ethereum.org - buy/sell example unclear

Question

From the buy/sell example on ethereum.org:

function buy() payable returns (uint amount){
    amount = msg.value / buyPrice;                    // calculates the amount
    _transfer(this, msg.sender, amount);
    return amount;
}

function sell(uint amount) returns (uint revenue){
    require(balanceOf[msg.sender] >= amount);         // checks if the sender has enough to sell
    balanceOf[this] += amount;                        // adds the amount to owner's balance
    balanceOf[msg.sender] -= amount;                  // subtracts the amount from seller's balance
    revenue = amount * sellPrice;
    msg.sender.transfer(revenue);                     // sends ether to the seller: it's important to do this last to prevent recursion attacks
    Transfer(msg.sender, this, amount);               // executes an event reflecting on the change
    return revenue;                                   // ends function and returns
}

In the sell function, I understand that Ether is transferred from the contract to the caller via:

msg.sender.transfer(revenue)

But in the buy function, I see nothing equivalent to ensure that Ether is transferred from the caller to the contract.

So how exactly does that take place? Does the keyword payable have anything to do with it?

Thank you!

rustyx · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-02T14:52:36.693

1

To send ether to a contract, you invoke one of its payable functions by sending some ether together with the transaction.

For example: myContract.buy({}, { from: myAddress, value: someAmountInWei })

The amount received can then be seen in msg.value. No action is needed inside the contract to receive ether, the amount is automatically added to the account of the contract once the call finishes successfully (Note: if a function isn't payable, calling it with non-zero ether will fail).

address.transfer() is used to send ether from a contract to some other address (the caller of the function in the case of msg.sender.transfer()).

edited Jul 02 '18 at 14:52

answered Jul 02 '18 at 14:09

rustyx

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So the payable keyword does not only "have something to do with it", but is also the actual trigger which ensures that Ether is transferred into the contract... Am I right? – goodvibration Jul 02 '18 at 14:15
payable is just a flag that allows ether to be sent together with the function call. Without it the function automatically rejects the call if it has any ether value. It's just a safety measure to prevent accidental payments to functions that don't do anything with the received amount. – rustyx Jul 02 '18 at 14:46
OK, but what exactly makes the amount to be "automatically added to the account of the contract once the call finishes successfully"? I mean, is that true for every function (declared payable) which is called with {msg.value > 0}? – goodvibration Jul 02 '18 at 14:55
A contract is "called" by sending a transaction to it. It's the same kind of transaction that you use to transfer ether from user A to user B, the network takes care of transferring the ether regardless of who user B is. Only in case user B is a contract, the EVM will additionally execute its code that further interprets the payload in the transaction (the function name and its arguments). – rustyx Jul 02 '18 at 15:08

ethereum.org - buy/sell example unclear

1 Answers1