Call Tables

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Overview

On Dune, we parse all message calls and transactions made to smart contracts in their own tables. This allows us to isolate the logic of a specific smart contract and analyze how it interacts with other smart contracts.

The data is stored in the format:

[projectname_blockchain].[contractName]_call_[functionName]

This allows us to analyze how a specific function is used in a smart contract, and how often it is called, as well as how it interacts with other smart contracts.

Call tables always originate from the traces table, which contains all the transactions and message calls on the Ethereum network. We parse the data field of the traces table to decode the function call and parameters.

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Decoding

When a transaction is sent to a smart contract on the Ethereum network, it contains a data field. This data field is the encoded function call and parameters. Dune decodes this data and stores it in the corresponding table.

For example, when a transaction is sent to the Uniswap v3 factory contract on the Ethereum network, Dune will decode the data field and store it in the table:

uniswap_v3_ethereum.Factory_call_createPool

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Multiple Instances

For a contract where multiple instances exist, we will decode all calls to all instances of this smart contract into one table. If there are transactions calling the swap function of any instance of the Uniswap v3 pair contract, we will decode this data into the table uniswap_v3_ethereum.Pair_call_swap. The pair contract is a template contract and there are many instances of it, each with its own address. The column contract_address will indicate the address of the instance of the pair contract that was called.

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Common misconceptions

One thing to keep in mind here is that web3.js, web3.py and all other methods of (locally) calling a pure, read, or constant function do not broadcast or publish anything on the blockchain and are therefore not recorded in Dune.

However, if one of these functions is invoked by another smart contract in the context of a transaction, this will be broadcast on the chain and therefore accessible in Dune.

In short: State data stored in the memory of a smart contract is not available on Dune!

A good example of this is the function decimals of the erc20 token contract Uni which is a constant state variable that is able to be accessed through an automatically created ”getter function”. Should a smart contract invoke this function in the context of transaction, this message call will be recorded in the Dune table uniswap_ethereum.UNI_call_decimals".

This is in contrast to anyone calling this function locally using web3.py/web3.js or using the Etherscan frontend to access this state. These local calls are not recorded in Dune.

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Further Reading