Getting Started¶

The chain3.js library is a collection of modules which contain specific functionality for the MOAC ecosystem.

The chain3-mc is for the Ethereum blockchain and smart contracts
The chain3-utils contains useful helper functions for DApp developers.

Adding chain3.js¶

First you need to get chain3.js into your project. This can be done using the following methods:

npm: npm install chain3

After that you need to create a chain3 instance and set a provider. A MOAC compatible browser will have a window.ethereum or chain3.currentProvider available. For chain3.js, check Chain3.givenProvider. If this property is null you should connect to your own local or remote node.

// in node.js use: const Chain3 = require('chain3');

// use the given Provider, e.g in the browser with Metamask, or instantiate a new websocket provider
const chain3 = new Chain3(Chain3.givenProvider || 'ws://localhost:8546', null, {});

// or
const chain3 = new Chain3(Chain3.givenProvider || new Chain3.providers.WebsocketProvider('ws://localhost:8546'), null, {});

// Using the IPC provider in node.js
const net = require('net');

const chain3 = new Chain3('/Users/myuser/Library/MoacNode/moac.ipc', net, {}); // mac os path
// or
const chain3 = new Chain3(new Chain3.providers.IpcProvider('/Users/myuser/Library/MoacNode/moac.ipc', net, {})); // mac os path
// on windows the path is: '\\\\.\\pipe\\moac.ipc'
// on linux the path is: '/users/myuser/.MoacNode/moac.ipc'

That’s it! now you can use the chain3 object.