cordova.exec not working in capacitor project

[micro0o]

I'm trying to integrate my Ionic/Capacitor app with Microsoft Authentication Library (Msal), and unfortunately I couldn't found any Capacitor plugin for that, only found this Cordova plugin with its Ionic wrapper.

So I've followed the instructions of how to use Cordova plugins with capacitor according with the instructions of the plugin itself, but unfortunately with no success.

The problem is in the cordova plugin not being executed:

cordova.exec(successCallback, errorCallback, 'MsalPlugin', 'msalInit', [JSON.stringify(options)]);
because cordova.js is not exist. Although I added the cordova.js and cordova_plugin.js in index.html, but still the cordova.js file is empty when use chrome://inspect.

Also cordova.js is exist in android\app\src\main\assets but it seems like it's an old version that is not containing the method androidExec() which is being called when try on another Ionic/Cordova app. But even this version not exist when run application on emulator.

The msal Cordova plugin added with commands:
npm i --save cordova-plugin-msal
and
npm i --save ionic-msal-native

Platforms
Android

package.json dependencies:

"dependencies": {
    "@angular/common": "~12.1.1",
    "@angular/compiler": "~12.1.1",
    "@angular/core": "~12.1.1",
    "@angular/forms": "~12.1.1",
    "@angular/platform-browser": "~12.1.1",
    "@angular/platform-browser-dynamic": "~12.1.1",
    "@angular/router": "~12.1.1",
    "@capacitor/android": "^3.1.2",
    "@capacitor/cli": "^3.1.2",
    "@capacitor/core": "^3.1.2",
    "@ionic/angular": "^5.5.2",
    "cordova-plugin-msal": "^2.5.0",
    "ionic-msal-native": "^0.1.0",
    "rxjs": "~6.6.0",
    "tslib": "^2.2.0",
    "zone.js": "~0.11.4"
  },

Capacitor Doctor

Latest Dependencies:

  @capacitor/cli: 3.1.2
  @capacitor/core: 3.1.2
  @capacitor/android: 3.1.2
  @capacitor/ios: 3.1.2

Installed Dependencies:

  @capacitor/ios: not installed
  @capacitor/core: 3.1.2
  @capacitor/cli: 3.1.2
  @capacitor/android: 3.1.2

[success] Android looking great! 👌

npm --version: 6.14.14
node --version: v14.17.4

was i missing something or made something wrong?

[jcesarmobile]

You don't have to link cordova.js nor cordova_plugins.js in your index.html, if there are cordova plugins installed, Capacitor will detect it and will auto inject those files, and if you try to check the file, it's empty because it's already injected.
If you want to see if it's really empty, open it in Android Studio inside assest/public folder, if it's empty there, then the plugin was not correctly detected. Just make sure you ran npx cap sync after installing your cordova plugin, it should also list the plugins that were detected.

[micro0o]

in Android Studio inside assest/public it's not empty but it seems like it's a different version than the one used in Cordova app, also why could make the plugin not being executed then?

[micro0o]

Whatever the case of the cordova.js file, when add a breakpoint on cordova.exec line in Capacitor project it navigates to nothing unlike the Cordova project.

here is the chunks that being extracted while run ionic build

Initial Chunk Files                                                | Names              |      Size
vendor.js                                                          | vendor             |   4.24 MB
polyfills.js                                                       | polyfills          | 279.08 kB
styles.css                                                         | styles             |  30.78 kB
main.js                                                            | main               |  15.47 kB
runtime.js                                                         | runtime            |  13.66 kB

                                                                   | Initial Total      |   4.57 MB

Lazy Chunk Files                                                   | Names              |      Size
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_swiper_bundle-6c5e7804_js.js      | -                  | 200.23 kB
polyfills-core-js.js                                               | polyfills-core-js  |  92.36 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-datetime_3_entry_js.js        | -                  |  72.13 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-item_8_entry_js.js            | -                  |  71.66 kB
src_app_home_home_module_ts.js                                     | -                  |  66.37 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-app_8_entry_js.js             | -                  |  64.11 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-slide_2_entry_js.js           | -                  |  56.37 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-refresher_2_entry_js.js       | -                  |  47.37 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-alert_entry_js.js             | -                  |  47.20 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-segment_2_entry_js.js         | -                  |  37.31 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-searchbar_entry_js.js         | -                  |  32.91 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-nav_2_entry_js.js             | -                  |  32.32 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-menu_3_entry_js.js            | -                  |  32.09 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-button_2_entry_js.js          | -                  |  32.07 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-item-option_3_entry_js.js     | -                  |  30.91 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-action-sheet_entry_js.js      | -                  |  29.78 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-range_entry_js.js             | -                  |  27.21 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-modal_entry_js.js             | -                  |  26.50 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-fab_3_entry_js.js             | -                  |  26.24 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-route_4_entry_js.js           | -                  |  25.02 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-select_3_entry_js.js          | -                  |  24.23 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-tab-bar_2_entry_js.js         | -                  |  23.88 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-progress-bar_entry_js.js      | -                  |  21.96 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-toast_entry_js.js             | -                  |  21.59 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-popover_entry_js.js           | -                  |  20.91 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-input_entry_js.js             | -                  |  20.57 kB
polyfills-dom.js                                                   | polyfills-dom      |  19.44 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-textarea_entry_js.js          | -                  |  18.34 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-virtual-scroll_entry_js.js    | -                  |  18.01 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-toggle_entry_js.js            | -                  |  17.00 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_shadow-css-a3f00b33_js.js         | -                  |  15.92 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-back-button_entry_js.js       | -                  |  15.79 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-radio_2_entry_js.js           | -                  |  15.72 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-card_5_entry_js.js            | -                  |  15.61 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-col_3_entry_js.js             | -                  |  15.61 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_input-shims-73f15161_js.js        | -                  |  15.42 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-loading_entry_js.js           | -                  |  14.97 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-infinite-scroll_2_entry_js.js | -                  |  12.90 kB
common.js                                                          | common             |  12.84 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-reorder_2_entry_js.js         | -                  |  12.01 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-checkbox_entry_js.js          | -                  |  11.43 kB
polyfills-css-shim.js                                              | polyfills-css-shim |  10.64 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-chip_entry_js.js              | -                  |   9.82 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-split-pane_entry_js.js        | -                  |   9.37 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-spinner_entry_js.js           | -                  |   7.90 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-tab_2_entry_js.js             | -                  |   7.76 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-ripple-effect_entry_js.js     | -                  |   6.07 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-avatar_3_entry_js.js          | -                  |   5.79 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_tap-click-cc1ae2b2_js.js          | -                  |   5.60 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_keyboard-5742b5da_js.js           | -                  |   5.36 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-backdrop_entry_js.js          | -                  |   3.43 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-img_entry_js.js               | -                  |   3.31 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_swipe-back-fae97365_js.js         | -                  |   2.76 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_focus-visible-f4ad4f1a_js.js      | -                  |   2.01 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_ion-text_entry_js.js              | -                  |   1.73 kB
node_modules_ionic_core_dist_esm_status-tap-bdecfebf_js.js         | -                  |   1.69 kB

[jcesarmobile]

Yeah, it's different because Capacitor acts as a "cordova platform", it's not the same cordova.jsfile that cordova-android uses but a custom one. And it's generated by Capacitor CLI and copied directly to the native projects when you run npx cap coy, npx cap update or npx cap sync, not by ionic build command.