README.md

cactus-blockchain-gui

Welcome to the Cactus GUI repo!

Cactus GUI is written in TypeScript and uses Electron/React.

This monorepo consists of the following packages:

Package name	Description
api	JS/TS library to access the Cactus Blockchain RPC
api-react	React library that wraps api in hooks
core	Common React components and hooks
gui	The actual GUI package. It uses our packages like api-react and core under the hood
icons	Cactus specific icons
wallets	Common React components and hooks. Do not use this in you project. Will be merged to core package soon

Development

1. This repo (cactus-blockchain-gui) must be under cactus-blockchain repo. Please follow the installation steps for the cactus-blockchain. Make sure to install from source code (git clone...).
2. Run the sh install-gui.sh as instructed in the previous step. This will clone the cactus-blockchain-gui under cactus-blockchain repo.
3. Change directory into the cactus-blockchain-gui subdirectory.
4. Run npm run dev:gui

When developing, please:

• Only edit the code with the Vscode editor.

• Always have cactus-blockchain-gui opened as a root folder in the Vscode and not cactus-blockchain, or cactus-blockchain-gui/packages/... Failing to do so will result in incorrect auto linting and auto formatting which would not go through the CI quality checks.

• When you open the repo in the vscode, click on "Install recommended plugins" pop-up.

• To develop in testnet, please follow these steps.

• Please write tests for your code

• When disabling an eslint rule, please provide a reason after two dashes (--), example:

  // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps -- Some dependencies intentionally left out

Installing NPM packages

To install an NPM package, please navigate to the root directory of this repo.

• To install lodash for all packages: npx lerna add lodash
• To install lodash for single package: npx lerna add lodash --scope=@cactus-network/icons
• To install as a dev dependency, add --dev

After adding a new NPM package, please pin down the package version. This is done to lower the possibility of supply chain attacks.

Common eslint issues

• react/no-array-index-key

  Only use index as a key when all of the following conditions are met:

  1. the list and items are static / hardcoded.
  2. the list is never reordered or filtered.

  In all other cases, you have to figure out what unique string you will use as a key, or create a dedicated ID.

• import/no-extraneous-dependencies

  Packages that are used only in development should not be present on the production build. You have 3 options:

  1. If it's a whole directory, add it to the .eslintrc.json file
  2. If it's a single file, rename it by adding .dev. in the extension. Example: file.ts -> file.dev.ts
  3. If it's a file that is run on the production, use this:

  if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development') {
    // eslint-disable-next-line global-require -- We cannot use import since it should be only loaded in development
    const package = require('package');
  }
  

Git workflow

• Git branch from "main"
• For Cactus employees: prefix your branch with your name, like this: yourName/what-is-the-code-about. This helps when cleaning up old branches.
• All commits must be signed.

Git commit messages

1. Separate subject from body with a blank line

   A single subject line is usually sufficient, but if you need to include additional details, add an empty line after the subject and enter the detailed message. Example:

   Capitalized, short (70 chars or less) summary

   More detailed explanatory text, if necessary. Wrap it to about 72 characters or so. In some contexts, the first line is treated as the subject of an email and the rest of the text as the body. The blank line separating the summary from the body is critical (unless you omit the body entirely); tools like rebase can get confused if you run the two together.

2. Commit subject line should always be able to complete the following sentence:

   If applied, this commit will your subject line here

   Fixed bug with Y -> Fix bug in the contact form

   Adding new field of X -> Add new field - "discount code", in the order form

   More fixes for broken stuff -> Fix broken responsive layout

Localization

Do not edit files directly in the repo, but instead please head over to our Crowdin project and add/edit translations there.

Troubleshooting

• npm install in the root directory does not install packages correctly (Or other Lerna issues)

  Please run npx lerna clean -y && rm -rf node_modules && npm install && npx lerna bootstrap

• npm run dev:gui fails to start the app without providing a reason

  1. In your command line, please go to the cactus-blockchain directory (one level up)
  2. Run . ./activate
  3. Run cd cactus-blockchain-gui
  4. Run npm run dev:gui to start the app.
  5. If still does not work, please open you process manager and kill all Cactus / Python related processes.

• Why does my component keep rerendering?

  We have why-did-you-render installed.

  You will see the reasons in the electron console after adding this to your functional component:

  YourComponent.whyDidYouRender = {
    logOnDifferentValues: true,
  }
  

Debugging

1. In the Cactus Electron app, click View -> Developer -> Developer tools.
2. In the console tab of the developer tools, change the default console events to include verbose events. These are the events emitted from the debug package.

Simulator / SimNet

1. Please follow the Install and configure the simulator. Do this step only once.
2. In the cactus-blockchain directory, run this to setup the ENV variables. Use these instead of the ones mentioned in the above guide.

export CACTUS_ROOT=~/.cactus/simulator/main
export CACTUS_SIMULATOR_ROOT=~/.cactus/simulator
export CACTUS_KEYS_ROOT=~/.cactus_keys_simulator

3. . ./activate
4. cactus start simulator
5. cd cactus-blockchain-gui/packages/gui
6. npm run dev:skipLocales
7. You should see your simulator wallets. You should not see your testNet / mainNet wallets.
8. Run cactus dev sim farm as many times you want to farm some coins.

Cactus FAQ/WIKI

Please check out the wiki and FAQ for information on this project.