Introducing Hive libraries for Microsoft .NET

Today I want to introduce you to a new Microsoft .NET library for Hive developers.

Why a .NET library?

While languages like Python or JavaScript have become very popular for web development, there are also developers out there who are unfamiliar with them. Some developers oriented towards Microsoft languages like VB.NET or C # may be frustrated at having to move away from their preferred programming language and tools like Microsoft Visual Studio.

That's why I've created easy-to-use .NET classes, exposing almost all the APIs of hived and cli_wallet, and allowing .NET developers to play with any API node.

The class library is available for both VB.NET and C# languages.

I also provide a "COM library" (aka .dll) so you will also be able to use it directly in your favorite COM-enabled Windows application like Word or Excel, ... even if you don't have Microsoft Visual Studio to develop and compile applications.

Code example

The library is really easy to use. Here a simple VB.NET code example that read the information from an account and stream the last 100 blocks from the blockchain:

Dim oHC As HttpClient = New HttpClient()
Using oHive As New CHived(oHC,"https://api.hive.blog")
   Debug.Print(ohive.get_config.ToString)
   Debug.Print(ohive.get_account_count.ToString)

   oHive.get_account("arcange")
   Debug.Print(oAccount.ToString)

   Dim oBlock As JObject
   Dim oTrans As JObject
   Dim lLastBlockID As Long 
   
   lLastBlockID = oHive.get_dynamic_global_properties().Item("last_irreversible_block_num")

   For lBlockID As Long = lLastBlockID - 100 To lLastBlockID
      oBlock = ohive.get_block(lBlockID)
      If Not oBlock.Item("transactions") Is Nothing Then
         Debug.Print(String.Format("Block {0} {1} contains {2} transactions",
            oBlock.Item("block_num"),
            oBlock.Item("timestamp").ToObject(Of DateTime),
            oBlock.Item("transactions").Count))
      End If
   Next
End Using

Here another example showing how one interacts with its wallet:

Dim oHC As HttpClient = New HttpClient()
Using oWallet As New hiveAPI.ChiveWallet(oHC,"http://my.wallet.node")
   If oWallet.is_locked Then
      oWallet.unlock("mysuperwalletpassword")
   End If

   If oWallet.list_my_accounts.Count = 0 Then
      oWallet.import_key("MY_PRIVATE_POST_KEY")
   End If

   For Each oAccount In oWallet.list_my_accounts
      Debug.Print(oAccount.Item("name"))
   Next

   ' Lets vote on a post ...
   oWallet.vote("arcange", "hiveio", "announcing-the-launch-of-hive-blockchain")
   oWallet.lock()
End Using
        

Open source

The libraries are open source and can be found on GitLab.

If you have any comments or requests, please create an issue on GitLab too. You can also contact me on Discord or Telegram