web3js - Promises - web3.eth.getAccounts()

Question

Objective: Assign a global variable to the first indexed address returned in web3.eth.getAccounts(). I want this so I can use it in the rest of my code and simply reference a variable.

Problem: Promises. There's something I'm not getting.

Two ways I've tried this:

1) async + await

var Web3 = require('web3');
var web3 = new Web3(new Web3.providers.HttpProvider('http://localhost:8545'));
const getAccounts = async () => {
   const accounts = await web3.eth.getAccounts();
   return accounts;
};
let acct = getAccount()[0];
console.log('The first account is: ' + acct);

2) .then()

    var Web3 = require('web3');
    var web3 = new Web3(new Web3.providers.HttpProvider('http://localhost:8545'));
    let acct = web3.eth.getAccounts().then(data => {return data[0];});
    console.log('The first account is: ' + acct);

Neither seem to be working for me, and must be doing something wrong. Best I can return is "Promise { pending }"

Can anyone help explain how I can use the result of a promise elsewhere in my code?

Answer 1

In both cases for your let, you're assigning a promise again.

If you can run the rest of your code in an async function, the easiest way is:

async function() {
    ...
    let acct = (await web3.eth.getAccounts())[0];
    ... you other code here ...
}

If you want to run the rest of your code outside of an async function, you'll have to delay the execution of the rest, until the promise is fulfilled.