fix: prevent sha256() from throwing on statically known strings and document potential issues with runtime hashing

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - Docs: compilation of examples in `data-structures.mdx` and across Cookbook: PR [#917](https://github.com/tact-lang/tact/pull/917)
 - `as coins` map value serialization type is now handled correctly: PR [#987](https://github.com/tact-lang/tact/pull/987)
 - Type checking for `foreach` loops in trait methods: PR [#1017](https://github.com/tact-lang/tact/pull/1017)
+- The `sha256()` function no longer throws on statically known strings of any length: PR [#907](https://github.com/tact-lang/tact/pull/907)
 
 ### Release contributors
 

docs/links-to-web-ide.js

@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ export default function remarkLinksToWebIDE() {
           // Constructing opening <a> tag
           [
             // Open the tag
-            '<a',
+            '<a data-pagefind-ignore="all"',
             // Make links opened in new tab
             'target="_blank"',
             // Set styles

docs/src/content/docs/book/operators.mdx

@@ -104,8 +104,8 @@ Unary here means that they are applied only to one operand of the given expressi
 
 Unary operators can be one of the two types:
 
-* prefix — placed before the expression.
-* postfix (or suffix) —  placed after the expression.
+* Prefix — placed before the expression.
+* Postfix (or suffix) — placed after the expression.
 
 ### Non-null assert, `!!` {#unary-non-null-assert}
 

docs/src/content/docs/book/statements.mdx

@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ The destructuring assignment is a concise way to unpack [Structs][s] and [Messag
 
 The syntax is derived from the [`let` statement](#let), and instead of specifying the variable name directly it involves specifying the structure type on the left side of the [assignment operator `={:tact}`](/book/operators#assignment), which corresponds to the structure type of the value on the right side.
 
-```tact {6}
+```tact {9}
 // Definition of Example
 struct Example { number: Int }
 

docs/src/content/docs/ref/core-math.mdx

@@ -257,11 +257,17 @@ fun sha256(data: Slice): Int;
 fun sha256(data: String): Int;
 ```
 
-Computes and returns the [SHA-256][sha-2] hash as an $256$-bit unsigned [`Int{:tact}`][int] from a passed [`Slice{:tact}`][slice] or [`String{:tact}`][p] `data`.
+Computes and returns the [SHA-256][sha-2] hash as a $256$-bit unsigned [`Int{:tact}`][int] from a passed [`Slice{:tact}`][slice] or [`String{:tact}`][p] `data`.
 
-In case `data` is a [`String{:tact}`][p] it should have a number of bits divisible by $8$, and in case it's a [`Slice{:tact}`][slice] it must **also** have no references (i.e. only up to 1023 bits of data in total).
+In case `data` is a [`String{:tact}`][p] it should have a number of bits divisible by $8$, and in case it's a [`Slice{:tact}`][slice] it must **also** have no references (i.e. only up to $1023$ bits of data in total). This function tries to resolve constant string values at [compile-time](/ref/core-comptime) whenever possible.
 
-This function tries to resolve constant string values in [compile-time](/ref/core-comptime) whenever possible.
+:::caution
+
+  If the [`String{:tact}`][p] value cannot be resolved during [compilation time](/ref/core-comptime), then the hash is calculated at runtime by the [TVM][tvm] itself. Note, that hashing strings with more than $128$ bytes by the [TVM][tvm] can cause collisions if their first $128$ bytes are the same.
+
+  Therefore, prefer using statically known strings whenever possible. When in doubt, use strings of up to $128$ bytes long.
+
+:::
 
 Usage examples:
 
@@ -277,5 +283,6 @@ sha256(someVariableElsewhere); // will try to resolve at compile-time,
 [int]: /book/integers
 [slice]: /book/cells#slices
 
+[tvm]: https://docs.ton.org/learn/tvm-instructions/tvm-overview
 [ed]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EdDSA#Ed25519
 [sha-2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-2#Hash_standard

docs/src/content/docs/ref/stdlib-dns.mdx

@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ Source code (FunC): [dns.fc#L1](https://github.com/tact-lang/tact/blob/e69c7fc99
 native dnsInternalNormalize(src: Slice): Slice;
 ```
 
-Normalizes the internal DNS representation of the [`Slice{:tact}`][slice]. The passed [`Slice{:tact}`][slice] must not have any references, otherwise an exception wit [exit code 134](/book/exit-codes#134) will be thrown: `Invalid argument`.
+Normalizes the internal DNS representation of the [`Slice{:tact}`][slice]. The passed [`Slice{:tact}`][slice] must not have any references, otherwise an exception with [exit code 134](/book/exit-codes#134) will be thrown: `Invalid argument`.
 
 Source code (FunC): [dns.fc#L125](https://github.com/tact-lang/tact/blob/e69c7fc99dc9be3fa5ff984456c03ffe8fed3677/stdlib/libs/dns.fc#L125)
 

package.json

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
     "release": "yarn clean && yarn build && yarn coverage && yarn release-it --npm.yarn1",
     "lint": "yarn eslint .",
     "lint:schema": "ajv validate -s schemas/configSchema.json -d tact.config.json",
-    "fmt": "yarn prettier -w .",
+    "fmt": "yarn prettier -l -w .",
     "fmt:check": "yarn prettier --check .",
     "spell": "yarn cspell --no-progress \"**\"",
     "knip": "knip",

src/abi/global.ts

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import {
     writeExpression,
     writeValue,
 } from "../generator/writers/writeExpression";
-import { throwCompilationError } from "../errors";
+import { TactConstEvalError, throwCompilationError } from "../errors";
 import { evalConstantExpression } from "../constEval";
 import { getErrorId } from "../types/resolveErrors";
 import { AbiFunction } from "./AbiFunction";
@@ -368,23 +368,30 @@ export const GlobalFunctions: Map<string, AbiFunction> = new Map([
 
                 // String case
                 if (arg0.name === "String") {
+                    let str: string | undefined;
+
+                    // Try const-eval
                     try {
-                        const str = evalConstantExpression(
+                        str = evalConstantExpression(
                             resolved[0]!,
                             ctx.ctx,
                         ) as string;
-                        if (Buffer.from(str).length > 128) {
-                            throwCompilationError(
-                                "sha256 expects string argument with byte length <= 128",
-                                ref,
-                            );
-                        }
+                    } catch (error) {
+                        if (
+                            !(error instanceof TactConstEvalError) ||
+                            error.fatal
+                        )
+                            throw error;
+                    }
+
+                    // If const-eval did succeed
+                    if (str !== undefined) {
                         return BigInt(
                             "0x" + sha256_sync(str).toString("hex"),
                         ).toString(10);
-                    } catch (e) {
-                        // Not a constant
                     }
+
+                    // Otherwise, revert back to runtime hash through SHA256U
                     const exp = writeExpression(resolved[0]!, ctx);
                     return `string_hash(${exp})`;
                 }

src/interpreter.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { Address, beginCell, BitString, Cell, toNano } from "@ton/core";
+import { Address, beginCell, BitString, Cell, Slice, toNano } from "@ton/core";
 import { paddedBufferToBits } from "@ton/core/dist/boc/utils/paddedBits";
 import * as crc32 from "crc-32";
 import { evalConstantExpression } from "./constEval";
@@ -1068,17 +1068,14 @@ export class Interpreter {
             }
             case "sha256": {
                 ensureFunArity(1, ast.args, ast.loc);
-                const str = ensureString(
-                    this.interpretExpression(ast.args[0]!),
-                    ast.args[0]!.loc,
-                );
-                const dataSize = Buffer.from(str).length;
-                if (dataSize > 128) {
-                    throwErrorConstEval(
-                        `data is too large for sha256 hash, expected up to 128 bytes, got ${dataSize}`,
+                const expr = this.interpretExpression(ast.args[0]!);
+                if (expr instanceof Slice) {
+                    throwNonFatalErrorConstEval(
+                        "slice argument is currently not supported",
                         ast.loc,
                     );
                 }
+                const str = ensureString(expr, ast.args[0]!.loc);
                 return BigInt("0x" + sha256_sync(str).toString("hex"));
             }
             case "emptyMap": {

src/test/compilation-failed/abi-global-errors.spec.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import { __DANGER_resetNodeId } from "../../grammar/ast";
+import { itShouldNotCompile } from "./util";
+
+describe("abi/global.ts errors", () => {
+    beforeEach(() => {
+        __DANGER_resetNodeId();
+    });
+
+    itShouldNotCompile({
+        testName: "sha256-expects-string-or-slice",
+        errorMessage: "sha256 expects string or slice argument",
+    });
+});

src/test/compilation-failed/contracts/sha256-expects-string-or-slice.tact

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+contract Sha256 {
+    val: Int = 0;
+    receive() {
+        sha256(self.val);
+    }
+}

src/test/compilation-failed/tact.config.json

@@ -226,6 +226,11 @@
       "name": "scope-const-shadows-stdlib-ident",
       "path": "./contracts/scope-const-shadows-stdlib-ident.tact",
       "output": "./contracts/output"
+    },
+    {
+      "name": "sha256-expects-string-or-slice",
+      "path": "./contracts/sha256-expects-string-or-slice.tact",
+      "output": "./contracts/output"
     }
   ]
 }

src/test/e2e-emulated/contracts/intrinsics.tact

@@ -92,6 +92,14 @@ contract IntrinsicsTester {
         return sha256(src);
     }
 
+    get fun getHashLongComptime(): Int {
+        return sha256("------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------129");
+    }
+
+    get fun getHashLongRuntime(src: String): Int {
+        return sha256(src);
+    }
+
     receive("emit_1") {
         emit("Hello world".asComment());
     }
@@ -231,4 +239,4 @@ contract IntrinsicsTester {
     get fun getRawSlice24(): Slice {
         return self.v;
     }
-}
+}

src/test/e2e-emulated/intrinsics.spec.ts

@@ -106,6 +106,16 @@ describe("intrinsics", () => {
             ),
         ).toBe(sha256("sometest"));
         expect(await contract.getGetHash4("wallet")).toBe(sha256("wallet"));
+        const longString =
+            "------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------129";
+        expect(await contract.getGetHashLongComptime()).toBe(
+            sha256(longString),
+        );
+        // NOTE: The discrepancy here is expected, since SHA256U operates only on the first 127 bytes
+        expect(
+            (await contract.getGetHashLongRuntime(longString)) !==
+                sha256(longString),
+        ).toBe(true);
 
         // Check `slice`
         expect(