Bitcoinjs-lib: Altcoins with bitcoinjs?

[saskakol]

Hi! I'm trying to create Dogecoin transactions with JavaScript, and i recently discovered CryptoCoinJS. I know it was a fork of this lib intended for use with other currencies, but it seems dead, hasn't been updated in a while, and there is no documentation on how to create transactions.

Now since the dev of CryptoCoinJS isn't responding, I started looking at alternatives. I discovered that this lib also has some support for altcoins, but how would i go about doing this?
I've tried looking at other posts about this, but i didn't really find anything useful (or i just didn't look hard enough), but in any case i wanted to have some updated information.

How can i create altcoin (Dogecoin specifically) transactions and public & private keys with bitcoinjs?
I'm using electron and nodejs.

Thanks,
-Sas :)

[afk11]

Here's a test case that shows creating a transaction for another network: https://github.com/bitcoinjs/bitcoinjs-lib/blob/master/test/integration/basic.js#L61

[afk11]

The test cases for this library cover a lot of things you're likely to be doing yourself, search through those if you need a place to start

[jprichardson]

Now since the dev of CryptoCoinJS isn't responding, I started looking at alternatives. I discovered that this lib also has some support for altcoins, but how would i go about doing this?

I'm so sorry @iSasFTW, completely dropped the ball here. CryptoCoinJS is not dead. However, I'd suggest that for all new development, you use bitcoinjs-lib. I'll respond to your email as well.

[jprichardson]

Also, I'd add that you can use coininfo to and convert to a compatible bitcoinjs-lib Network object: https://github.com/cryptocoinjs/coininfo#want-to-use-with-bitcore-or-bitconjs-lib - so using Dogecoin + bitcoinjs-lib should not be a problem.

[saskakol]

@jprichardson Ooh! This sounds interesting! How would i got about doing this though? I don't understand bitcoinjs' documentation, as it's all just code demonstrations, without explanation...

[dcousens]

Let us know if you need any more help.

[saskakol]

@dcousens Well, i'm back and i need some help!

In the documentation here: https://github.com/bitcoinjs/bitcoinjs-lib/blob/master/test/integration/basic.js#L61

I can see how the network is switched, but how can i apply that to a simpler 1 address to 1 address transaction?

Also, since i'm using browserify, do i not need anything special at my other js file to make sure that i can access bitcoinjs?

Thanks :)

[dcousens]

I can see how the network is switched, but how can i apply that to a simpler 1 address to 1 address transaction?

That example is 2 inputs, 2 outputs. You want 1 input, 1 output.

Also, since i'm using browserify, do i not need anything special at my other js file to make sure that i can access bitcoinjs?

Browserify is all you need.

[saskakol]

@dcousens Alright! So it should look kind of like this?

  it('can create a [complex] Transaction', function (done) {
    this.timeout(30000)

    var network = bitcoin.networks.testnet
    var alice = bitcoin.ECPair.makeRandom({ network: network })
    var bob = bitcoin.ECPair.makeRandom({ network: network })
    var alicesAddress = alice.getAddress()
    var bobsAddress = bob.getAddress()

    blockchain.t.faucetMany([
      {
        address: alicesAddress,
        value: 4e4
      },
      {
        address: bobsAddress,
        value: 2e4
      }
    ], function (err, unspents) {
      if (err) return done(err)

      var tx = new bitcoin.TransactionBuilder(network)
      tx.addInput(unspents[0].txId, unspents[0].vout)
      tx.addOutput(blockchain.t.RETURN, 3e4)
      tx.sign(0, alice)
      tx.sign(1, bob)

      blockchain.t.transactions.propagate(tx.build().toHex(), done)
    })
  })
})

Also, what does this part do?

blockchain.t.faucetMany([ { address: alicesAddress, value: 4e4 }, { address: bobsAddress, value: 2e4 } ], function (err, unspents) { if (err) return done(err)

[dcousens]

@iSasFTW those tests are using testnet (see https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Testnet).
To run the test, it needs some testnet equivalent bitcoin, the faucet provides them so we can then broadcast the transaction.

[saskakol]

@dcousens Alright! I'm just kind of scared to touch any of the code, since i don't really understand what it does. All i really need is to get a wallet from a private key and move a specified amount to another address. It just needs to happen on the dogecoin network. Thing is, i understand what the simpler transaction example does, but the other one is confusing. What do i need to add to the simple bitcoin transaction example to make it run on a different network?

[dcousens]

since i don't really understand what it does

Then the best suggestion I could give you is to point out the parts you don't understand, and take a moment to understand each one.

Anything other than that could potentially be putting your dogecoin at risk of you accidentally losing them.

What do i need to add to the simple bitcoin transaction example to make it run on a different network?

You need a dogecoin node, or a dogecoin web API with which you could broadcast your transaction through.