Propylon - Blockchain Publishing System

Project Description

Build a web-based application for authoring and publishing content, with published versions being persisted on the blockchain for auditability and verification. Users of the system should be able to see the current version of a piece of content (e.g. a blog post), validate it’s authenticity by comparing to a version stored in the blockchain, and also view previous versions published to the blockchain. The blockchain should provide a verifiable audit trail for all versions of a piece of content, so consumers can be sure it hasn’t been tampered with or modified externally.

Contributers

Anastasiya Bogoslovskaya
Steven Cataluna
Charles Christiansson
Mohamed Difallah
Alice Doherty
Conor Doherty
Alexander Sepelenco

Dependencies

Node.js
Truffle Suite
- Install with npm install -g truffle
Ganache
MetaMask
MUI
- Install with npm install since it is already in package.json

Running the App

Install dependencies listed above
Run npm install (both within the main SWENG-project-22 folder and in client) to install dependencies
Open Ganache and select "Quickstart" (see below for more notes on using Ganache)

Note: you need to keep Ganache running while using the app, not just to compile the code

Start development console with

truffle develop

Compile and migrate smart contracts

compile
migrate

Note: you can also run migrate --reset but this will reset all the data stored in the smart contract (basically clears the "database")

To run React app

cd client
npm run start

At this point the React app will probably display the message: "Loading Web3, accounts, and contract..." (this is because the app is not yet connected to an account on the blockchain network)

On MetaMask connect to Ganache network

Add MetaMask as an extension to your browser
The first time you use it you will have to create an account
Locate the "Networks" menu at the top of the extension (by default it most likely is set to "Ethereum Mainnet")
- Create new network with RPC URL "HTTP://127.0.0.1:7545" and Chain ID "1337"
- Network Name can be anything you want and leave Currency Symbol blank
Open the "My Accounts" tab by clicking on the circle in the top right and select "Import Account"
- The private key string is the private key of the first account on your Ganache network
- To obtain this click on the "key" symbol at the far right of the first network shown on the "Accounts" page on Ganache
Switch to this new account when using the app

Setting up Ganache

These steps are optional but will make your life easier if you are using the application more than once

After creating a new workspace (by selecting "Quickstart"), save it by pressing the "Save" button in the top right.

If you save the workspace you will not have to import a new account each time you use the application

Press the settings cog in top right, and press "Add Project" and select the truffle-config.js file from the main repo folder.
Click the "Contracts" tab and then "PublishContent" to see the data stored in the blockchain.
In the "Transactions" tab, you can click on a transaction and see the contract function calls, inputs, etc.

Notes

Boilerplate template used: https://github.com/truffle-box/react-box
If the React app only displays: "Loading Web3, accounts, and contract..." this most likely means that the account being used in MetaMask is not correctly connected to your local Ganache network