NWJS Editor - Crash when "Popup" Window

Edit 14NOV2021

To everyone using the C3 editor in NWJS, I've tested this on a fresh new VM with Windows 10, and there is definitely a significant random issue when using popup windows or the debugger, so right now, I'd strongly urge everyone to avoid using C3 in NWJS, even from the official source or the third party launcher (which I always used and really adore!) but for now, you will run the risk of C3 suddenly closing with no error, possibly lose unsaved work, and then you need the computer knowledge to find your appdata folder and delete the right folder and waste time setting up C3 again, with the chance that you might need to repeat this process multiple times to get it working again. I recommend, and I believe Scirra also recommends, using C3 in Chrome, and then using the Remote Preview Tool to preview your project in NWJS, even though C3 itself is running in Chrome.

EDIT 2:

I might have found a further clue - Lowering the NWJS version from v55 down to v50, the popups work again. Weirdly, the popups open maximised, I don't believe they used to do that? I'll pinpoint the latest NWJS version and post back, and maybe write a bug report, but at least there is a hopeful workaround!

EDIT 1:

I just tried opening NWJS Construct 3 in a fresh new virtual machine, and did the exact steps to trigger the same issue:

NOTE: Please follow the below steps CAREFULLY if you are a NWJS user, as this may corrupt your "construct3" appdata folder, meaning you will need to reinstall addons and set your settings and themes again.

1. Rename your current appdata folder for c3 to back it up safely! (c:\Users\YOUR_USERNAME\AppData\Local (the folder is named "construct3")

1. Open NWJS C3 in r260.

2. Click the cross to close the welcome message.

3. Close the "Start page" to make the project bar appear.

4. Right-click the Properties/Layers/Project bar and choose "Popup Window" option.

5. Silent crash. And it will reoccur every time you open NWJS C3.

6. To fix - Delete the newly-created "construct3" folder, and rename your original construct3 folder back to normal.

Step 3 is the clue - I believe the "Buy now" screen is supposed to hide the project and property bars, yet they display if you close the "Start Page" tab, maybe this is a clue to the bug - baring in mind I triggered this bug mid-way using C3 rather than on startup

If, however, I do the below, it works fine:

1. Open NWJS C3 in r260

2. Click the cross to close the welcome message

3. Open Kiwi Story from start page.

4. You can safely use "Popup Window" on the project bar, properties bar, etc.

5. Close all popup windows.

6. Close the current Kiwi Story project.

7. You will now be on the "Buy now" tab.

8. Click the "Start page" button.

9. Open Kiwi Story.

10. All is working fine with popup windows still.

Original post:

Hey all, hope someone could help me at all, I'm at a loss :(

I use the NWJS version of C3 all the time, as my project fundamentally relies on loading local files and using File/Save popups.

Mysteriously, in the middle of using C3 yesterday, it crashed without warning. Hours of use, suddenly it just crashes (closes silently).

Now I opened C3 again in NWJS, and I am finding that, even with no project open, if I use "open as Popup window" on ANY panel (Properties, Find, etc.), it will silently crash and leave a crash dump in my APPDATA folder for "construct3" (which I have no clue how to open, apparently I need WinDBG?).

I have tested this thoroughly, renaming the old appdata folder and using an older version of C3, and I still get the crashes when using "Open as popup window".

SOMETIMES it works with a fresh C3 in NWJS with no appdata folder. But so far, I can't find a pattern. The only pattern I find is, once it crashes once, it will 100% crash again the next time I open and try to open a popup window.

When testing, I open Kiwi Story, and manage to get the same crash to happen, so it's not related to my project.

I'm HOPING this is a computer issue, and I do not suspect it is C3. I use Avast, and nothing is appearing in my history. Windows Defender has nothing in the logs. Event Viewer has nothing interesting in its logs.

Anyone had anything similar? Any suggestions that may help? I use dual-monitors and use popup windows all the time :(

EDIT 1:

Oh my gosh I don't understand. I spent the entirety of yesterday using popup windows and such, with r260 and NWJS v54, previewing over and over, closing the preview popup over and over, all working fine. However, today, I open C3, same exact versions as yesterday (r260, NWJS v54), made some event changes, clicked "Preview" and then C3 silently crashed when trying to open the popup window for preview (I only made a few changes so I didn't lose much work thankfully).

Then beyond that, every time I try to re-open C3, I cannot use preview or popup windows at all unless I clear the appdata folder.

I'm quite lost at the moment with this but if I gather more info to make a bug report, I shall, but damn it's frustrating how random it feels.

Original post:

Just an update:

With r260, If I use C3 in NWJS v54, it works fine and I can use popup windows without C3 closing silently

I updated to beta r261, still using NWJS v54, and I got this crash again when using popup windows, so again I had to clear my appdata folder, and start over again.

I will make a bug report when I have time to mess around with this and get finer details, but for now I'll stick to r260. Just posting in case anyone else encounters this issue and needs a workaround!

Hi everyone,

I'm having a similar issue and I was wondering if anyone have any ideas or suggestions.

I did a clean windows recovery the other day (clean all windows system files).

Everything works much better, faster, loading C3, loading projects, previewing...

But whenever I try to use the debugger NWjs crashes (on all projects, even blank ones).

I removed the Construct3 directory from the local user appData directory.

Tried again and it worked!

Now whenever I try to install any 3rd party plugin, such as the official greenworks, the problem returns.

What is special about installed plugin that can cause NWjs to crash?

Ashley I know you're not all for using NWjs, but I was wondering if you might have some insight?

EDIT: So it's the strangest thing, when removing the construct3 directory and relaunching, debugger works fine, but if I uninstall the plugin and restart C3, it still crashes, with no 3rd party plugins installed.

It seems like the installation process changes something that breaks it.

EDIT2: Well... it seems it's not related to the plugins at all, it happens when you relaunch C3 the second time, first time works fine (after clearing the appData directory).