What is Platform 6?
Platform 6 is a unique platform to develop, package and run applications involving business-to-business transactions combining data transformation, automated processes and user actions.
It is the easiest way for developers at startups, systems integrators and corporate IT divisions to build enterprise-class decentralized applications related to structured business document exchanges.
One can leverage Platform 6 to create and run any kind of B2B application involving exchange of data between systems or trading partners, orchestration and workflows… but what makes Platform 6 special is an unrivaled value proposition for anyone willing to build entreprise-class blockchain-based decentralized applications.
In this documentation, Platform 6 will often be referred to as P6.
A unique solution for blockchain decentralized apps¶
Beyond the blockchain ledger and the smart contracts, a lot of off-chain components and features have to be combined to create a blockchain-based enterprise-class decentralized application: user management, workflows, orchestration, data management, interactions with the blockchain framework, integration with other systems, user interface, API…
Typically, developers have been building such applications by assembling open source and/or commercial components and gluing them together with custom code – making it a complex and time consuming endeavor that requires a lot of development and testing.
Thanks to Platform 6’ comprehensive set of tools, services and features, developers are able to build decentralized applications in days or weeks instead of months.
If you are about to start developing such an app, all you need to do is:
- pick your preferred blockchain framework,
- develop your smart contracts (the on-chain part of your application),
- leverage Platform 6 to build the off-chain part of your application.
Platform 6 aims at providing native and easy access to all major enterprise blockchain frameworks, alleviating the need to develop specific interfaces.
Platform 6 supports Ethereum Geth, Parity, Hyperledger Besu (formerly Pantheon by PegaSys), Quorum and R3 Corda. Hyperledger Fabric will come next.
Down the road, any blockchain framework gaining traction in enterprises will also be added.
A development platform¶
Application publishers can use Platform 6 to develop and package their applications. They can rely on its extensive permissions system which controls in detail what users can do through the user interface and which actions remote systems can perform through the exposed API.
Once developed, an app can easily be packaged (a packaged app is a signed and encrypted file containing all the resources created and selected by the app developer).
Built-in Services¶
Platform 6 offers a comprehensive set of services allowing developers to create apps in a fraction of the time it would take to develop them from scratch.
User interface¶
P6 Portal provides a responsive-design web user interface for developers, allowing them to access all P6 services on one or multiple P6 instances.
P6 Portal can be also leveraged as the user interface for application end users, giving them access to transactions, workflow tasks, dashboards, reports, user management, organizations, etc.
Alternatively, as all of Platform 6’ services are exposed through a REST API, developers can build custom user interfaces if they want their app end users to benefit from a fully customized experience.
Additional tools for developers¶
Platform 6 offers a set of tools for developers.
In particular, developers can leverage P6 Sync, a desktop utility that can extract all configuration items from a P6 instance and represent them as files on a local file system for version control purposes.
A runtime¶
A packaged Platform 6 app can easily be installed and run on any Platform 6 instance.
Typically, each trading partner from an ecosystem or member of a consortium runs its own Platform 6 instance and can install on it one or multiple applications enabling B2B transactions and back-office system integration.
Then, depending on the installed apps, end users may leverage the comprehensive, modern and responsive web user interface of Platform 6 to search and display transactions, process workflow tasks, view charts and reports… or rely on a custom UI for specific apps.