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Using Truffle and the CryptoZombies example code, when I type ZombieFactory.deployed() the contract is shown with all of its functions. For example, 

createRandomZombie:
  { [Function: bound ]
    request: [Function: bound ],
    call: [Function: bound ],
    sendTransaction: [Function: bound ],
    estimateGas: [Function: bound ],
    getData: [Function: bound ],
    string: [Circular] },
 allEvents: [Function: bound ],
 NewZombie: { [Function: bound ] 'uint256,string,uint256': [Function: bound ] },
 OwnershipTransferred: { [Function: bound ] 'address,address': [Function: bound ] } },

What does [Function: bound] mean? Why are request and call shown? They are not separate functions that are in the Solidity file.

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Truffle for every contract function it creates several "shortcuts":

  • function() will create a transaction and wait for it to be mined,
  • function.sendTransaction() will create a transaction and return immediately the txhash,
  • function.call() will make a call overriding the abi definition (will not modify the contract state),
  • function.estimateGas() will estimate the execution gas,
  • function.request() return the JSON-RPC formatted command.
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  • what does it mean for a call to override abi definition? would not the call have to be compatible with the function definition? – Jeff Apr 23 '18 at 14:53
  • The abi specifies for each function if it is constant or not. Truffle will map function() to the default operation, ie constant function will make a call, and non constant function will make a transaction. Using .sendTransaction() or .call() you can override the default behavior. – Ismael Apr 23 '18 at 15:28
  • Please point me to what a "constant function" is in the case here (I think) of Solidity is. Also, does an abi not do more than specify constant or not? – Jeff Apr 24 '18 at 0:56
  • A constant function is a function that doesn't modify the contract storage, for example querying a token balance. Non constant functions are the ones that modify the contract storage, for example a transfer of tokens because it has to adjust the balances of sender and recipient. The solidity abi is complex, you can look at the latest specification solidity.readthedocs.io/en/v0.4.23/abi-spec.html. – Ismael Apr 24 '18 at 2:25

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