@ethereumjs/block

@ethereumjs/block

Implements schema and functions related to Ethereum's block.

Note: this README reflects the state of the library from v3.0.0 onwards. See README from the standalone repository for an introduction on the last preceeding release.

INSTALL

npm install @ethereumjs/block

USAGE

There are three static factories to instantiate a Block:

• Block.fromBlockData(blockData: BlockData = {}, opts?: BlockOptions)
• Block.fromRLPSerializedBlock(serialized: Buffer, opts?: BlockOptions)
• Block.fromValuesArray(values: BlockBuffer, opts?: BlockOptions)

For BlockHeader instantiation analogue factory methods exists, see API docs linked below.

Instantiation Example:

import { BlockHeader } from '@ethereumjs/block'

const headerData = {
  number: 15,
  parentHash: '0x6bfee7294bf44572b7266358e627f3c35105e1c3851f3de09e6d646f955725a7',
  difficulty: 131072,
  gasLimit: 8000000,
  timestamp: 1562422144,
}
const header = BlockHeader.fromHeaderData(headerData)

Properties of a Block or BlockHeader object are frozen with Object.freeze() which gives you enhanced security and consistency properties when working with the instantiated object. This behavior can be modified using the freeze option in the constructor if needed.

API Usage Example:

try {
  await block.validate(blockchain)
  // Block validation has passed
} catch (err) {
  // handle errors appropriately
}

API

Documentation

CONSENSUS TYPES

The block library supports the creation as well as format and consensus validation of PoW ethash and PoA clique blocks.

Ethash/PoW

An Ethash/PoW block can be instantiated as follows:

import { Block } from '@ethereumjs/block'
import Common from '@ethereumjs/common'
const common = new Common({ chain: 'mainnet' })
console.log(common.consensusType()) // 'pow'
console.log(common.consensusAlgorithm()) // 'ethash'
const block = Block.fromBlockData({}, { common })

To validate that the difficulty of the block matches the canonical difficulty use block.validate(blockchain).

To calculate the difficulty when creating the block pass in the block option calcDifficultyFromHeader with the preceding (parent) BlockHeader.

Clique/PoA (since v3.1.0)

A clique block can be instantiated as follows:

import { Block } from '@ethereumjs/block'
import Common from '@ethereumjs/common'
const common = new Common({ chain: 'goerli' })
console.log(common.consensusType()) // 'poa'
console.log(common.consensusAlgorithm()) // 'clique'
const block = Block.fromBlockData({}, { common })

For clique PoA BlockHeader.validate() function validates the various Clique/PoA-specific properties (extraData checks and others, see API documentation) and BlockHeader.validateConsensus() can be used to properly validate that a Clique/PoA block has the correct signature.

For sealing a block on instantiation you can use the cliqueSigner constructor option:

const cliqueSigner = Buffer.from('PRIVATE_KEY_HEX_STRING', 'hex')
const block = Block.fromHeaderData(headerData, { cliqueSigner })

Additionally there are the following utility methods for Clique/PoA related functionality in the BlockHeader class:

• BlockHeader.validateCliqueDifficulty(blockchain: Blockchain): boolean
• BlockHeader.cliqueSigHash()
• BlockHeader.cliqueIsEpochTransition(): boolean
• BlockHeader.cliqueExtraVanity(): Buffer
• BlockHeader.cliqueExtraSeal(): Buffer
• BlockHeader.cliqueEpochTransitionSigners(): Address[]
• BlockHeader.cliqueVerifySignature(signerList: Address[]): boolean
• BlockHeader.cliqueSigner(): Address

See the API docs for detailed documentation. Note that these methods will throw if called in a non-Clique/PoA context.

TESTING

Tests in the tests directory are partly outdated and testing is primarily done by running the BlockchainTests from within the ethereumjs-vm package.

To avoid bloating this repository with ethereum/tests JSON files, we usually copy specific JSON files and wrap them with some metadata (source, date, commit hash). There's a helper to aid in that process and can be found at wrap-ethereum-test.sh.

EthereumJS

See our organizational documentation for an introduction to EthereumJS as well as information on current standards and best practices.

If you want to join for work or do improvements on the libraries have a look at our contribution guidelines.

LICENSE

MPL-2.0