Precompiled Contracts on Moonbase Alpha¶
Introduction¶
Another feature added with the release of Moonbase Alpha v2 is the inclusion of some precompiled contracts that are natively available on Ethereum.
Five precompiles are currently included, including: ecrecover, sha256, ripemd-160, the identity function, and the modular exponentiation.
In this guide, we will explain how to use and/or verify these precompiles.
Checking Prerequisites¶
We need to install Node.js (we'll use v15.x) and the npm package manager. You can download directly from Node.js or in your terminal:
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_15.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs
# You can use homebrew (https://docs.brew.sh/Installation)
brew install node
# Or you can use nvm (https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm)
nvm install node
We can verify that everything is installed correctly by querying the version for each package:
node -v
npm -v
As of writing this guide, the versions used were 15.2.1 and 7.0.8, respectively. We will also need to install the Web3 package by executing:
npm install --save web3
To verify the installed version of Web3, you can use the ls command:
npm ls web3
Verify Signatures with ECRECOVER¶
The main function of this precompile is to verify the signature of a message. In general terms, you feed ecrecover the transaction's signature values and it returns an address. The signature is verified if the address returned is the same as the public address that sent the transaction.
Let's jump into a small example to showcase how to leverage this precompiled function. To do so we need to retrieve the transaction's signature values (v, r, s). Therefore, we'll sign and retrieve the signed message where these values are:
const Web3 = require('web3');
// Provider
const web3 = new Web3('https://rpc.testnet.moonbeam.network');
// Address and Private Key
const address = '0x6Be02d1d3665660d22FF9624b7BE0551ee1Ac91b';
const pk1 = '99B3C12287537E38C90A9219D4CB074A89A16E9CDB20BF85728EBD97C343E342';
const msg = web3.utils.sha3('supercalifragilisticexpialidocious');
async function signMessage(pk) {
try {
// Sign and get Signed Message
const smsg = await web3.eth.accounts.sign(msg, pk);
console.log(smsg);
} catch (error) {
console.error(error);
}
}
signMessage(pk1);
This code will return the following object in the terminal:
{
message: '0xc2ae6711c7a897c75140343cde1cbdba96ebbd756f5914fde5c12fadf002ec97',
messageHash: '0xc51dac836bc7841a01c4b631fa620904fc8724d7f9f1d3c420f0e02adf229d50',
v: '0x1b',
r: '0x44287513919034a471a7dc2b2ed121f95984ae23b20f9637ba8dff471b6719ef',
s: '0x7d7dc30309a3baffbfd9342b97d0e804092c0aeb5821319aa732bc09146eafb4',
signature: '0x44287513919034a471a7dc2b2ed121f95984ae23b20f9637ba8dff471b6719ef7d7dc30309a3baffbfd9342b97d0e804092c0aeb5821319aa732bc09146eafb41b'
}
pragma solidity ^0.7.0;
contract ECRECOVER{
address addressTest = 0x12Cb274aAD8251C875c0bf6872b67d9983E53fDd;
bytes32 msgHash = 0xc51dac836bc7841a01c4b631fa620904fc8724d7f9f1d3c420f0e02adf229d50;
uint8 v = 0x1b;
bytes32 r = 0x44287513919034a471a7dc2b2ed121f95984ae23b20f9637ba8dff471b6719ef;
bytes32 s = 0x7d7dc30309a3baffbfd9342b97d0e804092c0aeb5821319aa732bc09146eafb4;
function verify() public view returns(bool) {
// Use ECRECOVER to verify address
return (ecrecover(msgHash, v, r, s) == (addressTest));
}
}
Using the Remix compiler and deployment and with MetaMask pointing to Moonbase Alpha, we can deploy the contract and call the verify() method that returns true if the address returned by ecrecover is equal to the address used to sign the message (related to the private key and needs to be manually set in the contract).
Hashing with SHA256¶
This hashing function returns the SHA256 hash from the given data. To test this precompile, you can use this online tool to calculate the SHA256 hash of any string you want. In our case, we'll do so with Hello World!. We can head directly to Remix and deploy the following code, where the calculated hash is set for the expectedHash variable:
pragma solidity ^0.7.0;
contract Hash256{
bytes32 public expectedHash = 0x7f83b1657ff1fc53b92dc18148a1d65dfc2d4b1fa3d677284addd200126d9069;
function calculateHash() internal pure returns (bytes32) {
string memory word = 'Hello World!';
bytes32 hash = sha256(bytes (word));
return hash;
}
function checkHash() public view returns(bool) {
return (calculateHash() == expectedHash);
}
}
checkHash() method that returns true if the hash returned by calculateHash() is equal to the hash provided.
Hashing with RIPEMD-160¶
This hashing function returns a RIPEMD-160 hash from the given data. To test this precompile, you can use this online tool to calculate the RIPEMD-160 hash of any string. In our case, we'll do so again with Hello World!. We'll reuse the same code as before, but use the ripemd160 function. Note that it returns a bytes20 type variable:
pragma solidity ^0.7.0;
contract HashRipmd160{
bytes20 public expectedHash = hex'8476ee4631b9b30ac2754b0ee0c47e161d3f724c';
function calculateHash() internal pure returns (bytes20) {
string memory word = 'Hello World!';
bytes20 hash = ripemd160(bytes (word));
return hash;
}
function checkHash() public view returns(bool) {
return (calculateHash() == expectedHash);
}
}
checkHash() method that returns true if the hash returned by calculateHash() is equal to the hash provided.
The Identity Function¶
Also known as datacopy, this function serves as a cheaper way to copy data in memory. The Solidity compiler does not support it, so it needs to be called with inline assembly. The following code (adapted to Solidity), can be used to call this precompiled contract. We can use this online tool to get bytes from any string, as this is the input of the method callDataCopy().
pragma solidity ^0.7.0;
contract Identity{
bytes public memoryStored;
function callDatacopy(bytes memory data) public returns (bytes memory) {
bytes memory result = new bytes(data.length);
assembly {
let len := mload(data)
if iszero(call(gas(), 0x04, 0, add(data, 0x20), len, add(result,0x20), len)) {
invalid()
}
}
memoryStored = result;
return result;
}
}
callDataCopy() method and verify if memoryStored matches the bytes that you pass in as an input of the function.
Modular Exponentiation¶
This fifth precompile calculates the remainder when an integer b (base) is raised to the e-th power (the exponent), and is divided by a positive integer m (the modulus).
The Solidity compiler does not support it, so it needs to be called with inline assembly. The following code was simplified to show the functionality of this precompile.
pragma solidity ^0.7.0;
contract ModularCheck {
uint public checkResult;
// Function to Verify ModExp Result
function verify( uint _base, uint _exp, uint _modulus) public {
checkResult = modExp(_base, _exp, _modulus);
}
function modExp(uint256 _b, uint256 _e, uint256 _m) public returns (uint256 result) {
assembly {
// Free memory pointer
let pointer := mload(0x40)
// Define length of base, exponent and modulus. 0x20 == 32 bytes
mstore(pointer, 0x20)
mstore(add(pointer, 0x20), 0x20)
mstore(add(pointer, 0x40), 0x20)
// Define variables base, exponent and modulus
mstore(add(pointer, 0x60), _b)
mstore(add(pointer, 0x80), _e)
mstore(add(pointer, 0xa0), _m)
// Store the result
let value := mload(0xc0)
// Call the precompiled contract 0x05 = bigModExp
if iszero(call(not(0), 0x05, 0, pointer, 0xc0, value, 0x20)) {
revert(0, 0)
}
result := mload(value)
}
}
}
You can try this in Remix. Use the function verify(), passing the base, exponent, and modulus. The function will store the value in the checkResult variable.
We Want to Hear From You¶
If you have any feedback regarding Moonbase Alpha, the precompiled contracts, or any other Moonbeam-related topic, feel free to reach out through our official development Discord channel.