explore-with-gnoweb.md

Exploring gno.land with gnoweb

gnoweb is gno.land's universal web interface that lets you browse applications and source code on any gno.land network. This guide explains how to use gnoweb to explore the blockchain ecosystem.

Networks

The main gnoweb instance is available at gno.land, which serves the Portal Loop network.

For a complete list of all available networks (testnets and more), see Networks.

Understanding Code Organization

Before diving into gnoweb, we need to cover a fundamental concept in gno.land: code organization.

gno.land can host two types of code: realms (smart contracts), and pure packages (libraries). Realms can contain and manage state, while pure packages are used for creating reusable functionality, hence pure.

gno.land employs a storage system which is similar to a classic file system - each package lives on a specific package path. A typical gno.land package path, such as gno.land/r/gnoland/home, contains the following components:

  gno.land     /     r     /    gnoland    /      home
chain domain        type       namespace       package name

Let's break it down:

• chain domain represents the domain of the chain. In this case, the domain is simply gno.land. In the future, the ecosystem may expand to multiple chains which could have different chain domains.
• type represents the type of package found on this path. There are two available options - p & r - pure packages and realms, respectively.
• namespace is the namespace of the package. Namespaces can be registered using the gno.land/r/gnoland/users realms, granting a user permission to deploy under that specific namespace.
• package name represents the name of the package found on the path. This part has to match the top-level package declaration in Gno files.

Viewing Rendered Content

Realms can implement a special Render() function that returns HTML-like content:

gnoweb is a minimalistic web server that serves as a unified frontend for all realms in gno.land. It uses ABCI queries to get the latest state of a specific realm from the gno.land network.

Let's dive into how this works.

Realm state rendering

In line with minimalistic principles, gno.land encourages developers to implement a Render() function within their realms, allowing them to create a Markdown view for how their realms will be rendered. gnoweb utilizes a built-in Markdown renderer that uses the output of the Render() function as its content source.

A simple example of a realm utilizing the Render function can be found below:

package hello

func Render(path string) string {
	if path == "" {
		return "# Hello, 世界！"
	}

	return "# Hello, " + path
}

Based on the provided path, gnoweb queries the gno.land network using the qrender ABCI query. It then renders the response data as Markdown.

The realm above can be found on the Portal Loop at gno.land/r/docs/hello.

While JS/TS clients for Gno exist and developers can create custom websites for their gno.land applications as they see fit, the approach gnoweb takes with Render() is a surefire way for simplicity and ease of development.

:::info Render() is optional Developers can but do not have to provide a Render() function in their realms. Custom getter methods tailored to the specifics of the realm can be built instead. :::

Viewing source code

All code uploaded to gno.land is open-source and available for everyone to see, by design.

Visit the gno.land/r/docs/source realm to learn how you can do this.