Account addresses in genesisStates should be prefixed with '0x'

[ethereumjs]

Account addresses in genesisStates should be prefixed with '0x'

[holgerd77]

I think we should directly fix the addresses, should be doable with some clever search-and-replace.

[vpulim]

What is with the values, there is also some hex-decimal mix on this. Just have checked, at least this is consistent along a separate chain genesis file (e.g. mainnet.json). Would you also say that this is at least correctly working for now? My assumption without following the code paths is that non-prefixed values are regarded as being decimal?

Since no one uses the genesisStates files yet, it's hard to make a judgment about if the values are working correctly. It's really up to the user of the genesisStates to properly handle the mixed types. I think there can be three possible types for account balances:

1. Number: This is a simple case where the value is obviously a decimal integer, but it can't be used for large numbers (more than 53 bits)
2. String w/ 0x prefix: This is obviously a hex value and should be loaded with BN to hold the number value. This can be used for numbers larger than 53 bits.
3. String w/o 0x prefix: This is the confusing case and should be avoided (in my opinion). It's unclear whether this is a raw string value (not possible for account balances), a number encoded in hex but with the 0x prefix missing, or a regular decimal number as a string (not hex-encoded).

Until we switch to TypeScript, my preference would be to always use a 0x prefix and hex encode numbers when they are encoded as string, or just use a plain number value (not a string).

[holgerd77]

I think the real solution to this is really to stop this nonsense and be more strict in the utility functions in ethereumjs-util and just throw on stuff like this on the next breaking release. Then people can handle things like that properly.

We should really put some dedicated thought into that, makes probably sense to do this along the TypeScript transition (or directly before as a first and separate step).

[holgerd77]

What is with the values, there is also some hex-decimal mix on this. Just have checked, at least this is consistent along a separate chain genesis file (e.g. mainnet.json). Would you also say that this is at least correctly working for now? My assumption without following the code paths is that non-prefixed values are regarded as being decimal?

[vpulim]

I think the real solution to this is really to stop this nonsense and be more strict in the utility functions in ethereumjs-util and just throw on stuff like this on the next breaking release. Then people can handle things like that properly.

We should really put some dedicated thought into that, makes probably sense to do this along the TypeScript transition (or directly before as a first and separate step).

Yes, totally agree. Great example of where TypeScript can really help.

[holgerd77]

Closed by #33.