Parameterized Contracts

Parameterizing contracts allows dApp developers to create separate instances of a Helios program.

In Helios, this is done by re-binding one or more top-level const PARAM_NAME = ... declarations.

After re-binding any const parameters to a different value, the resulting program will have a different contract address.

Example

In this example OWNER is a parameter.

spending my_validator

const OWNER = PubKeyHash::new(#)

func main(_, _, ctx: ScriptContext) -> Bool {
    ctx.tx.is_signed_by(OWNER)
}

The parameter can be changed before compiling to the final Uplc format:

const program = helios.Program.new(src);

program.parameters.OWNER = new helios.PubKeyHash("...");

const uplcProgram = program.compile();

Many Helios API types can be used when rebinding the parameters. Also the user-defined types are available through program.types. Besides using Helios API types, Javascript primitive objects (i.e. JSON-like) can be used to re-bind a parameter in some cases.

Contrast with Datum

Attaching Datum data structures to specific UTxOs is another way that a validator or other program can have varying behavior.

Using Datum causes those explicit details to be included in UTxOs (and/or in transactions consuming them). Transactions spending the UTxOs held at the same script address can each access and use those various Datum details. Noteably, any interested party can trivially query to discover all the various UTxOs held at a single contract address.

By contrast, two different instances of a parameterized contract, otherwise identical, will have separate addresses where UTxOs can be held. UTxO's don't need to explicitly contain the parameter values.

Querying for UTxO's in separate instances of a parameterized contract is also possible, but requires the interested party to have sufficient knowledge of those separate instance addresses, or other publicly-visible attributes of the target transactions.

Note that any parameterized contract can also use per-UTxO Datum values, as needed.