MetaMask: Not retrieving data from the smart contract for the same code in different versions of “Ethers”.

MetaMask issue: not getting data from smart contract

As a developer building a real estate marketplace dApp with MetaMask, I encountered an unexpected issue where my code was getting different data from the same smart contract on different versions of “Ethers” (5.7.2). This issue led to frustration and wasted development time.

The issue: different versions of Ethers

When using MetaMask to interact with a dApp, it is essential to ensure that the web3.js library is compatible with different versions of the Ethereum blockchain. Specifically, we are experiencing issues with different versions of “Ethers” (5.7.2), where the same code retrieves data from the smart contract differently.

The code: same logic across all versions

Our dApp uses a single JavaScript file to handle interactions with the smart contract. The file is structured as follows:

`javascript

constant Web3 = require("web3");

const Web3Provider = require('web3-provider');

async function main() {

const web3 = new Web3(new Web3Provider());

// Replace this comment with your actual logic to interact with the smart contract

const propertyData = await web3.eth.call(0x…property_address, ["GET_PROPERTY_DATA"]);

// Save or process data as needed

console.log(propertyData);

}

The problem: different versions of Ethers



When we run this code, different versions of "Ethers" (5.7.2) produce different results for the same property data. For example :
In version 5.7.0, theGET_PROPERTY_DATAfunction returns an object with a specific set of properties.
In version 5.7.1, theGET_PROPERTY_DATAfunction returns an empty array.

The solution: update Web3.js and provider
To solve this problem, we need to update our web3.js library and provider to ensure compatibility between different versions of the Ethereum blockchain. Here is a step-by-step solution:

Update web3.js: Update theweb3package to version 4.x.x, which supports newer versions of the Ethereum blockchain.
`blow
npm install web3@4.x.x

• Update provider: Update the “Ethers” provider to version 5.x.x, which supports newer versions of the Ethereum blockchain.

Updating npm --force-local ethers.js

Testing and Deployment

After updating our codebase, we need to test and deploy it on different versions of the Ethereum blockchain to verify that the issue is resolved.

• Test on Multiple Ethers: Deploy our dApp on different versions of the Ethereum blockchain (e.g. 5.7.0, 5.7.1, 5.8.0) to ensure that the data retrieval issue is resolved.

• Check Compatibility: Verify that the same logic and code produce identical results on different Ethers.

Conclusion

The Metamask issue we encountered was due to incompatible versions of “Ethers”. By updating our web3.js library and provider, we were able to resolve the issue and ensure consistent data retrieval across different versions of the Ethereum blockchain. This solution can be applied to similar problems in other decentralized application development projects that require compatibility with different blockchain versions.

Ethereum Manual Sentence Checksums