how-to-create-typescript-workers.md

How to create typescript workers

You can check the files used for our simple gif-processor worker (packages/gif-processor):

1. Create relevant folder inside packages/ and put a .ts file for the main thread and another .ts for the worker (gif-processor example: processor.ts and worker.ts)

2. Copy the tsconfig.json file from packages/gif-processor into the new folder, rename and edit its "OutDir" value to point to a new folder inside /static/

3. Duplicate the targets/engine/gif-processor.json file, rename it and change its "file" value to point to your worker .ts file

4. Inside the Makefile file create a new path constant (like the one for GIF_PROCESSOR) and set the path to your compiled worker file (the folder you created in step 2 plus 'worker.ts'). Then add that new constant inside build-essentials like GIF_PROCESSOR

5. Inside the Makefile add the following 2 lines with your own paths:

static/gif-processor/worker.js: packages/gif-processor/*.ts
	@$(COMPILER) targets/engine/gif-processor.json

6. You should be able to import your package that uses the Worker anywhere. Beware of the limitations when passing data to/from workers and also consider passing the data as Transferable objects to improve performance.