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New opcode: STATICCALL #214

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Dec 4, 2017
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## Preamble

EIP: to be assigned
Title: New opcode STATIC_CALL
Author: Vitalik Buterin <vitalik@ethereum.org>, Christian Reitwiessner <chris@ethereum.org>;
Type: Standard Track
Category: Core
Status: Draft
Created: 2017-02-13

## Simple Summary

To increase smart contract security, this proposal adds a new opcode that can be used to call another contract (or itself) while disallowing any modifications to the state during the call (and its subcalls, if present).

## Abstract


## Motivation

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Shouldn't this be filled with something?


## Specification

Opcode: `0xfa`.
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Why not 0xf5, just after the DELEGATECALL?

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@chriseth @vbuterin same question, any reason to skip 5 opcodes?

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I just took that from some draft, I'm fine with any other value.

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I think we will be better off choosing random opcodes. If we try to avoid gaps, we need to sort EIPs in a linear ordering, and more communication is needed. On the other hand, if we allow gaps, no communication is necessary unless there is a collision (or, when one party notices a collision, they can simply change the opcode, so maybe no communicaiton is necessary).

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That is true, though I do not feel it is a valid concern currently, since only one CALL opcode is being added in Byzantium. (The other opcodes, revert, returndata* are sorted out).

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Does this now stay at 0xfa? Also, what is the gas cost for this opcode?

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`STATIC_CALL` functions equivalently to a `CALL`, except it takes 6 arguments not including value, and calls the child with a `STATIC` flag on. Any calls, static or otherwise, made by an execution instance with a `STATIC` flag on will also have a `STATIC` flag on. Any attempts to make state-changing operations inside an execution instance with a `STATIC` flag on will instead throw an exception. These operations include nonzero-value calls, creates, `LOG` calls, `SSTORE`, `SSTOREBYTES` and `SUICIDE`.
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Is SSTOREBYTES an instruction?

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This was taken from vitalik's draft that assumed another EIP which introduced SSTOREBYTES.

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So far we haven't separated words in the mnemonics: CALLCODE and DELEGATECALL. Maybe STATICCALL is more consistent.


## Rationale

This allows contracts to make calls that are clearly non-state-changing, reassuring developers and reviewers that re-entrancy bugs or other problems cannot possibly arise from that particular call; it is a pure function that returns an output and does nothing else. This may also make purely functional HLLs easier to implement.
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I guess HLL stands for "Haskell-like languages", but maybe not.

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My guess is that it stands for just "high level language".


## Backwards Compatibility

This proposal adds a new opcode but does not modify the behaviour of other opcodes and thus is backwards compatible for old contracts that do not use the new opcode.

## Test Cases

To be written.

## Implementation