How is running the asset management go different from running a simple chaincode like chaincode example02 go

Question

The simple workflow for deploying/invoking a chaincode (to my knowledge) is :

1. Deploy a chaincode(smart contract) on the blockchain

   • This brings up a docker container on all peers that has the chaincode running in it
2. Invoke some function
   • This type of function changes the values of variables in chaincode state

For asset_management.go, the chaincode can be tested by running go test in the asset_management chaincode directory . But this does not really bring up a docker container(or does it ?) that runs the asset_management chaincode.

Whats the right way to deploy/invoke this chaincode and how is it different from deploying/invoking chaincodes using the REST interface(like we do for chaincode_example02)

Answer 1

The chaincode workflow you mentioned is correct, just one detail regarding variables in chaincode state: the variables are stored in a global key-value collection named World State, which is accessed through the invocation of a chaincode and it is access protected.

Now, what you are doing with go test is running the code in asset_management_test.go. If you look at this code, you will see that it basically starts a VP and a CA and then tries sending transactions to tests that the chaincode works. For example:

// Now create the Transactions message and send to Peer.
transaction, err := txHandler.NewChaincodeExecute(chaincodeInvocationSpec, tid)

You could also code a test file for the chaincode_example02 and test it.

Or you can also deploy the asset_management chaincode the same way you use to deploy chaincode_example02. Which can be using a chaincode development environment or a development network.

Important: asset_management chaincode is used to test the invocation access control, so it is fairly complex. Invoking its methods means using digital signatures to check the identity of the chaincode invoker. You can check the asset_management_test file to see how it is done.