Technical Updates | May 2023 Recap

Welcome to the May 2023 edition of the Technical Updates!

This recap covers the latest enhancements and bug fixes implemented to improve platform functionality and overall user experience.

Let’s dive right in!

1. Pull request #2535 introduces a new feature called “pay_program_rent”.

It includes adding a new extrinsic/API function (#2535) and resolving issue #2509 (programs stopping after the free rent period). Users can now extend the interval by paying additional rent.

2. Pull request #2547 — feat!: Auto replies

Problem issues resolved by Pull request #2547:

• Invariant: every message should get a reply #1676.If a program is voluntary and does not create a reply message, it should be generated by the runtime.
• Send an error reply to program A relaying program B message is out of rent in waitlist #1741. Program A should receive an error reply if the message to program B is removed from the waitlist because it stayed in storage for too long. This occurs when program B calls wait() to add the message to the waitlist.
• Send a signal to the program when a message is removed from the mailbox #1742. The program should send a signal for notification when it removes a message from the mailbox.

3. Pull request #2569 implements the validator_set pallet to manage authorities, allowing the addition and removal of validators to the pallet_session.

The update resolves the problem of the pallet id coming after pallet_session, preventing it from being used with new networks such as local and dev. Additionally, the initialization of Session is now possible with a non-empty validator set for session 0 in the genesis block.

The dev community fixed the issue in gear-tech/substrate-validator-set@fc0fbd5, where the system now automatically falls back to Session if the validators list is empty.

The following additional updates were also featured in May:

• Pull request #2687 incorporates a new feature denying replies with a delay.
• Pull request #2675 introduces a feature prohibiting users from replying to replies. It resolves problem #2674, which requested denying users the option to send replies on a reply.
• Pull request #2599 updates the gear-wasm-builder by passing program build features. It resolves problem #2407, enabling support for program features in the gear-wasm-builder.

Huge thanks to the dedicated community and contributors for actively addressing challenges and enhancing the code base, resulting in exemplary performance. These continuous updates aim to improve functionality and user experience.

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