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How Utils works

The functions used on the Utils class on SparqNet
This serves as a glossary of the functions in the Utils class and how to use them to make development on SparqNet easier.
  • Debugging through log prints
  • Type conversions
  • StringContainer and its aliases
  • Address manipulation

Debugging through log prints

Due to the Subnet's behavior when it is initialized (subnet->start()), printing details in the terminal via std::cout doesn't work as it should. To properly debug the Subnet, you have to use the functions Utils::logToFile() and Utils::LogPrint().
The function Utils::logToFile() logs to the Node's log.txt file and requires only the string that will be logged. The function Utils::LogPrint() logs to the Node's debug.txt file and requires the string that will be logged, the function name (you can use the __func__ macro here) and the module prefix from where the function is being called, that matches an item from the Log namespace (e.g. "Log::Subnet = 'Subnet::'").
Example:
Utils::logToFile("Logging");
// log.txt will say "Logging"
​
void testFunc() {
Utils::LogPrint(Log::db, __func__, "Debugging");
// debug.txt will say "DBService::testFunc: Debugging"
}

Type conversions

At several points in SparqNet's code, raw bytes are used instead of hex strings, but both are treated as std::string, which can be confusing for whoever prints a "string" and gets incoherent values instead of a "Hello World".
If this happens, place the variable that has said data in the function Utils::bytesToHex() in case of a raw bytes string, or Utils::hexToBytes() in case of a hex string.
Example:
Hex data("0x1234567890abcdef");
std::string bytes = data.bytes();
Hex hex = Hex::fromBytes(bytes);
std::cout << data << std::endl;
std::cout << bytes << std::endl;
std::cout << hex << std::endl;
To convert integers to bytes and vice-versa, you should use the functions Utils::uintXToBytes() and Utils::bytesToUintX(), respectively. "X" is the integer size in bits - it can be 8, 16, 32, 64, 160 or 256.
Example:
uint64_t timestampOri = 1234567890;
std::string timestampBytes = Utils::uint64ToBytes(timestampOri);
Hex timestampHex = Hex::fromBytes(timestampBytes);
uint64_t timestampNew = Utils::bytesToUint64(timestampHex);
std::cout << timestampOri << std::endl;
std::cout << timestampBytes << std::endl;
std::cout << timestampHex << std::endl;
std::cout << timestampNew << std::endl;
Alternatively, there are other helper functions:
  • Utils::uintToHex() works with any uint, without having to know its size, e.g. Utils::uintToHex(32).
  • Utils::hexToUint() works the same way, but it only returns 256-bit integers.
  • You can use the HexTo struct along with boost::lexical_cast to convert a hex string to other types:
std::string hex = "0x37285422";
uint256_t bigInt = boost::lexical_cast<HexTo<uint256_t>>(hex);

StringContainer and its aliases

The StringContainer class abstracts a fixed-size string (e.g. StringContainer<10> is a string with exactly 10 characters). Several frequently repeated types in the code are actually aliases to StringContainer, or classes that inherit a StringContainer of a given size.
For a simpler outlook, refer to this simple guide:
  • PrivKey is an alias to StringContainer<32>
  • UncompressedPubkey is an alias to StringContainer<65>
  • CompressedPubkey is an alias to StringContainer<33>
  • Hash is a class that inherits StringContainer<32>
  • Signature is a class that inherits StringContainer<65>
To get the content of any StringContainer, use the data() function:
StringContainer<10> str = "HelloWorld";
std::cout << str.data() << std::endl;

Address manipulation

Some Utils functions exist to make address manipulation easier:
  • toLowercaseAddress() converts the address to an all-lowercase format (e.g. "0xacbdef...").
  • toUppercaseAddress() converts the address to an all-uppercase format (e.g. "0XABCDEF...").
  • toChecksumAddress() converts the address to a mixed-case format, also known as "checksum", according to the EIP-55 specification (e.g. "0xaBcdEF...").
  • isAddress() checks if a string is an address (size, format, and if the checksum is valid when in mixed-case).
  • checkAddressChecksum() checks if the address checksum is correct.
Example:
Address addOri = Address("0x1a2b3c4d5e6f7e8d9c0b1a2b3c4d5e6f7e8d9c0b", true);
Hex addUpp = addOri.toUppercaseAddress(addOri);
Hex addLow = addOri.toLowercaseAddress(addUpp);
Hex addChk = addOri.toChecksumAddress(addOri);
std::string << addOri << std::endl;
std::string << addUpp << std::endl;
std::string << addLow << std::endl;
std::string << addChk << std::endl;
std::string << Utils::isAddress(addChk.get()) << std::endl;
std::string << Utils::isChksum(addChk) << std::endl;
There's no "default" behavior here, but it's ideal to always have addresses in lower case and convert them to other types when required.
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Debugging via log prints
Last modified 7mo ago