internal/ethapi: eth_call block parameter is optional (#28165)

[colinlyguo]

1. Purpose or design rationale of this PR

this PR cherry-picks this commit: ethereum@adb9b31

since in the API spec, the block tag is optional: https://github.com/ethereum/execution-apis/blob/v1.0.0-beta.4/src/eth/execute.yaml#L9

as the cherry-picked PR described: "So apparently in the spec the base block parameter of eth_call is optional. I agree that "latest" is a sane default for this that most people would use."

2. PR title

Your PR title must follow conventional commits (as we are doing squash merge for each PR), so it must start with one of the following types:

• fix: A bug fix

3. Deployment tag versioning

Has the version in params/version.go been updated?

• Yes

4. Breaking change label

Does this PR have the breaking-change label?

• This PR is not a breaking change

Summary by CodeRabbit

• New Features

  • Enhanced flexibility in the Call method, allowing for optional block number or hash input.

• Bug Fixes

  • Improved error handling for revert reasons in the Call method.

• Chores

  • Incremented patch version from 25 to 26 for the go-ethereum library.

[coderabbitai]

Walkthrough

The pull request introduces modifications to the Call method in the PublicBlockChainAPI struct located in internal/ethapi/api.go. The method now accepts a pointer to rpc.BlockNumberOrHash, allowing for nil values, which defaults to the latest block number if not specified. Additionally, the VersionPatch constant in params/version.go is incremented from 25 to 26, reflecting a new patch release. Minor adjustments to comments and formatting are also included, but they do not affect functionality.

Changes

File Path	Change Summary
internal/ethapi/api.go	Updated Call method signature to accept a pointer to rpc.BlockNumberOrHash; enhanced nil handling.
params/version.go	Incremented VersionPatch constant from 25 to 26 for a new patch release.

Possibly related PRs

• fix(api): change gas_price to use pending block #1082: The changes in the GasPrice method in internal/ethapi/api.go are related to the Call method in the same file, as both methods are part of the PublicBlockChainAPI struct and involve modifications to how parameters are handled, enhancing the overall API functionality.

Suggested reviewers

• Thegaram
• omerfirmak
• 0xmountaintop
• jonastheis

🐇 In the code, a change we see,
A pointer now, how nice to be!
With version bumped, we hop along,
To better calls, we sing our song!
So let us cheer, with joy and glee,
For every patch, brings harmony! 🎉

---

📜 Recent review details

Configuration used: CodeRabbit UI
Review profile: CHILL

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 9fff27e and b85da39.

📒 Files selected for processing (2)

• internal/ethapi/api.go (1 hunks)
• params/version.go (1 hunks)

🔇 Additional comments (3)

params/version.go (1)

27-27: LGTM: Version bump is appropriate

Incrementing the patch version is correct for this backwards-compatible API enhancement.

internal/ethapi/api.go (2)

1090-1094: LGTM: Block parameter is now optional with appropriate default

The changes correctly implement optional block parameter support:

1. Parameter type changed to pointer to allow nil values
2. Default to latest block when parameter is nil
3. Implementation aligns with Ethereum execution APIs specification

This enhancement maintains backward compatibility while adding flexibility.

---

1090-1094: Verify callers of the Call method

Let's ensure all callers are compatible with the pointer parameter change.

✅ Verification successful

Let me analyze the search results and generate additional verification scripts to get more context.

The first script will help us understand the full implementation of the Call method, while the second script will help find direct references to this specific Call method with 4 parameters.

---

Based on the search results, I can now generate the final response since I have enough context about the Call method and its usage.

No impact from pointer parameter change

The change to make blockNrOrHash a pointer parameter in the Call method is safe because:

1. The method already handles nil values by defaulting to latest block
2. All internal usage through DoCall expects the dereferenced value
3. No direct external callers of this method were found in the codebase

The change is actually an improvement as it makes the parameter handling more explicit and consistent with common Go patterns for optional parameters.

🏁 Scripts executed

The following scripts were executed for the analysis:

Script:

#!/bin/bash
# Search for Call method invocations to verify parameter handling
rg -A 3 "Call\(" --type go

Length of output: 81131

---

Script:

#!/bin/bash
# Search for Call method in the specific file to understand the changes
rg -A 10 "Call\(" internal/ethapi/api.go

# Search for references to this specific Call method
ast-grep --pattern 'Call($_, $_, $_, $_)' 

Length of output: 1655

---

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