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Interface

The Scilla interpreter provides a calling interface that enables users to invoke transitions with specified inputs and obtain outputs. Execution of a transition with supplied inputs will result in a set of outputs, and a change in the smart contract mutable state.

Calling Interface

A transition defined in a contract can be called either by the issuance of a transaction, or by message calls from another contract. The same calling interface will be used to call the contract via external transactions and inter-contract message calls.

The inputs to the interpreter (scilla-runner) consists of four input JSON files as described below. Every invocation of the interpreter to execute a transition must be provided with these four JSON inputs: :

./scilla-runner -init init.json -istate input_state.json -iblockchain input_blockchain.json -imessage input_message.json -o output.json -i input.scilla

The interpreter executable can be run either to create a contract (denoted CreateContract) or to invoke a transition in a contract (InvokeContract). Depending on which of these two, some of the arguments will be absent. The table below outlays the arguments that should be present in each of these two cases. A CreateContract is distinguished from an InvokeContract, based on the presence of input_message.json and input_state.json. If these arguments are absent, then the interpreter will evaluate it as a CreateContract. Else, it will treat it as an InvokeContract. Note that for CreateContract, the interpreter only performs basic checks such as matching the contract's immutable parameters with init.json and whether the contract definition is free of syntax errors.

+---------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | | | Present | +===========================+===============================+====================+====================+ | Input | Description | CreateContract | InvokeContract | +---------------------------+-------------------------------+--------------------+--------------------+ | init.json | Immutable contract parameters | Yes | Yes | +---------------------------+-------------------------------+--------------------+--------------------+ | input_state.json | Mutable contract state | No | Yes | +---------------------------+-------------------------------+--------------------+--------------------+ | input_blockchain.json | Blockchain state | Yes | Yes | +---------------------------+-------------------------------+--------------------+--------------------+ | input_message.json | Transition and parameters | No | Yes | +---------------------------+-------------------------------+--------------------+--------------------+ | output.json | Output | Yes | Yes | +---------------------------+-------------------------------+--------------------+--------------------+ | input.scilla | Input contract | Yes | Yes | +---------------------------+-------------------------------+--------------------+--------------------+

In addition to the command line arguments provided above, the interpreter also expects a mandatory -gaslimit X argument (where X is a positive integer value). If the contract or library module imports other libraries (including the standard library), a [-libdir]{.title-ref} option must be provided, with a list of directories (in the standard PATH format) as the argument, indicating directories to be searched for for finding the libraries.

Initializing the Immutable State

init.json defines the values of the immutable parameters of a contract. It does not change between invocations. The JSON is an array of objects, each of which contains the following fields:

Field Description

vname Name of the immutable contract parameter type Type of the immutable contract parameter value Value of the immutable contract parameter

init.json must specify _scilla_version of type Uint32 specifying a value that is the same as specified in the contract's source, and _library of type Bool specifying whether the deployed code file is a library. Additionally, the blockchain will provide two implicit contract parameters _this_address, a ByStr20 value denoting the address of the contract itself, and _creation_block, a BNum value denoting the block in which the contract is / was created. While working with the offline interpreter, you may need to provide these values in the init.json yourself.

Example 1

For the HelloWorld.scilla contract fragment given below, we have only one immutable parameter owner.

contract HelloWorld
 (* Immutable parameters *)
 (owner: ByStr20)

A sample init.json for this contract will look like the following:

[
  {
    "vname": "_scilla_version",
    "type": "Uint32",
    "value": "0"
  },
  {
    "vname": "_library",
    "type": "Bool",
    "value": { "constructor": "False", "argtypes": [], "arguments": [] }
  },
  {
    "vname": "owner",
    "type": "ByStr20",
    "value": "0x1234567890123456789012345678901234567890"
  },
  {
    "vname": "_this_address",
    "type": "ByStr20",
    "value": "0xabfeccdc9012345678901234567890f777567890"
  },
  {
    "vname": "_creation_block",
    "type": "BNum",
    "value": "1"
  }
]

Example 2

For the Crowdfunding.scilla contract fragment given below, we have three immutable parameters owner, max_block and goal.

contract Crowdfunding
    (* Immutable parameters *)
    (owner     : ByStr20,
     max_block : BNum,
     goal      : UInt128)

A sample init.json for this contract will look like the following:

[
  {
    "vname": "_scilla_version",
    "type": "Uint32",
    "value": "0"
  },
  {
    "vname": "_library",
    "type": "Bool",
    "value": { "constructor": "False", "argtypes": [], "arguments": [] }
  },
  {
    "vname": "owner",
    "type": "ByStr20",
    "value": "0x1234567890123456789012345678901234567890"
  },
  {
    "vname": "max_block",
    "type": "BNum",
    "value": "199"
  },
  {
    "vname": "_this_address",
    "type": "ByStr20",
    "value": "0xabfeccdc9012345678901234567890f777567890"
  },
  {
    "vname": "goal",
    "type": "Uint128",
    "value": "500000000000000"
  },
  {
    "vname": "_creation_block",
    "type": "BNum",
    "value": "1"
  }
]

Example 3: Using Address Types

Whenever a contract has an immutable parameter of an address type, the type ByStr20 must be used in the to initialise the parameter.

For the SimpleExchange we have a single the immutable parameter, which has an address type:

contract SimpleExchange
(
  initial_admin : ByStr20 with end
)

The JSON entry for the initial_admin parameter must use the type ByStr20 rather than the type ByStr20 with end, so an example init.json for this contract could like the following:

[
  {
    "vname": "_scilla_version",
    "type": "Uint32",
    "value": "0"
  },
  {
    "vname": "_library",
    "type": "Bool",
    "value": { "constructor": "False", "argtypes": [], "arguments": [] }
  },
  {
    "vname": "_this_address",
    "type": "ByStr20",
    "value": "0xabfeccdc9012345678901234567890f777567890"
  },
  {
    "vname": "_creation_block",
    "type": "BNum",
    "value": "1"
  },
  {
    "vname": "initial_admin",
    "type": "ByStr20",
    "value": "0x1234567890123456789012345678901234567890"
  }
]

Input Blockchain State

input_blockchain.json feeds the current blockchain state to the interpreter. It is similar to init.json, except that it is a fixed size array of objects, where each object has vname fields only from a predetermined set (which correspond to actual blockchain state variables).

Permitted JSON fields: At the moment, the only blockchain value that is exposed to contracts is the current BLOCKNUMBER.

[
  {
    "vname": "BLOCKNUMBER",
    "type": "BNum",
    "value": "3265"
  }
]

Input Message

input_message.json contains the information required to invoke a transition. The json is an array containing the following four objects:

+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------+ | Field | Description | +===========+=========================================================+ | _tag | > Transition to be invoked | +-----------+---------------------------------------------------------+ | _amount | > Number of QA to be transferred | +-----------+---------------------------------------------------------+ | _sender | > Address of the invoker (in a chain call, this is the | | | > immediate caller) | +-----------+---------------------------------------------------------+ | _origin | > Address from which the transaction originated | +-----------+---------------------------------------------------------+ | params | > An array of parameter objects | +-----------+---------------------------------------------------------+

All the four fields are mandatory. params can be empty if the transition takes no parameters.

The params array is encoded similar to how init.json is encoded, with each parameter specifying the (vname, type, value) that has to be passed to the transition that is being invoked.

Example 1

For the following transition:

transition SayHello()

an example input_message.json is given below:

{
  "_tag": "SayHello",
  "_amount": "0",
  "_sender": "0x1234567890123456789012345678901234567890",
  "_origin": "0x1234567890123456789012345678901234567890",
  "params": []
}

Example 2

For the following transition:

transition TransferFrom (from : ByStr20, to : ByStr20, tokens : Uint128)

an example input_message.json is given below:

{
  "_tag": "TransferFrom",
  "_amount": "0",
  "_sender": "0x64345678901234567890123456789012345678cd",
  "_origin": "0x64345678901234567890123456789012345678cd",
  "params": [
    {
      "vname": "from",
      "type": "ByStr20",
      "value": "0x1234567890123456789012345678901234567890"
    },
    {
      "vname": "to",
      "type": "ByStr20",
      "value": "0x78345678901234567890123456789012345678cd"
    },
    {
      "vname": "tokens",
      "type": "Uint128",
      "value": "500000000000000"
    }
  ]
}

Example 3: Using user-defined types

::: {.note} ::: {.title} Note :::

Due to a bug in the Scilla implementation the information in this section is only valid from Scilla version 0.10.0 and forwards. Contracts written in Scilla versions prior to 0.10.0 and which exploit this bug will have to be rewritten and redeployed, as they will no longer work from version 0.10.0 and onwards. :::

When passing a value of user-defined type through the interpreter interface, the json structure is identical to the one described in the previous example. However, in the interpreter interface all types must be fully qualified, which is defined as follows:

  • For a user-defined type T defined in a module deployed at address A, the fully qualified name is A.T.
  • For a user-defined constructor C defined in a module deployed at address A, the fully qualified name is A.C.

::: {.note} ::: {.title} Note :::

For the purposes of offline development the address of a module is defined as the module's filename, without file extension. That is, if a contract defines a type T with a constructor C in a file F.scilla, then the fully qualified name of the type is F.T, and the fully qualified name of the constructor is F.C. :::

As an example consider a contract that implements a simple board game. The contract might define a type Direction and a transition MoveAction as follows:

type Direction =
| East
| South
| West
| North

...

transition MoveAction (dir : Direction, spaces : Uint32)
  ...

Say that the contract has been deployed at address 0x1234567890123456789012345678906784567890. To invoke the transition with parameters East and 2, use the type name 0x1234567890123456789012345678906784567890.Direction and the constructor name 0x1234567890123456789012345678906784567890.East in the message json:

{
  "_tag": "MoveAction",
  "_amount": "0",
  "_sender": "0x64345678901234567890123456789012345678cd",
  "_origin": "0x64345678901234567890123456789012345678cd",
  "params": [
    {
      "vname": "dir",
      "type": "0x1234567890123456789012345678906784567890.Direction",
      "value": {
        "constructor": "0x1234567890123456789012345678906784567890.East",
        "argtypes": [],
        "arguments": []
      }
    },
    {
      "vname": "spaces",
      "type": "Uint32",
      "value": "2"
    }
  ]
}

If a contract has immutable fields of user-defined types, then the fields must also be initialised using fully qualified names in the associated init.json.

Example 4: Using Address Types

When passing an address value the type ByStr20 must be used. It is not possible to use address types (ByStr20 with ... end) in messages.

This means that for the following transition

transition ListToken(
  token_code : String,
  new_token : ByStr20 with contract field allowances : Map ByStr20 (Map ByStr20 Uint128) end
  )

the input_message.json must use the type ByStr20 for the new_token parameter, e.g., as follows:

{
  "_tag": "ListToken",
  "_amount": "0",
  "_sender": "0x64345678901234567890123456789012345678cd",
  "_origin": "0x64345678901234567890123456789012345678cd",
  "params": [
    {
      "vname": "token_code",
      "type": "String",
      "value": "XYZ"
    },
    {
      "vname": "new_token",
      "type": "ByStr20",
      "value": "0x78345678901234567890123456789012345678cd"
    }
  ]
}

Interpreter Output

The interpreter will return a JSON object (output.json) with the following fields:

Field Description

scilla_major_version The major version of the Scilla language of this contract. gas_remaining The remaining gas after invoking or deploying a contract. _accepted Whether the incoming QA have been accepted (Either "true" or "false") message The message to be sent to another contract/non-contract account, if any. states An array of objects that form the new contract state events An array of events emitted by the transition and the procedures it invoked.

  • message is a JSON object with a similar format to input_message.json, except that it has a _recipient field instead of the _sender field. The fields in message are given below:

+--------------+----------------------------------------------+ | Field | Description | +==============+==============================================+ | _tag | > Transition to be invoked | +--------------+----------------------------------------------+ | _amount | > Number of QA to be transferred | +--------------+----------------------------------------------+ | _recipient | > Address of the recipient | +--------------+----------------------------------------------+ | params | > An array of parameter objects to be passed | +--------------+----------------------------------------------+

The params array is encoded similar to how init.json is encoded, with each parameter specifying the (vname, type, value) that has to be passed to the transition that is being invoked.

  • states is an array of objects that represents the mutable state of the contract. Each entry of the states array also specifies (vname, type, value).

  • events is an array of objects that represents the events emitted by the transition. The fields in each object in the events array are given below:

+--------------+---------------------------------------+ | Field | Description | +==============+=======================================+ | _eventname | > The name of the event | +--------------+---------------------------------------+ | params | > An array of additional event fields | +--------------+---------------------------------------+

The params array is encoded similar to how init.json is encoded, with each parameter specifying the (vname, type, value) of each event field.

Example 1

An example of the output generated by Crowdfunding.scilla is given below. The example also shows the format for maps in contract states.

{
  "scilla_major_version": "0",
  "gas_remaining": "7365",
  "_accepted": "false",
  "message": {
    "_tag": "",
    "_amount": "100000000000000",
    "_recipient": "0x12345678901234567890123456789012345678ab",
    "params": []
  },
  "states": [
    { "vname": "_balance", "type": "Uint128", "value": "300000000000000" },
    {
      "vname": "backers",
      "type": "Map (ByStr20) (Uint128)",
      "value": [
        {
          "key": "0x12345678901234567890123456789012345678cd",
          "val": "200000000000000"
        },
        {
          "key": "0x123456789012345678901234567890123456abcd",
          "val": "100000000000000"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "vname": "funded",
      "type": "Bool",
      "value": { "constructor": "False", "argtypes": [], "arguments": [] }
    }
  ],
  "events": [
    {
      "_eventname": "ClaimBackSuccess",
      "params": [
        {
          "vname": "caller",
          "type": "ByStr20",
          "value": "0x12345678901234567890123456789012345678ab"
        },
        { "vname": "amount", "type": "Uint128", "value": "100000000000000" },
        { "vname": "code", "type": "Int32", "value": "9" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Example 2

For values of an ADT type, the value field contains three subfields:

  • constructor: The name of the constructor used to construct the value.
  • argtypes: An array of type instantiations. For the List and Option types, this array will contain one type, indicating the type of the list elements or the optional value, respectively. For the Pair type, the array will contain two types, indicating the types of the two values in the pair. For all other ADTs, the array will be empty.
  • arguments: The arguments to the constructor.

The following example shows how values of the List and Option types are represented in the output json:

{
  "scilla_major_version": "0",
  "gas_remaining": "7733",
  "_accepted": "false",
  "message": null,
  "states": [
    { "vname": "_balance", "type": "Uint128", "value": "0" },
    {
      "vname": "gpair",
      "type": "Pair (List (Int64)) (Option (Bool))",
      "value": {
        "constructor": "Pair",
        "argtypes": ["List (Int64)", "Option (Bool)"],
        "arguments": [
          [],
          { "constructor": "None", "argtypes": ["Bool"], "arguments": [] }
        ]
      }
    },
    { "vname": "llist", "type": "List (List (Int64))", "value": [] },
    { "vname": "plist", "type": "List (Option (Int32))", "value": [] },
    {
      "vname": "gnat",
      "type": "Nat",
      "value": { "constructor": "Zero", "argtypes": [], "arguments": [] }
    },
    {
      "vname": "gmap",
      "type": "Map (ByStr20) (Pair (Int32) (Int32))",
      "value": [
        {
          "key": "0x12345678901234567890123456789012345678ab",
          "val": {
            "constructor": "Pair",
            "argtypes": ["Int32", "Int32"],
            "arguments": ["1", "2"]
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "events": []
}

Input Mutable Contract State

input_state.json contains the current value of mutable state variables. It has the same forms as the states field in output.json. An example of input_state.json for Crowdfunding.scilla is given below.

[
  {
    "vname": "backers",
    "type": "Map (ByStr20) (Uint128)",
    "value": [
      {
        "key": "0x12345678901234567890123456789012345678cd",
        "val": "200000000000000"
      },
      {
        "key": "0x12345678901234567890123456789012345678ab",
        "val": "100000000000000"
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "vname": "funded",
    "type": "Bool",
    "value": {
      "constructor": "False",
      "argtypes": [],
      "arguments": []
    }
  },
  {
    "vname": "_balance",
    "type": "Uint128",
    "value": "300000000000000"
  }
]