundles the LWC components into a Single Page App which can run in Pulsar.
Conclusion
While we have more work to do, the work so far on this feature is a testament to Luminix’s dedication to innovation and customer satisfaction. It paves the way for Salesforce developers to reimagine how they create and deploy applications, offering new levels of flexibility and efficiency. Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting journey into the future of Salesforce development.
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About Pulsar
Pulsar is a complete end-to-end offline solution for the Salesforce platform. The app runs on iOS, Android, and Windows devices and provides access to up to millions of records while running validation rules, triggers, and formula fields. Customize Pulsar’s user interface to your branding and provide your business processes and workflows to your teams, wherever they are. With over 100 five-star reviews on the Salesforce app exchange and as a Salesforce Platinum ISV partner, Pulsar is a trusted mobile solution for small and large organizations, including Fortune 100 industry leaders and government agencies. Learn more about Pulsar.
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