ethers.js/docs.wrm/migration/ethers-v4.wrm

_section: Migration: From Ethers v4  @<migration-v4>

This document only covers the features present in v4 which have changed
in some important way in v5.

It does not cover all the new additional features that have been added and
mainly aims to help those updating their older scripts and applications to
retain functional parity.

If you encounter any missing changes, please let me know and I'll update this
guide.


_subsection: BigNumber

_heading: Namespace
Since [[BigNumber]] is used quite frequently, it has been moved to
the top level of the umbrella package.

_code: @lang<script>

// v4
ethers.utils.BigNumber
ethers.utils.BigNumberish

// v5
ethers.BigNumber
ethers.BigNumberish


_heading: Creating Instances

The ``bigNumberify`` method was always preferred over the constructor
since it could short-circuit an object instantiation for [[BigNumber]
objects (since they are immutable). This has been moved to a static
``from`` class method.

_code: @lang<script>

// v4
new ethers.utils.BigNumber(someValue)
ethers.utils.bigNumberify(someValue);

// v5
// - Constructor is private
// - Removed `bigNumberify`
ethers.BigNumber.from(someValue)


_subsection: Contracts

_heading: ENS Name Resolution

The name of the resolved address has changed. If the address passed into the
constructor was an ENS name, the address will be resolved before any calls
are made to the contract.

The name of the property where the resolved address has changed from ``addressPromise``
to ``resolvedAddress``.

_code: Resolved ENS Names @lang<script>

// v4
contract.addressPromise

// v5
contract.resolvedAddress


_heading: Gas Estimation

The only difference in gas estimation is that the bucket has changed
its name from ``estimate`` to ``estimateGas``.

_code: Gas Estimation @lang<script>

// v4
contract.estimate.transfer(toAddress, amount)

// v5
contract.estimateGas.transfer(toAddress, amount)

_heading: Functions

In a contract in ethers, there is a ``functions`` bucket, which exposes
all the methods of a contract.

All these functions are available on the root contract itself as well
and historically there was no difference between ``contact.foo`` and
``contract.functions.foo``. The original reason for the ``functions`` bucket
was to help when there were method names that collided with other buckets,
which is rare.

In v5, the ``functions`` bucket is now intended to help with frameworks and
for the new error recovery API, so most users should use the methods on the
root contract.

The main difference will occur when a contract method only returns a single
item. The root method will dereference this automatically while the ``functions``
bucket will preserve it as an [[Result]].

If a method returns multiple items, there is no difference.

This helps when creating a framework, since the result will always be known to
have the same number of components as the [[Fragment]] outputs, without having
to handle the special case of a single return value.

_code: Functions Bucket @lang<script>

const abi = [

  // Returns a single value
  "function single() view returns (uint8)",

  // Returns two values
  "function double() view returns (uint8, uint8)",
];

// v4
await contract.single()
// 123
await contract.functions.single()
// 123


// v5 (notice the change in the .function variant)
await contract.single()
// 123
await contract.functions.single()
// [ 123 ]


// v4
await contract.double()
// [ 123, 5 ]
await contract.functions.double()
// [ 123, 5 ]


// v5 (no difference from v4)
await contract.double()
// [ 123, 5 ]
await contract.functions.double()
// [ 123, 5 ]


_subsection: Errors

_heading: Namespace
All errors now belong to the [[Logger]] class and the related functions
have been moved to [[Logger]] instances, which can include a per-package
version string.

Global error functions have been moved [[Logger]] class methods.

_code: @lang<script>

// v4
ethers.errors.UNKNOWN_ERROR
ethers.errors.*

errors.setCensorship(censorship, permanent)
errors.setLogLevel(logLevel)

errors.checkArgumentCount(count, expectedCount, suffix)
errors.checkNew(self, kind)
errors.checkNormalize()
errors.throwError(message, code, params)
errors.warn(...)
errors.info(...)

// v5
ethers.utils.Logger.errors.UNKNOWN_ERROR
ethers.utils.Logger.errors.*

Logger.setCensorship(censorship, permanent)
Logger.setLogLevel(logLevel)

const logger = new ethers.utils.Logger(version);
logger.checkArgumentCount(count, expectedCount, suffix)
logger.checkNew(self, kind)
logger.checkNormalize()
logger.throwError(message, code, params)
logger.warn(...)
logger.info(...)


_subsection: Interface

The [[Interface]] object has undergone the most dramatic changes.

It is no longer a meta-class and now has methods that simplify handling
contract interface operations without the need for object inspection and
special edge cases.

_heading: Functions

_code: @lang<script>

// v4 (example: "transfer(address to, uint amount)")
interface.functions.transfer.encode(to, amount)
interface.functions.transfer.decode(callData)

// v5
interface.encodeFunctionData("transfer", [ to, amount ])
interface.decodeFunctionResult("transfer", data)

// Or you can use any compatible signature or Fragment objects.
// Notice that signature normalization is performed for you,
// e.g. "uint" and "uint256" will be automatically converted
interface.encodeFunctionData("transfer(address,uint)", [ to, amount ])
interface.decodeFunctionResult("transfer(address to, uint256 amount)", data)


_heading: Events

_code: @lang<script>

// v4 (example: Transfer(address indexed, address indexed, uint256)
interface.events.Transfer.encodeTopics(values)
interface.events.Transfer.decode(data, topics)

// v5
interface.encodeFilterTopics("Transfer", values)
interface.decodeEventLog("Transfer", data, topics)


_heading: Inspection
Interrogating properties about a function or event can now (mostly) be
done directly on the [[Fragment]] object.

_code:

// v4
interface.functions.transfer.name
interface.functions.transfer.inputs
interface.functions.transfer.outputs
interface.functions.transfer.payable
interface.functions.transfer.gas

// v5
const functionFragment = interface.getFunction("transfer")
functionFragment.name
functionFragment.inputs
functionFragment.outputs
functionFragment.payable
functionFragment.gas


// v4; type is "call" or "transaction"
interface.functions.transfer.type

// v5; constant is true (i.e. "call") or false (i.e. "transaction")
functionFragment.constant


// v4
interface.events.Transfer.anonymous
interface.events.Transfer.inputs
interface.events.Transfer.name

// v5
const eventFragment = interface.getEvent("Transfer");
eventFragment.anonymous
eventFragment.inputs
eventFragment.name


// v4
const functionSig = interface.functions.transfer.signature
const sighash = interface.functions.transfer.sighash

const eventSig = interface.events.Transfer.signature
const topic = interface.events.Transfer.topic

// v5
const functionSig = functionFragment.format()
const sighash = interface.getSighash(functionFragment)

const eventSig = eventFragment.format()
const topic = interface.getTopic(eventFragment)


_subsection: Wallet

_heading: Mnemonic Phrases
The **mnemonic** phrase and related properties have been merged into
a single ``mnemonic`` object, which also now includes the ``locale``.

_code: @lang<script>

// v4
wallet.mnemonic
wallet.path

// v5
// - Mnemonic phrase and path are a Mnemonic object
// - Note: wallet.mnemonic is null if there is no mnemonic
wallet.mnemonic.phrase
wallet.mnemonic.path