Storage and get methods
Summary: In the previous steps, we learned how to use the
Blueprintand its project structure.
Tact is a high-level programming language for the TON Blockchain, focused on efficiency and simplicity. It is designed to be easy to learn and use while being well-suited for smart contract development. Tact is a statically typed language with a simple syntax and a powerful type system.
For more details, refer to the Tact documentation and Tact By Example.
Let's create and modify our smart contract following standard steps described in the previous Blueprint overview section.
Step 1: edit smart contract code
At the top of the generated contract file: hello_world.tact, you may see a message definition:
message Add {
queryId: Int as uint64;
amount: Int as uint32;
}
A message is a basic structure for communication between contracts. Tact automatically serializes and deserializes messages into cells. To ensure that opcodes will be the same during message structure changes, it may be added like below:
message(0x7e8764ef) Add {
queryId: Int as uint64;
amount: Int as uint32;
}
Tact will serialize it as follows:
begin_cell()
.store_uint(0x7e8764ef, 32) ;; message opcode
.store_uint(query_id, 64)
.store_uint(amount, 32)
.end_cell()
Using this structure, a message can be sent to the contract from FunC.
Defining the contract
The contract definition in Tact follows an object-oriented programming style:
contract HelloWorld {
...
}
Contract storage
A contract may store its state variables as follows. They may be accessed with Self reference
id: Int as uint32;
counter: Int as uint32;
To ensure that only the contract owner can interact with specific functions, add an owner field:
id: Int as uint32;
counter: Int as uint32;
owner: Address;
These fields are serialized similarly to structures and stored in the contract's data register.
Initializing the contract
If you compile the contract at this stage, you will encounter the error: Field "owner" is not set. This is because the contract needs to initialize its fields upon deployment. Define an init() function to do this:
init(id: Int, owner: Address) {
self.id = id;
self.counter = 0;
self.owner = owner;
}
Handling messages
To accept messages from other contracts, use a receiver function. Receiver functions automatically match the message's opcode and invoke the corresponding function:
receive(msg: Add) {
self.counter += msg.amount;
self.notify("Cashback".asComment());
}
For accepting messages with empty body you can add recieve function with no arguments:
receive() {
cashback(sender())
}
Restricting access
Tact also provides handy ways to share the same logic through traits reusable code blocks similar to abstract classes in other languages. Tact doesn’t use classical inheritance, but traits let you define shared logic without duplicating code. They look like contracts but can’t store persistent state.
For example, you can use the Ownable trait, which provides built-in ownership checks, to ensure that only the contract owner can send messages.
// Import library to use trait
import "@stdlib/ownable";
// Ownable trait introduced here
contract HelloWorld with Ownable {
...
receive(msg: Add) {
self.requireOwner();
self.counter += msg.amount;
self.notify("Cashback".asComment());
}
}
Identity validation plays a key role in secure contract interactions. You can read more about identity validation and its importance in the linked documentation.
Getter functions
Tact supports getter functions for retrieving contract state off-chain:
Get function cannot be called from another contract.
get fun counter(): Int {
return self.counter;
}
Note, that the owner getter is automatically defined via the Ownable trait.
Complete contract
import "@stdlib/ownable";
// message with opcode
message(0x7e8764ef) Add {
queryId: Int as uint64;
amount: Int as uint32;
}
// Contract defenition. `Ownable` is a trait to share functionality.
contract HelloWorld with Ownable {
// storage variables
id: Int as uint32;
counter: Int as uint32;
owner: Address;
// init function.
init(id: Int, owner: Address) {
self.id = id;
self.counter = 0;
self.owner = owner;
}
// default(null) recieve for deploy
receive() {
cashback(sender())
}
// function to recive messages from other contracts
receive(msg: Add) {
// function from `Ownable` trait to assert, that only owner may call this
self.requireOwner();
self.counter += msg.amount;
// Notify the caller that the receiver was executed and forward remaining value back
self.notify("Cashback".asComment());
}
// getter function to be called offchain
get fun counter(): Int {
return self.counter;
}
get fun id(): Int {
return self.id;
}
}
Verify that smart contract code is correct by running build script:
npx blueprint build
Expected output should look like this:
✅ Compiled successfully! Cell BOC result:
{
"hash": "cdd26fef4db3a94d735a0431be2f93050c181e6b497346ededea38d8a4a21080",
"hashBase64": "zdJv702zqU1zWgQxvi+TBQwYHmtJc0bt7eo42KSiEIA=",
"hex": "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"
}
✅ Wrote compilation artifact to build/HelloWorld.compiled.json
Step 2: update wrapper
Wrappers facilitate contract interaction from TypeScript. Unlike in FunC or Tolk, they are generated automatically during the build process:
export * from '../build/HelloWorld/tact_HelloWorld';
Step 3: updating tests
Now let's ensure that our smart contract code fails when we try to send add message from non-owner:
- Create
HelloWorldwith some owner. - Create another smart contract that will have different address -
nonOwner. - Try to send an internal message to
HelloWorldand enusre that it fails with expectedexitCodeand counter field remains the same.
Implementation of test should look like this:
// @version TypeScript 5.8.3
import { Blockchain, SandboxContract, TreasuryContract } from '@ton/sandbox';
import { toNano } from '@ton/core';
import { HelloWorld } from '../wrappers/HelloWorld';
import '@ton/test-utils';
describe('HelloWorld Basic Tests', () => {
let blockchain: Blockchain;
let helloWorld: SandboxContract<HelloWorld >;
let owner: SandboxContract<TreasuryContract>;
beforeEach(async () => {
// Create a new blockchain instance
blockchain = await Blockchain.create();
// Create an owner wallet
owner = await blockchain.treasury('owner');
// Deploy the contract
helloWorld = blockchain.openContract(
await HelloWorld .fromInit(0n, owner.address)
);
// Send deploy transaction
const deployResult = await helloWorld.send(
owner.getSender(),
{ value: toNano('1.00') },
null
);
// Verify deployment was successful
expect(deployResult.transactions).toHaveTransaction({
from: owner.address,
to: helloWorld.address,
deploy: true,
success: true
});
});
it('should initialize with correct values', async () => {
// Check initial counter value
const initialCounter = await helloWorld.getCounter();
expect(initialCounter).toBe(0n);
// Check initial ID
const id = await helloWorld.getId();
expect(id).toBe(0n);
});
it('should allow owner to increment counter', async () => {
// Get initial counter value
const initialCounter = await helloWorld.getCounter();
// Increment counter by 5
const incrementAmount = 5n;
const result = await helloWorld.send(
owner.getSender(),
{ value: toNano('0.05') },
{
$$type: 'Add',
amount: incrementAmount,
queryId: 0n
}
);
// Verify transaction was successful
expect(result.transactions).toHaveTransaction({
from: owner.address,
to: helloWorld.address,
success: true
});
// Check counter was incremented correctly
const newCounter = await helloWorld.getCounter();
expect(newCounter).toBe(initialCounter + incrementAmount);
});
it('should prevent non-owner from incrementing counter', async () => {
// Create a non-owner wallet
const nonOwner = await blockchain.treasury('nonOwner');
// Get initial counter value
const initialCounter = await helloWorld.getCounter();
// Try to increment counter as non-owner
const result = await helloWorld.send(
nonOwner.getSender(),
{ value: toNano('0.05') },
{
$$type: 'Add',
amount: 5n,
queryId: 0n
}
);
// Verify transaction failed
expect(result.transactions).toHaveTransaction({
from: nonOwner.address,
to: helloWorld.address,
success: false
});
// Verify counter was not changed
const newCounter = await helloWorld.getCounter();
expect(newCounter).toBe(initialCounter);
});
it('should handle multiple increments correctly', async () => {
// Perform multiple increments
const increments = [3n, 7n, 2n];
let expectedCounter = 0n;
for (const amount of increments) {
await helloWorld.send(
owner.getSender(),
{ value: toNano('0.05') },
{
$$type: 'Add',
amount: amount,
queryId: 0n
}
);
expectedCounter += amount;
}
// Verify final counter value
const finalCounter = await helloWorld.getCounter();
expect(finalCounter).toBe(expectedCounter);
});
});
Don't forget to verify the example is correct by running test script:
npx blueprint test
Expected output should look like this:
PASS tests/HelloWorld.spec.ts
HelloWorld Basic Tests
✓ should initialize with correct values (211 ms)
✓ should allow owner to increment counter (100 ms)
✓ should prevent non-owner from incrementing counter (152 ms)
✓ should handle multiple increments correctly (112 ms)
Test Suites: 1 passed, 1 total
Tests: 4 passed, 4 total
Snapshots: 0 total
Time: 1.193 s, estimated 2 s
Ran all test suites.
Next step
You've written your first smart contract using Tact, tested it, and explored how storage and get methods work.
Now, it's time to deploy the contract to TON Blockchain.
Deploy to the network