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InnerTx: ContractCallTx

Introduction

The whole script is located in the repository and this page explains in detail how to:

  • Create and sign a ContractCallTx with the innerTx option for an account that has no balance.
  • Wrap the signed ContractCallTx in a PayingForTx using an account with balance to pay the fees of the inner transaction.

Note:

  • This can be done for any transaction type!

UseCases

This functionality allows every service to let their users interact with their decentralized aepp without having them to buy AE by covering their fees.

Examples:

  • Game developers that want to quickly onboard new users.
  • Governance æpps that want people to vote on important proposals without having them to pay anything.
  • Custodians that want to offer an additional services to cover the transaction fees of their clients.
  • ... many more!

1. Specify imports

You need to import Universal, Node and MemoryAccount Stamps from the SDK. Additionally you import the Crypto utility module to generate a new keypair. 

const { Universal, Node, MemoryAccount, Crypto } = require('@aeternity/aepp-sdk')
Note:

  • You need to have the SDK installed via npm i @aetenity/aepp-sdk -g to run that example code.

2. Define constants

The following constants are used in the subsequent code snippets. 

const PAYER_ACCOUNT_KEYPAIR = {
  publicKey: 'ak_2dATVcZ9KJU5a8hdsVtTv21pYiGWiPbmVcU1Pz72FFqpk9pSRR',
  secretKey: 'bf66e1c256931870908a649572ed0257876bb84e3cdf71efb12f56c7335fad54d5cf08400e988222f26eb4b02c8f89077457467211a6e6d955edb70749c6a33b'
}
const NODE_URL = 'https://testnet.aeternity.io';
const COMPILER_URL = 'https://compiler.aepps.com';
const CONTRACT_ADDRESS = 'ct_iy86kak8GGt4U5VjDFNQf1a9qjbyxKpmGVNe3UuKwnmcM6LW8';
const CONTRACT_SOURCE =
`
@compiler >= 6

contract PayingForTxExample =

    record state = { last_caller: option(address) }

    entrypoint init() =
        { last_caller = None }

    stateful entrypoint set_last_caller() =
        put(state{last_caller = Some(Call.caller)})

    entrypoint get_last_caller() : option(address) =
        state.last_caller
`
const NEW_USER_KEYPAIR = Crypto.generateKeyPair();
Note:

  • The keypair of the account is pre-funded and only used for demonstration purpose
    • You can replace it with your own keypair (see Create a Keypair)
    • In case the account runs out of funds you can always request AE using the Faucet
  • The contract is already deployed at the defined address.
  • The NEW_USER_KEYPAIR is used to call the contract. The PayingForTx allows the new user to perform a contract call without having any funds.

3. Open async codeblock

Most functions of the SDK return Promises, so the recommended way of dealing with subsequent actions is running them one by one using await. Therefore we are putting our logic into an async code block 

(async () => {

4. Create object instances

  const payerAccount = MemoryAccount({ keypair: PAYER_ACCOUNT_KEYPAIR })
  const newUserAccount = MemoryAccount({ keypair: NEW_USER_KEYPAIR })
  const node = await Node({ url: NODE_URL })
  const client = await Universal({
    nodes: [{ name: 'testnet', instance: node }],
    compilerUrl: COMPILER_URL,
    accounts: [payerAccount, newUserAccount],
  })
The Universal Stamp itself is asynchronous as it determines the node's version and rest interface automatically. Only once the Promise is fulfilled, you know you have a working object instance which is assigned to the client constant in this case.

Note:

  • Universal is not a constructor but a factory, which means it's not invoked with new.

5. Create and sign ContractCallTx on behalf of new user

Currently there is no high-level API available that allows you to create and sign the ContractCallTx by invoking the generated contract method on the contract instance that you typically use for contract calls.

Following 3 steps need to be done:

  1. Create calldata by calling the http compiler using contractEncodeCallDataAPI and providing the contract source, the name of the entrypoint to call as well as the required params.
    • The entrypoint with the name set_latest_caller doesn't require any params so you can provide an empty array
  2. Create the ContractCreateTx by providing all required params.
    • You could omit amount, gas and gasPrice if you choose to stick to the default values (see transaction options)
  3. Sign the transaction by providing innerTx: true as transaction option.
    • The transaction will be signed in a special way that is required for inner transactions.
  const calldata = await client.contractEncodeCallDataAPI(CONTRACT_SOURCE, "set_last_caller", [])
  const contractCallTx = await client.contractCallTx({ callerId: await newUserAccount.address(), contractId: CONTRACT_ADDRESS, amount: 0, gas: 1000000, gasPrice: 1500000000, callData: calldata })
  const signedContractCallTx = await client.signTransaction(contractCallTx, { onAccount: newUserAccount, innerTx: true })

6. Create, sign & broadcast the PayingForTx as payer

  const payForTx = await client.payForTransaction(signedContractCallTx, { onAccount: payerAccount })
  console.log(payForTx)

7. Check that last caller is the new user

Knowing the contract address and the source code allows you to initialize a contract instance and interact with the contract in a convenient way. 

  const contractInstance = await client.getContractInstance(CONTRACT_SOURCE, { contractAddress: CONTRACT_ADDRESS })
  const dryRunTx = await contractInstance.methods.get_last_caller()
  console.log(`New user: ${await newUserAccount.address()}`)
  console.log(`Last caller: ${dryRunTx.decodedResult}`)
Note:

  • Last caller should now be the address of the new user.
  • For regular (non-stateful) entrypoints the SDK automatically performs a dry-run which allows to perform read-only calls for free, see Contract guide.

8. Close and run async codeblock

Now you can close the async codeblock and execute it at the same time. 

})()