SimpleChromeViewer

A lightweight Chromium-based viewer for websites, HTML files, and various document formats built with Electron.

Features

• Web View: Browse websites and view HTML files in a Chromium-based webview
• Document Viewer: View PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, ODS files with formatting
• Plain Text Mode: View any file as plain text with word wrap option
• Source & Metadata Analysis: Inspect source code and file metadata including:
  • File size, creation date, modification date
  • Character count, line count, word count
  • Document-specific metadata (PDF info, spreadsheet sheet names, etc.)

Installation

Prerequisites

On Arch Linux, install Node.js and npm:

sudo pacman -S nodejs npm

Building from Source

1. Navigate to the project directory:

cd SimpleChromeViewer

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Build the application:

npm run build:pacman

This will create a .pacman package in the dist directory.

Installing the Package

After building, install the package:

sudo pacman -U dist/simplechromeviewer-*.pacman

Usage

Starting the Application

Run from terminal:

simplechromeviewer

Or start with npm (from project directory):

npm start

Viewing Content

Method 1: URL Bar

• Type a URL (e.g., github.com) and click "Go" or press Enter
• Type a file path and click "Go" or press Enter

Method 2: File Browser

• Click "Open File" button
• Browse and select a file

Supported File Types

• Web: HTML, HTM files and URLs
• Documents: PDF, DOC, DOCX
• Spreadsheets: XLS, XLSX, ODS (OpenDocument Spreadsheet)
• Text: TXT, MD, JSON, XML, CSV, and any plain text format

Viewing Modes

Switch between tabs to change viewing mode:

1. Web View:

   • Displays websites and HTML files in a browser
   • Full Chromium rendering engine

2. Document:

   • Formatted view of documents
   • Spreadsheets show interactive sheet tabs
   • Preserves document structure and formatting

3. Plain Text:

   • View any file as plain text
   • Toggle word wrap on/off
   • Copy text to clipboard

4. Source & Metadata:

   • View raw source code/content
   • File metadata (size, dates, type)
   • Content statistics (characters, lines, words)
   • Document-specific metadata

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Enter in URL bar: Load URL or file
• Ctrl+C: Copy (in plain text mode with Copy button)

Tips

• For legacy DOC files, convert to DOCX for better compatibility
• Large files may take a moment to parse
• Spreadsheets display all sheets with tab navigation
• URLs without protocol (http://) are automatically prefixed with https://

Troubleshooting

Application won't start

• Ensure Node.js and npm are installed
• Run npm install to verify dependencies

Document not displaying correctly

• Check file isn't corrupted
• Try viewing in Plain Text or Source mode
• For old DOC files, consider converting to DOCX

URL not loading

• Check internet connection
• Verify URL is correct
• Some sites may block embedding in webviews

Uninstallation

sudo pacman -R simplechromeviewer

Technical Details

• Framework: Electron 28
• PDF Parsing: pdf-parse
• Word Documents: mammoth
• Spreadsheets: xlsx (SheetJS)
• UI: Custom HTML/CSS with dark theme

License

MIT