Can I use Web3.js to deploy and access smart contracts with a local TestRPC client?

Question

I am at the point where I have migrated my smart contract to a local copy of the TestRPC test client.

1) Using a Node.JS app running on the same PC as the TestRPC test client, can I use the deploy() function to deploy a new instance of my smart contract to the locally running TestRPC client? Or is that only possible with a test net like Rinkeby, etc. or the Ethereum main net as the deploy target?

2) Same question but for accessing smart contracts via the Web3.js library. Can I use that library to interact with the smart contract instance running in the local TestRPC client from a Node.js app running on the same pC.

If anyone has any links to any good samples that shows how to migrate/deploy a smart contract and access the smart contract's view functions from a Node.JS app using the Web3.js library, please share.

Answer 1

I would look in to the documentation of using the Truffle Framework. It allows you to deploy and interact with your smart contracts on TESTRPC or Rinkeby.

Answer 2

To answer your 2nd question, here is an example:

contract("MyContractTest", () => {
    let FACTOR = 5;

    let myContract;
    before(async () => {
        myContract = await artifacts.require("MyContract.sol").new(FACTOR);
    });

    describe(`my test:`, async () => {
        for (let i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
            it(`func(${i})`, async () => {
                try {
                    let expected = i * FACTOR;
                    let actual   = await myContract.func(i);
                    assert(actual.equals(expected), `expected ${expected} but got ${actual}`);
                }
                catch (error) {
                    assert(false, error.message);
                }
            });
        }
    });
});

Everything you need is here.