Chain data
The following data structures describe the output of various TrueBlocks blockchain queries. These data structures basically mimic the data available directly from the RPC.
Each data structure is created by one or more tools which are detailed below.
Block
chifra blocks returns top level data specified block. You can also include an array for the
blocks’ transactions.
The following commands produce and manage Blocks:
Blocks consist of the following fields:
| Field | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| gasLimit | the system-wide maximum amount of gas permitted in this block | gas |
| hash | the hash of the current block | hash |
| blockNumber | the number of the block | blknum |
| parentHash | hash of previous block | hash |
| miner | address of block’s winning miner | address |
| difficulty | the computational difficulty at this block | uint64 |
| timestamp | the Unix timestamp of the object | timestamp |
| date | a calculated field – the date of the object | datetime |
| transactions | a possibly empty array of transactions or transaction hashes | Transaction[] |
| baseFeePerGas | the base fee for this block | wei |
| uncles | Hash |
Transaction
Transactions represent eth transfers to and from other addresses.
Most of the fields that TrueBlocks returns are standard to all eth transaction. However, one field
is very interesting: articulatedTx provides a human readable output of the input field.
This is a very powerful way to understand the story behind a smart contract.
The following commands produce and manage Transactions:
Transactions consist of the following fields:
| Field | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| hash | the hash of the transaction | hash |
| blockHash | the hash of the block containing this transaction | hash |
| blockNumber | the number of the block | blknum |
| transactionIndex | the zero-indexed position of the transaction in the block | blknum |
| nonce | sequence number of the transactions sent by the sender | uint64 |
| timestamp | the Unix timestamp of the object | timestamp |
| date | datetime | |
| from | address from which the transaction was sent | address |
| to | address to which the transaction was sent | address |
| value | the amount of wei sent with this transactions | wei |
| gas | the maximum number of gas allowed for this transaction | gas |
| gasPrice | the number of wei per unit of gas the sender is willing to spend | gas |
| input | byte data either containing a message or funcational data for a smart contracts. See the –articulate | bytes |
| receipt | Receipt | |
| statements | array of reconciliations | Statement[] |
| articulatedTx | Function | |
| hasToken | true if the transaction is token related, false otherwise | uint8 |
| isError | true if the transaction ended in error, false otherwise | uint8 |
| compressedTx | truncated, more readable version of the articulation | string |
Transfer
The transfer data model is produced by the reconciliation process of chifra export. It
represents, for all intents and purposes, the asset value transfer produced by nearly all value
transfers on any blockchain. While the details of various token transfers are varied, the
underlying mechanism is through token transfers. In our accounting, we focus on the token transfers
and label each such transfer on the input data or event topic data. In this way, our accounting
remains relatively easy (we only reconcile tokens and ETH), but we cover every conceivable token
asset transfer of any type.
The following commands produce and manage Transfers:
Transfers consist of the following fields:
| Field | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| blockNumber | the number of the block | blknum |
| transactionIndex | the zero-indexed position of the transaction in the block | blknum |
| logIndex | the zero-indexed position of the log in the transaction | blknum |
| transactionHash | the hash of the transaction that triggered this reconciliation | hash |
| timestamp | the Unix timestamp of the object | timestamp |
| date | a calculated field – the date of this transaction | datetime |
| sender | the initiator of the transfer (the sender) | address |
| recipient | the receiver of the transfer (the recipient) | address |
| assetAddr | 0xeeee…eeee for ETH reconcilations, the token address otherwise | address |
| assetSymbol | either ETH, WEI or the symbol of the asset being reconciled as queried from the chain | string |
| decimals | Equivalent to the queried value of decimals from an ERC20 contract or, if ETH or WEI then 18 | uint64 |
| amount | the amount of the transfer in the units of the asset | int256 |
| spotPrice | the on-chain price in USD (or if a token in ETH, or zero) at the time of the transaction | double |
| priceSource | the on-chain source from which the spot price was taken | string |
| encoding | the four-byte encoding of the transaction’s function call | string |
Receipt
Receipts record the amount of gas used for a transaction among other things. If the transaction succeeded, a receipt might also have logs.
If the to address of a transaction is 0x0, the input data is considered to be the source
code (byte code) of a smart contract. In this case, if the creation of the contract succeeds,
the contractAddress field of the receipt carries the address of the newly created contract.
The following commands produce and manage Receipts:
Receipts consist of the following fields:
| Field | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| blockHash | hash | |
| blockNumber | blknum | |
| contractAddress | the address of the newly created contract, if any | address |
| gasUsed | the amount of gas actually used by the transaction | gas |
| isError | bool | |
| logs | a possibly empty array of logs | Log[] |
| status | 1 on transaction suceess, null if tx preceeds Byzantium, 0 otherwise | uint32 |
| transactionHash | hash | |
| transactionIndex | blknum |
Log
Logs appear in a possibly empty array in the transaction’s receipt. They are only created if the
underlying transaction suceeded. In the case where the transaction failed, no logs will appear in
the receipt. Logs are only ever generated during transactions whose to address is a smart
contract.
The following commands produce and manage Logs:
Logs consist of the following fields:
| Field | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| blockNumber | the number of the block | blknum |
| transactionIndex | the zero-indexed position of the transaction in the block | uint64 |
| logIndex | the zero-indexed position of this log relative to the block | uint64 |
| timestamp | the timestamp of the block this log appears in | timestamp |
| date | the date of the block this log appears in (calculated) | datetime |
| address | the smart contract that emitted this log | address |
| topics | the first topic hashes event signature of the log, up to 3 additional index parameters may appear | topic[] |
| data | any remaining un-indexed parameters to the event | bytes |
| transactionHash | the hash of the transction | hash |
| blockHash | the hash of the block | hash |
| articulatedLog | a human-readable version of the topic and data fields | Function |
| compressedLog | a truncated, more readable version of the articulation | string |
LogFilter
Log filters are used to speed up querying of the node when searching for logs.
The following commands produce and manage LogFilters:
LogFilters consist of the following fields:
| Field | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| fromBlock | the first block in the block range to query with eth_getLogs | blknum |
| toBlock | the last block in the range to query with eth_getLogs | blknum |
| blockHash | an alternative to blocks specification, the hash of the block to query | hash |
| emitters | one or more emitting addresses from which logs were emitted | Address |
| topics | one or more topics which logs represent | topic[] |
Trace
The deepest layer of the Ethereum data is the trace. Every transaction has at least one trace which
is itself a record of the transaction. If the to address of the transaction is a smart contract,
other traces may appear, if, for example, that smart contract calls other smart contracts.
Traces may be arbitrarily deep (up to the gasLimit) and ultimately represent a tree of function
calls. Some transactions have 100s of traces. The format of the trace is similar to the transaction
itself have a trace action (which contains from, to, value like the transaction) and the
trace result (containing gasUsed like the receipt).
The following commands produce and manage Traces:
Traces consist of the following fields:
| Field | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| blockHash | the hash of the block containing this trace | hash |
| blockNumber | the number of the block | blknum |
| timestamp | the timestamp of the block | timestamp |
| date | a calculated value - the date of the block | datetime |
| transactionHash | the transaction’s hash containing this trace | hash |
| transactionIndex | the zero-indexed position of the transaction in the block | blknum |
| traceAddress | a particular trace’s address in the trace tree | string[] |
| subtraces | the number of children traces that the trace hash | uint64 |
| type | the type of the trace | string |
| action | the trace action for this trace | TraceAction |
| result | the trace result of this trace | TraceResult |
| articulatedTrace | human readable version of the trace action input data | Function |
| compressedTrace | a compressed string version of the articulated trace | string |
Notes
When produced using the --raw option to chifra traces, this data model actually produces transactionPosition instead of transactionIndex. When produced without the --raw option, the model uses transactionIndex to be consistent with other data models such as the transaction.
Traces and TraceActions, when produced during a self-destruct, export different fields when rendered in JSON. In CSV and TXT output, these fields change thier meaning while retaining the header of the original fields. The following table describes these differences:
Fields that change during self-destruct transaction:
| Field | When rendered in JSON | When rendered in csv/txt |
|---|---|---|
| Action.From | Action.Address | |
| Action::To | Action.RefundAddress | |
| Action::Value | Action.Balance | |
| Action.RefundAddress | ||
| Action.Balance |
TraceAction
Other than the first trace which is the trace of the transaction itself, traces represent calls
into smart contracts. Because of this, trace actions closely resemble the fields of the
transaction.
The following commands produce and manage TraceActions:
TraceActions consist of the following fields:
| Field | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| from | address from which the trace was sent | address |
| to | address to which the trace was sent | address |
| gas | the maximum number of gas allowed for this trace | gas |
| input | an encoded version of the function call | bytes |
| callType | the type of call | string |
| refundAddress | if the call type is self-destruct, the address to which the refund is sent | address |
| rewardType | the type of reward | string |
TraceResult
As mentioned above, other than the first trace, traces represent calls into other smart contracts. Because of this, the trace results closely resembles the fields of the receipt.
The following commands produce and manage TraceResults:
TraceResults consist of the following fields:
| Field | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| address | Address of new contract, if any | address |
| code | if this trace is creating a new smart contract, the byte code of that contract | bytes |
| gasUsed | the amount of gas used by this trace | gas |
| output | the result of the call of this trace | bytes |
TraceCount
chifra trace --count returns the number of traces the given transaction.
The following commands produce and manage TraceCounts:
TraceCounts consist of the following fields:
| Field | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| blockNumber | the block number | blknum |
| transactionIndex | the transaction index | blknum |
| transactionHash | the transaction’s hash | hash |
| timestamp | the timestamp of the block | timestamp |
| date | a calculated field – the date of the block | datetime |
| tracesCnt | the number of traces in the transaction | uint64 |
TraceFilter
The traceFilter is an internal data structure used to query using the chifra traces --filter command. Its use may, in the future, be expanded for other use cases. Note that all fields are optional, but not all may be empty at the same time.
The following commands produce and manage TraceFilters:
TraceFilters consist of the following fields:
| Field | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| fromBlock | The first block to include in the queried list of traces. | string |
| toBlock | The last block to include in the queried list of traces. | string |
| fromAddress | If included, only traces from this address will be included. | Address |
| toAddress | If included, only traces to this address will be included. | Address |
| after | Only traces after this many traces are included. | uint64 |
| count | Only this many traces are included. | uint64 |
BlockCount
chifra blocks --count returns the number of various types of data in a block. For example, transactionCnt is the number of transactions in the block,
and so on.
The following commands produce and manage BlockCounts:
BlockCounts consist of the following fields:
| Field | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| blockNumber | the block’s block number | blknum |
| timestamp | the timestamp of the block | timestamp |
| date | a calculated field – the date of the block | datetime |
| transactionsCnt | the number transactions in the block | uint64 |
| unclesCnt | the number of uncles in the block | uint64 |
| logsCnt | the number of logs in the block | uint64 |
| tracesCnt | the number of traces in the block | uint64 |
| addressCnt | the number of address appearances in the block per transaction | uint64 |
NamedBlock
Left to its own devices, the blockchain would try to convince us that only hashes and bytes are
important, but being human beings we know that this is not true. TrueBlocks articulates various
types of data with chifra names detailing the names for
addresses, -articulate describing the Functions and Events of a transaction, and
chifra when describing dated blocks. Dated blocks assign a
human-readable date to blocks given block numbers or timestamps and visa versa.
The following commands produce and manage NamedBlocks:
NamedBlocks consist of the following fields:
| Field | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| blockNumber | the number of the block | blknum |
| timestamp | the Unix timestamp of the block | timestamp |
| date | human readable version of timestamp | datetime |
| name | an optional name for the block | string |
| description | an optional description of the block | string |
Timestamp
Shows the blockNumber, timestamp and difference in seconds between blocks found in the timestamp database.
The following commands produce and manage Timestamps:
Timestamps consist of the following fields:
| Field | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| blockNumber | the number of the block | blknum |
| timestamp | the Unix timestamp of the block | timestamp |
| date | a calculated field – the date of the block | datetime |
| diff | the number of seconds since the last block | int64 |
TimestampCount
Shows the number of timestamps in the timestamps database.
The following commands produce and manage TimestampCounts:
TimestampCounts consist of the following fields:
| Field | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| count | the number of timestamps in the timestamps database | uint64 |
Base types
This documentation mentions the following basic data types.
| Type | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| address | an ‘0x’-prefixed 20-byte hex string | lowercase |
| blknum | an alias for a uint64 | |
| bool | either true, false, 1, or 0 | |
| bytes | an arbitrarily long string of bytes | |
| datetime | a JSON formatted date | as a string |
| double | a double precision float | 64 bits |
| gas | an unsigned big number | as a string |
| hash | an ‘0x’-prefixed 32-byte hex string | lowercase |
| int256 | a signed big number | as a string |
| int64 | a 64-bit signed integer | |
| string | a normal character string | |
| timestamp | a 64-bit unsigned integer | Unix timestamp |
| uint32 | a 32-bit unsigned integer | |
| uint64 | a 64-bit unsigned integer | |
| uint8 | an alias for the boolean type | |
| wei | an unsigned big number | as a string |