Virtual File System

Introduction

The Virtual File System (VFS) is a part of the Andromeda Messaging System (AMP) which was heavily inspired by the linux file system. Users can register their address to a username. They can also register ADOs to paths. These paths can then be used and referenced in our ADO systems.

When an Andromeda App is made, it will register all paths for its child components and also register itself as a child of the instantiating address. Each component under the App is registered by its name, and the App itself is registered under its assigned name.

In addition to paths, symbolic links that point to a path can be created by users.

All paths and usernames are resolved by the VFS in lowercase. For example, the username "USER" and "user" are considered to be the same. Same applies for paths, "/home/USERNAME" and "/home/username" are the same.

Example:

A user does the following:

1. Registers their address as user1 by calling RegisterUser

2. The user then creates an App and calls it "app-1" which has 2 compnents named "comp-1" and "comp-2"

3. The App will automatically register its components under their assigned names

When you register a username, it will registered in the "home" directory. This can also be represented by the "~" symbol or the "." symbol.

In the examples below, /home can be replaced by ~ in the paths. For example, /home/user1 and ~/user1 and ./user1 are considered the same.

The following paths are now registered:

• /home/user1 will resolve the the user's address

• /home/user1/app-1 is the path to get the address of the app contract

• /home/user/app-1/comp-1 is the path to get the address of component 1 in the app

• /home/user/app-1/comp-2 is the path to get the address of component 2 in the app

When Can we Use a VFS Path

When you go through our ADOs, you will notice an AndrAddr struct used very frequently for specifying addresses, whether be user addresses or ADO addresses. The use of this struct signifies that the address can be referenced by either the VFS path or the user/contract address. More on the AndrAddr struct can be found here.

VFS Paths in Apps

Local references can be used in case of Apps. These would include the component addresses and can be referenced using " ./<component-name>" as a valid path.

For example if I want to create an app with two components named "token" and "auction" and in the auction I want to reference the token address, I can use ./token to do so. Another example here would be a sending an NFT from a CW721 to an auction. Instead of specifying the auction contract address as the recipient, you can use the local reference ./auction to do so as long as the components belong to the same App.

Ado_type: vfs

InstantiateMsg

Rust

pub struct InstantiateMsg {
    pub kernel_address: String,
    pub owner: Option<String>,
}

JSON

{
"kernel_address":"andr1..."
}

Name	Type	Description
kernel_address	String	Address of the Kernel contract on chain. Can be found in our deployed contracts.
owner	Option<String>	Optional address to specify as the owner of the ADO being created. Defaultes to the sender if not specified.

ExecuteMsg

AddPath

Registers a component to the path.

Only accepts alphanumeric charaters.

If user1 registers ado1, then the path created would be /home/user1/ado1.

Registering a path that is already found will overwrite the old path.

Rust

pub enum ExecuteMsg {    
    AddPath {
        name: String,
        address: Addr,
        parent_address:Option<AndrAddr> 
    }
}

JSON

{
"add_path":{
    "name":"ado1",
    "address":"andr1..."
    }
}

Name	Type	Description
name	String	The name of the component in the path.
address	Addr	The address of the component.
parent_address	Option<AndrAddr>	Optional address to specify as the parent for the component. If not specified, then the sender will be the parent by default.

AddSymlink

Creates a symbolic link that points to a specific path.

Rust

pub enum ExecuteMsg {
AddSymlink {
        name: String,
        symlink: AndrAddr,
        parent_address: Option<AndrAddr>,
    }
 }

JSON

{
"add_symlink":{
    "name":"my-link",
    "symlink":"/home/user2/app1"
    }
}

Name	Type	Description
name	String	The name of the symlink.
symlink	AndrAddr	The path to point to.
parent_address	Option<AndrAddr>	The address to register the symlink under.

In the JSON example above, if the username of the sender (parent address) is user1, then the symlink /home/user1/my-link would resolve to the path /home/user2/app1.

RegisterUser

Registers a username to an address.

You can only register a username for your address (sender).

Only accepts alphanumeric charaters.

Usernames are unique, meaning no two users can have the same username.

If address is provided sender must be Kernel.

Username cannot exceed 40 characters.

Rust

pub enum ExecuteMsg{
    RegisterUser {
        username: String,
        address: Option<Addr>,
        }
    }   

JSON

{
"register_user":{
    "username":"user1"
    }
}

Name	Type	Description
username	String	The username to register.
address	Option<Addr>	The address to register the username to (Only available to the kernel).

RegisterUserCrossChain

Registers the username of the sender on another chain.

Registerning a username on another chain needs to be done through the Andromeda chain first. Once the username is registered on the second chain, it is possible to register it to a third chain through Andromeda or the second chain.

For example, if I want to register my username on Juno and then Terra, I would need to call RegisterUserCrossChain message from the Andromeda chain FIRST specifying the chain field as juno. Once registered on Juno, I can call the message from either Andromeda or Juno to register it on Terra.

Rust

pub enum ExecuteMsg {
  RegisterUserCrossChain {
        chain: String,
        address: String,
    },
 }

JSON

// Some code

Name	Type	Description
chain	String	The name of the chain you want to register the username on.
address	String	The address on the specified chain to register the username to.

RegisterLibrary

Registers a library address under a library name. Libraries will be set up by Andromeda, and will contain a group of paths that resolve to addresses that can be used by users to create Apps. Users can use the SubDir query to get all the directories that are saved under the library name.

This message cannot be called by a user.

Rust

pub enum Execute {
 RegisterLibrary {
        lib_name: String,
        lib_address: Addr,
    }
}

Name	Type	Description
lib_name	String	The name of the library.
lib_address	Addr	The address of the library.

AddChild

Registers the child's path relative to the parent.

Cannot be called by a user.

When Andromeda Apps are instantiated, it is automatically called, registering the App as a child to the sender's username and each of the components as children of the App itself similar to what we saw in the example above.

Rust

pub enum ExecuteMsg {
        AddParentPath {
        name: String,
        parent_address: AndrAddr,
    }
 }

JSON

{
"add_parent_path":{
    "name": "ado7",
    "parent_address":"/user1/app1"
    }
}

Name	Type	Description
name	String	The name to assign.
parent_address	AndrAddr	The address of the parent ADO.

Ownership

The set of ownerhsip messages. These messages are the same as the ones found in the ADO base section.

QueryMsg

ResolvePath

Gets the address of the specified path.

Rust

pub enum QueryMsg {
    #[returns(Addr)]
    ResolvePath { path: AndrAddr },
}

JSON

{
"resolve_path":{
    "path":"~/user1/app1/ado2"
    }
}

Name	Type	Description
path	AndrAddr	The path to get the address for.

Returns the address of of the path. In the above JSON example, the address of ado2 would be returned.

SubDir

Gets all the paths under the specified directory. Min and max can be used for pagination.

Rust

pub enum QueryMsg {
  #[returns(Vec<PathDetails>)]
    SubDir {
        path: AndrAddr,
        min: Option<SubDirBound>,
        max: Option<SubDirBound>,
        limit: Option<u32>,
    }
 }

 pub struct SubDirBound {
    address: Addr,
    name: String,
}

JSON

{
"sub_dir":{
    "path":"~/user1/app1",
    "limit": 68
    }
}

Name	Type	Description
path	AndrAddr	The path to get all sub directories for.
min	Option<SubDirBound>	The key to start from. Used for pagination.
max	Option<SubDirBound>	The maximum key to return. Used for pagination.
limit	Option<u32>	The number of paths to be returned. Defaults to 50 if not set. Can be set to a maximum of 100.

PathDetails

Returns the path name and corresponding address for each subdirectory path.

Rust

pub struct PathDetails {
    name: String,
    address: Addr,
}

Paths

Gets all the paths that resolve to the specified address.

Rust

pub enum QueryMsg {
    #[returns(Vec<String>)]
    Paths { addr: Addr },
}

JSON

{
"paths":{
    "addr":"andr1..."
    }
}

Name	Type	Description
addr	Addr	The address to get the paths for.

GetUsername

Gets the registered username of the specified address.

Rust

pub enum QueryMsg {
    #[returns(String)]
    GetUsername { address: Addr },
}

JSON

{
"get_username":{
    "address":"andr1..."
    }
}

Name	Type	Description
address	Addr	The address to get the username for.

GetLibrary

Gets the library name of the specified library address.

Rust

pub enum QueryMsg {
    #[returns(String)]
    GetLibrary { address: Addr },
}

JSON

{
"get_library":{
    "address":"andr1..."
    }
}

Name	Type	Description
address	Addr	The address of the library to get the name for.

ResolveSymlink

Returns the path that the specified symlink points to.

Rust

pub enum QueryMsg {
  #[returns(AndrAddr)]
   ResolveSymlink { path:AndrAddr },
 }

JSON

{
"resolve_symlink":{
    "path":"~/user1/symlink1"
    }
}

Name	Type	Description
path	AndrAddr	The path of the symlink to resolve.

Version

Queries the version of the ADO.

Rust

pub enum AndromedaQuery {
     #[returns(VersionResponse)]
     Version {}
     }

JSON

{
"version":{}
}

VersionResponse

Rust

pub struct VersionResponse {
    pub version: String,
}

JSON

{
"version": "0.1.0"
}

Name	Type	Descripton
version	String	The version of the ADO.

Owner

Queries the owner of the contract.

Rust

pub enum AndromedaQuery{
    #[returns(ContractOwnerResponse)]
    Owner{}
}

JSON

{
  "owner":{}
  }
}

ContractOwnerResponse

Rust

pub struct ContractOwnerResponse {
    pub owner: String
}

JSON

{
"owner":"andr1..."
}

Type

Queries the ADO type.

Rust

pub enum AndromedaQuery {
    #[returns(TypeResponse)]
    Type {}
}

JSON

{
"type":{}
}

TypeResponse

Rust

pub struct TypeResponse {
    pub ado_type: String,
    }

JSON

{
"ado_type":"auction"
}

Name	Type	Description
ado_type	String	The type of the ado.

KernelAddress

Queries the kernel address of the chain the ADO is deployed on.

Rust

pub enum AndromedaQuery {
    #[returns(KernelAddressResponse)]
    KernelAddress {},
    }

JSON

{
"kernel_address":{}
}

Returns a String containing the contract address of the Kernel.