nzpr / rchain-status

Microblogging POC for RChain

RChain Status dApp Example

This repository is an example and tutorial for writing decentralized applications on RChain. Using it requires moderate familiarity with the command line, RNode software, and node.js. I encourage you to experiment and make changesg. RChain is still in a pre-release state and not all of the features we would have used in this dapp are available yet.

Written By:
Joshy Orndorff
Dan Connolly

Build

1. Install RNode (instructions)
2. Install node and npm (instructions)
3. Clone the repo git clone https://github.com/JoshOrndorff/Rchain-Status.git
4. Change into the project directory cd Rchain-Status
5. Install dependencies npm install
6. Start a fresh, pre-configured RNode freshr
7. Deploy the smart contract npm run deploy-contract and observe its URI in the node log. (eg. rho:id:z8s9ussdc5hx3z4m8a9a98cah3r5d8ick6yj5bfs4wc8oyrhacbabc)
8. Launch the frontend server node main.js start --register <uri>
9. Navigate to the user interface in your favorite browser at localhost:8080

Overview of writing a dapp

These big-picture steps apply to writing any dApp including ours.

1. Design the smart contract -- ours is in status.rho
2. Design an interface -- (eg express.js, and spectre css)
3. Connect the interface to the contract -- We'll use the rchain-api node module
4. Deploy your contract
5. Use your dapp
6. Celebrate :)

Overview of the Contract

Our primitive social media Dapp allows users to post a single status message representing their current thoughts, activity, etc. Examples might include "Rainy Saturday...", "Long weekend coming up!", "Go Indians! World series this year!".

Feedback

I sincerely hope that this example dApp was helpful and made the path to your first dapp a bit easier. I will continue to improve this guide as new node features are release. I'd also love your feedback either in the issue queue, the pull requests, or on the RChain discord.