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Build, test and deploy a TypeScript and JavaScript application

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This guide shows the steps to develop a TypeScript and JavaScript application targeting CCF, debug it locally and deploy it to a Managed CCF resource on the cloud.

Prerequisites

This guide uses Visual Studio Code as the IDE. But, any IDE with support for Node.js, JavaScript and TypeScript application development can be used.

Project set up

  1. Follow the instructions in the CCF documentation to bootstrap the project and set up the required folder structure.

Develop the application

  1. Develop the TypeScript application by following the documentation here. Refer to the CCF Key-Value store documentation to learn about the naming standards and transaction semantics to use in the code. For examples and best practices, refer to the sample applications published in GitHub.

Build the application bundle

  1. The native format for JavaScript applications in CCF is a JavaScript application bundle, or short app bundle. A bundle can be wrapped directly into a governance proposal for deployment. Follow the instruction at create an application bundle in the CCF documentation to create an app bundle and prepare for deployment.

  2. Build the application. The application bundle is created in the dist folder. The application bundle is placed in a file named set_js_app.json.

npm run build

> build
> del-cli -f dist/ && rollup --config && cp app.json dist/ && node build_bundle.js dist/


src/endpoints/all.ts → dist/src...
created dist/src in 1.3s
Writing bundle containing 8 modules to dist/bundle.json
ls -ltr dist
total 40
drwxr-xr-x 4 settiy settiy  4096 Sep 11 10:20 src
-rw-r--r-- 1 settiy settiy  3393 Sep 11 10:20 app.json
-rw-r--r-- 1 settiy settiy 16146 Sep 11 10:20 set_js_app.json
-rw-r--r-- 1 settiy settiy 16061 Sep 11 10:20 bundle.json

Logging

  1. CCF provides macros to add your own lines to the node’s output. Follow the instructions available at add logging to an application in the CCF documentation.

Deploy a 1-node CCF network

  1. Run the /opt/ccf_virtual/bin/sandbox.sh script to start a 1-node CCF network and deploy the application bundle.
sudo /opt/ccf_virtual/bin/sandbox.sh --js-app-bundle ~/ccf-app-samples/banking-app/dist/
Setting up Python environment...
Python environment successfully setup
[10:40:37.516] Virtual mode enabled
[10:40:37.517] Starting 1 CCF node...
[10:40:41.488] Started CCF network with the following nodes:
[10:40:41.488]   Node [0] = https://127.0.0.1:8000
[10:40:41.489] You can now issue business transactions to the libjs_generic application
[10:40:41.489] Loaded JS application: /home/demouser/ccf-app-samples/banking-app/dist/
[10:40:41.489] Keys and certificates have been copied to the common folder: /home/demouser/ccf-app-samples/banking-app/workspace/sandbox_common
[10:40:41.489] See https://microsoft.github.io/CCF/main/use_apps/issue_commands.html for more information
[10:40:41.490] Press Ctrl+C to shutdown the network
  1. The member certificate and the private key are available at /workspace/sandbox_0. The application log is available at /workspace/sandbox_0/out.

A picture showing the out file where the CCF node and application logs are written to.

  1. At this point, we have created a local CCF network with one member and deployed the application. The network endpoint is https://127.0.0.1:8000. The member can participate in governance operations like updating the application or adding more members by submitting a proposal.
curl -k --silent https://127.0.0.1:8000/node/version | jq
{
  "ccf_version": "ccf-4.0.7",
  "quickjs_version": "2021-03-27",
  "unsafe": false
}
  1. Download the service certificate from the network.
curl -k https://127.0.0.1:8000/node/network | jq -r .service_certificate > service_certificate.pem

Update the application

  1. Application development is an iterative process. When new features are added or bugs are fixed, the application must be redeployed to the 1-node network which can be done with a set_js_app proposal.

  2. Rebuild the application to create a new set_js_app.json file in the dist folder.

  3. Create a proposal to submit the application. After the proposal is accepted, the new application is deployed to the 1-node network.

Note

On a local 1-node network, a proposal is immediately accepted after it is submitted. There isn't a need to submit a vote to accept or reject the proposal. The rationale behind it is done to make the development process quick. However, this is different from how the governance works in Azure Managed CCF where member(s) must submit a vote to accept or reject a proposal.

$ ccf_cose_sign1 --content dist/set_js_app.json --signing-cert workspace/sandbox_common/member0_cert.pem --signing-key workspace/sandbox_common/member0_privk.pem --ccf-gov-msg-type proposal --ccf-gov-msg-created_at `date -Is` | curl https://127.0.0.1:8000/gov/proposals -H 'Content-Type: application/cose' --data-binary @- --cacert service_cert.pem

Deploy the application to a Managed CCF resource

The next step is to create a Managed CCF resource and deploy the application by following the instructions at deploy a JavaScript application.

Next steps