Switch mainnet / testnet / signet / regtest from GUI

Sjors commented at 1:04 pm on August 28, 2020: member

The only ways to start QT with a different network is to launch it from the command line or edit bitcoin.conf. It would be nice if it can be done from the settings screen (a restart is fine).

Sjors added the label Feature on Aug 28, 2020

michaelfolkson commented at 1:23 pm on August 28, 2020: member

Concept ACK. Wait for Signet to be merged first? So there would be mainnet, testnet, regtest and signet options in the GUI?

[edit: GUI functionality comes in a later release typically so I am assuming we won’t wait for Signet to be merged for this. Signet won’t be included in this]

ghost commented at 3:03 pm on August 28, 2020: none

The only ways to start QT with a different network is to launch it from the command line or edit bitcoin.conf. It would be nice if it can be done from the settings screen (a restart is fine).

In Windows if you search for “bitcoin” you get two options for mainnet and testnet which are links to shortcuts that have below targets set in their properties and same thing for electrum wallet:

“C:\Program Files\Bitcoin\bitcoin-qt.exe” “C:\Program Files\Bitcoin\bitcoin-qt.exe” -testnet

mainnet-testnet-shortcuts

Shortcuts can be created in Ubuntu as well.

jonasschnelli commented at 3:12 pm on August 28, 2020: contributor

Concept ACK. Since the different nets can run in parallel, would it be possible to open – say – regtest form mainnet (new application launch instead of restart)?

Sjors commented at 3:31 pm on August 28, 2020: member

@prayank23 that’s pretty cool. If that can be done on macOS too that’s nice. That also lets you run in parallel, which as @jonasschnelli points out is useful.

RandyMcMillan commented at 7:18 am on September 20, 2020: contributor

In reference to color selection:

#89 (comment)

If multiple networks can be easily ran in parallel - color blindness should be considered and an effort should be made so the UIs are distinguishable by people that may not be able to tell a difference between orange and green (or whatever colors are ultimately used).

jonatack commented at 7:35 am on September 20, 2020: contributor

If multiple networks can be easily ran in parallel - color blindness should be considered and an effort should be made so the UIs are distinguishable by people that may not be able to tell a difference between orange and green (or whatever colors are ultimately used).

Regtest/testnet/mainnet GUIs can be run at the same time, just like bitcoind.

On Debian at least, the splash/loading and main screens display “[testnet]” or “[test]”. It might be good to have it also displayed in the node windows.

I’m not sure if that is sufficient for color-blind people; it’s good to raise the question.

Bosch-0 commented at 9:08 am on September 24, 2020: none

Concept ACK - though I think this should be buried in advanced options, end users should not have to be concerned with the various networks and could accidentally switch and be very confused / potentially lose bitcoin.

Also regarding color blind concerns @RandyMcMillan I made the below comment over at #89

I would be interested in (somehow) getting feed back from color blind people.

There are some tools online but I am not sure how reliable they are. Below I used https://logolab.app/lab to test color blindness for the different icons we use, it only tests for Deuteranomaly, Protanopia and Tritanopia though (A few other kinds exist). Blacks pretty much look the same for everyone so will it will be the most consistent for color blind users - another reason to stick with black imo.

Some observations - Tritanopia will likely see regtest and testnet the same color, protanopia may see testnet the same as orange, Deuteranomaly may see orange and testnet as similar in color.

In Windows if you search for “bitcoin” you get two options for mainnet and testnet which are links to shortcuts that have below targets set in their properties and same thing for electrum wallet: @prayank23 I don’t think this is a good idea, naive users probably don’t know the difference between the two and shouldn’t have too. I think having one app option for main net and the ability to change once inside the GUI will result in less user error.

ghost commented at 1:32 pm on September 25, 2020: none

What color is signet using? I couldn’t find the details in the PR.

@Bosch-0 c7898bc

Bosch-0 commented at 4:39 am on September 27, 2020: none

Updated comment to include signet

Sjors renamed this:
~~Switch mainnet / testnet / regtest from GUI~~
Switch mainnet / testnet / signet / regtest from GUI
on May 10, 2021

Sjors commented at 6:28 pm on May 10, 2021: member

Signet has been merged since. This is still on my wish list :-)

kristapsk commented at 8:49 pm on May 10, 2021: contributor

I personally just have different desktop entries for mainnet, regtest, testnet and signet and can launch any of them or even multiple simultaneously. https://github.com/kristapsk/portage-overlay/blob/7d1a0e1a9c5fae843cd3658b9d4b99bf3a3d2fde/net-p2p/bitcoin-qt/bitcoin-qt-0.21.1.ebuild#L145

Sjors commented at 2:53 pm on August 31, 2021: member

I was looking into using settings.json to store the network choice, but this is tricky because each network has its own settings.json, which is read after the network is decided.

Sjors commented at 11:10 am on September 1, 2021: member

Implemented in #414 using QSettings.

Switch mainnet / testnet / signet / regtest from GUI #78