PhoneGap, Cordova, and Ionic
PhoneGap, Apache Cordova, and Ionic are frameworks for developing mobile application with single HTML, CSS, and JavaScript/TypeScript code base and targeting various mobile platforms, including Android.
Before you start
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Install and enable the PhoneGap/Cordova plugin on the Plugins page as described in Installing plugins from repository.
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Make sure you have Node.js on your computer.
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Download and install an emulator tool depending on the target platform and the operating system you use. Learn more from the Cordova official website.
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To emulate the iOS platform, install the ios-sim and ios-deploy command-line tools globally.
Open the embedded Terminal (Alt+F12) and type:
npm install -g ios-sim
npm install -g ios-deploy
Installing PhoneGap, Cordova, and Ionic
In the embedded Terminal (Alt+F12), type one of the following commands:
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npm install -g phonegap@latest
Learn more from the PhoneGap official website.
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npm install -g cordova
Learn more from the Cordova official website.
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npm install -g @ionic/cli
Learn more from the IonicCLI official website.
You can also install your package on the Node.js and NPM page as described in npm and Yarn.
Creating a new PhoneGap, Cordova, or Ionic application
If you have no application yet, you can generate a IntelliJ IDEA project with PhoneGap, Cordova, or Ionic-specific structure from a boilerplate template. Alternatively, create an empty IntelliJ IDEA project as described in Creating Projects from Scratch in %Product% and configure PhoneGap, Cordova, or Ionic support in it.
Create an application from a template
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Select New Project button on the Welcome screen.
from the main menu or click the -
In the New Project dialog, select JavaScript in the left-hand pane.
In the right-hand pane, choose Cordova App and click Next.
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On the second page of the wizard, specify the project name and the folder to create it in. Specify the location of the executable file. Depending on your operating system and target platform, this can be phonegap, phonegap.cmd, cordova, cordova.cmd, ionic, or ionic.cmd.
When you click Finish, IntelliJ IDEA generates a skeleton of an application with the framework-specific structure.
Starting with an existing PhoneGap, Cordova, or Ionic application
To continue developing an existing application, open it in IntelliJ IDEA, download the required dependencies, and configure PhoneGap, Cordova, or Ionic support in your project as described above.
Configure PhoneGap, Cordova, or Ionic in your project
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Check the location of the executable file or specify the path to it if IntelliJ IDEA has not detected the executable automatically. This can be phonegap, phonegap.cmd, cordova , cordova.cmd, ionic, or ionic.cmd, depending on your operating system and the selected framework.
IntelliJ IDEA detects the installed version and displays it in the Cordova version read-only field.
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In the Cordova working directory field, specify the folder where the application files to run are stored.
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By default, IntelliJ IDEA automatically treats the platforms or www directory as excluded and ignores it during indexing, parsing, and code completion, see Configuring folders in a content root.
To preserve this default behavior, make sure the Automatically exclude working directories ('platforms', 'www' for ionic) checkbox is selected.
Running PhoneGap, Cordova, and Ionic applications
PhoneGap, Cordova, and Ionic applications are executed according to a dedicated run/debug configuration.
Create a run configuration
From the main menu, choose . In the Edit Configuration dialog that opens, click on the toolbar and choose PhoneGap/Cordova from the context menu.
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In the Run/Debug Configuration: PhoneGap/Cordova dialog that opens, specify the following:
The name of the configuration.
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In the Cordova executable field, specify the location of the executable file phonegap, phonegap.cmd, cordova , cordova.cmd, ionic, or ionic.cmd, depending on your operating system and the selected framework.
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In the Cordova working directory field, specify the folder where the application files to run are stored.
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From the Command list, choose the command to run. The contents of the list, depend on the actually used framework, namely, on the executable file specified in the Cordova executable field. The available options are:
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For PhoneGap:
emulate
run
prepare
serve
remote build
remote run
See PhoneGap CLI for a list of PhoneGap-specific commands with descriptions.
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For Cordova:
emulate
run
prepare
serve
See Cordova CLI for a list of Cordova-specific commands with descriptions.
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For Ionic:
emulate
run
prepare
serve
See Ionic CLI for a list of Ionic-specific commands with descriptions.
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From the Platform list, choose the platform for which the application is intended.
The available options are:
- Android
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iOS
To emulate this platform, install the ios-sim and ios-deploy command-line tools globally.Open the embedded Terminal (Alt+F12) and type:
npm install -g ios-sim
npm install -g ios-deploy
- browser
- amazon-fireos
- firefoxos
- blackberry10
- ubuntu
- wp8
- windows
- windows8
Learn more about targeted platforms from the Platform Guides.
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For Cordova and Ionic, specify the targeted virtual or physical Android device to run the application on: select the Specify Target checkbox and select the required device from the list.
The list shows all the virtual and physical devices that are currently configured on your machine. Learn more about setting up emulators from the Cordova official website.
If IntelliJ IDEA displays the following error message: Cannot detect ios-sim in path, make sure you have installed the
ios-sim
, see Before you start.