Return Formats

By default, Web3.js formats byte values as hexadecimal strings (e.g. "0x221") and number values as BigInts. The default formats can be configured at the global level by updating the defaultReturnFormat configuration option. Many Web3.js functions (e.g. getBlock, sendTransaction) accept an optional parameter named returnFormat of the type DataFormat that can be used to configure the format for data returned by that single function invocation.

The following example demonstrates working with return formats:

import { Block, FMT_BYTES, FMT_NUMBER, Numbers, Web3 } from "web3";

const web3 = new Web3("https://eth.llamarpc.com");

// use the default return format
web3.eth.getBlock().then((block: Block) => {
  console.log(`Block #${block.number} Hash: ${block.hash}`);
});
// ↳ Block #20735255 Hash: 0xbaea6dbd46fa810a27be4c9eac782602f8efe7512fb30a8455c127b101a23e22

// specify the return format for a single function invocation
web3.eth
  .getBlockNumber({
    bytes: FMT_BYTES.HEX,
    number: FMT_NUMBER.HEX,
  })
  .then((blockNumber: Numbers) => {
    console.log(`Block #${blockNumber}`);
  });
// ↳ Block #0x13c6517

// configure default return format for the web3-eth package
web3.eth.defaultReturnFormat = {
  bytes: FMT_BYTES.UINT8ARRAY,
  number: FMT_NUMBER.HEX,
};

web3.eth.getBlock().then((block: Block) => {
  console.log(`Block #${block.number} Hash: [${block.hash}]`);
});
// ↳ Block #0x13c6517 Hash: [186,234,109,...,162,62,34]

The supported return formats are:

• Bytes
  • FMT_BYTES.HEX: hexadecimal string (e.g. "0xdd")

  web3.eth
    .getBlock(undefined, undefined, {
      bytes: FMT_BYTES.HEX,
      number: FMT_NUMBER.BIGINT,
    })
    .then((block: Block) => {
      console.log(`Block hash: ${block.hash}`);
    });
  // ↳ Block hash: 0xbaea6dbd46fa810a27be4c9eac782602f8efe7512fb30a8455c127b101a23e22
  • FMT_BYTES.UINT8ARRAY: Uint8Array (e.g. [ 2, 33 ])

  web3.eth
    .getBlock(undefined, undefined, {
      bytes: FMT_BYTES.UINT8ARRAY,
      number: FMT_NUMBER.BIGINT,
    })
    .then((block: Block) => {
      console.log(`Block hash: [${block.hash}]`);
    });
  // ↳ Block hash: [186,234,109,...,162,62,34]
• Numbers
  • FMT_NUMBER.BIGINT: BigInt (e.g. 221n)

  web3.eth
    .getBlockNumber({
      bytes: FMT_BYTES.HEX,
      number: FMT_NUMBER.BIGINT,
    })
    .then((blockNumber: Numbers) => {
      console.log(`Block #${blockNumber}`);
    });
  // ↳ Block #20735255
  • FMT_NUMBER.HEX: hexadecimal string (e.g. "0xdd")

  web3.eth
    .getBlockNumber({
      bytes: FMT_BYTES.HEX,
      number: FMT_NUMBER.HEX,
    })
    .then((blockNumber: Numbers) => {
      console.log(`Block #${blockNumber}`);
    });
  // ↳ Block #0x13c6517
  • FMT_NUMBER.NUMBER: Number (e.g. 221)

  web3.eth
    .getBlockNumber({
      bytes: FMT_BYTES.HEX,
      number: FMT_NUMBER.NUMBER,
    })
    .then((blockNumber: Numbers) => {
      console.log(`Block #${blockNumber}`);
    });
  // ↳ Block #20735255
  • FMT_NUMBER.STR: string (e.g. "221")

  web3.eth
    .getBlockNumber({
      bytes: FMT_BYTES.HEX,
      number: FMT_NUMBER.STR,
    })
    .then((blockNumber: Numbers) => {
      console.log(`Block #${blockNumber}`);
    });
  // ↳ Block #20735255