# How to decode a record retrieved from the archive canister

**URL:** <https://forum.dfinity.org/t/how-to-decode-a-record-retrieved-from-the-archive-canister/15849>\
**Category:** Language Support\
**Created:** [October 11, 2022, 12:09pm UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/how-to-decode-a-record-retrieved-from-the-archive-canister/15849 "2022-10-11T12:09:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 13\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ildefons](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.dfinity.org/ildefons/32/2638_2.png) [@ildefons](https://forum.dfinity.org/u/ildefons)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2022, 12:09pm UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/how-to-decode-a-record-retrieved-from-the-archive-canister/15849/1 "2022-10-11T12:09:54Z")

</div>

When retrieving a block from the archive canister using the following dfx command:

```auto
> dfx canister --network ic call qjdve-lqaaa-aaaaa-aaaeq-cai get_blocks '(record {start = 1: nat64; length = 1:nat64})'

```

I get the following reply that I am not able to decode it. How can I decode it?

```auto
dfx.json not found, using default.
(
  variant {
    17_724 = record {
      2_817_142_406 = vec {
        record {
          1_266_835_934 = record {
            1_213_809_850 = 0 : nat64;
            2_688_582_695 = variant {
              859_142_850 = record {
                25_979 = blob "t\ec\82\f5\e0\d8\05*\a1\1d\c7H$\9b\dd\0a\ec)\d6(\19\9e\ee\ef\ad\d0\13\8f\8b\1b\10Y";
                3_573_748_184 = record { 5_035_232 = 311_585_714_285 : nat64 };
              }
            };
            3_258_775_938 = record {
              268_680_022 = 1_620_328_630_192_468_691 : nat64;
            };
          };
          2_781_795_542 = record {
            268_680_022 = 1_620_328_630_192_468_691 : nat64;
          };
          4_121_316_931 = opt blob "\ff\ca\0e\cf^\83uA\c7\ee[\e41\e43\ad\8e\97*\7f7\1e\86\fb\e4\f8\addl|\bc\ea";
        };
      };
    }
  },
)

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Vivienne](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.dfinity.org/vivienne/32/29170_2.png) [@Vivienne](https://forum.dfinity.org/u/Vivienne)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2022, 3:28pm UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/how-to-decode-a-record-retrieved-from-the-archive-canister/15849/2 "2022-10-11T15:28:42Z")

</div>

Quickest: compare with the [archive canister did file](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/blob/master/rs/rosetta-api/ledger_canister/ledger_archive.did) and translate in your head. The order of lines stays the same between what’s mentioned in the .did file and how it’s outputted.

Nicer solution: Download the .did file (linked above) and use the `--candid <path/to/can.did>` option with `dfx canister call`.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ildefons](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.dfinity.org/ildefons/32/2638_2.png) [@ildefons](https://forum.dfinity.org/u/ildefons)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 10:15am UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/how-to-decode-a-record-retrieved-from-the-archive-canister/15849/3 "2022-10-12T10:15:26Z")

</div>

I just used ` --candid <path/to/can.did>`

I can now see the the fields of the transaction.

However, there is still 2 fields (“to” and “parent\_hash”) of type “blob” and “opt blob” respectively that I don’t know how to decode. How can I decode them?

```auto
$ dfx canister --network ic call qjdve-lqaaa-aaaaa-aaaeq-cai get_blocks '(record {start = 1: nat64; length = 1:nat64})' --candid ./src/ledger_archive.did 
dfx.json not found, using default.
(
  variant {
    Ok = record {
      blocks = vec {
        record {
          transaction = record {
            memo = 0 : nat64;
            operation = opt variant {
              Mint = record {
                to = blob "t\ec\82\f5\e0\d8\05*\a1\1d\c7H$\9b\dd\0a\ec)\d6(\19\9e\ee\ef\ad\d0\13\8f\8b\1b\10Y";
                amount = record { e8s = 311_585_714_285 : nat64 };
              }
            };
            created_at_time = record {
              timestamp_nanos = 1_620_328_630_192_468_691 : nat64;
            };
          };
          timestamp = record {
            timestamp_nanos = 1_620_328_630_192_468_691 : nat64;
          };
          parent_hash = opt blob "\ff\ca\0e\cf^\83uA\c7\ee[\e41\e43\ad\8e\97*\7f7\1e\86\fb\e4\f8\addl|\bc\ea";
        };
      };
    }
  },
)

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Vivienne](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.dfinity.org/vivienne/32/29170_2.png) [@Vivienne](https://forum.dfinity.org/u/Vivienne)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 11:34am UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/how-to-decode-a-record-retrieved-from-the-archive-canister/15849/4 "2022-10-12T11:34:16Z")

</div>

In both cases I’d expect the data to be binary data - the `to` field is likely an account identifier and the `parent_hash` is just what it says: a hash. As for how that would be converted to actual bytes (or hex) I don’t know. I’ll ping the Candid specialists for that.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![chenyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/35a633/32.png) [@chenyan](https://forum.dfinity.org/u/chenyan)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/how-to-decode-a-record-retrieved-from-the-archive-canister/15849/5 "2022-10-12T16:04:34Z")

</div>

`blob` is a short hand for `vec nat8`, which represents binary data. If the byte is a printable ascii, we show that character directly. Otherwise, we use `\xx` to represent its hex byte. For example, blob “t\ec\82” would be 74ec82 in hex.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ildefons](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.dfinity.org/ildefons/32/2638_2.png) [@ildefons](https://forum.dfinity.org/u/ildefons)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 9:10am UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/how-to-decode-a-record-retrieved-from-the-archive-canister/15849/6 "2022-10-13T09:10:07Z")

</div>

@chenyan @Vivienne, could you help me with these more detailed questions about the record format:

1. What is ‘memo’ for? it seems that it is always 0. If it always 0, why is it there?

2. Every record has information about the destination of the transaction (‘to’ field) but it has no information about the origin (there is no ‘from’ field). Without this information, it is not possible to trace the flow of transactions. Is this correct? How can I identify the origin of every transaction?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Vivienne](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.dfinity.org/vivienne/32/29170_2.png) [@Vivienne](https://forum.dfinity.org/u/Vivienne)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 6:25am UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/how-to-decode-a-record-retrieved-from-the-archive-canister/15849/7 "2022-10-14T06:25:06Z")

</div>

1. I’m only 99% sure, but I think the memo is for transaction (TX) deduplication. I have a canister that triggers multiple identical transfers in the same function and if I don’t change the memo between the TXs then it only executes one payment. Maybe there’s some more behind the memo, but that’s the use case I know about.
2. If you look at the [.did file](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/blob/master/rs/rosetta-api/ledger_canister/ledger_archive.did#L7-L22), you can see that there’s three TX types: Mint, Burn, and Transfer. It looks like you only found blocks with Mint operations in them, that’s why you haven’t seen a `from` field yet.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ildefons](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.dfinity.org/ildefons/32/2638_2.png) [@ildefons](https://forum.dfinity.org/u/ildefons)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2022, 2:31pm UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/how-to-decode-a-record-retrieved-from-the-archive-canister/15849/9 "2022-10-16T14:31:02Z")

</div>

@Vivienne @chenyan, I have successfully decoded the principal\_ids and confirmed that they exist, so the decoding works. However, when I apply the same decoding algorithm to the `parent_hash` field, I am not able to find the transaction (FYI, I use [ICP Explorer](https://www.icpexplorer.org/#/tx/)\<parent\_hash\_decoded\> ). Is the `parent_hash` field using a different decoding algorithm?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Vivienne](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.dfinity.org/vivienne/32/29170_2.png) [@Vivienne](https://forum.dfinity.org/u/Vivienne)\
**Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 7:26am UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/how-to-decode-a-record-retrieved-from-the-archive-canister/15849/10 "2022-10-17T07:26:22Z")

</div>

I think that would be a different algorithm. I’m not familiar with ledger, but I would assume this is a good entry point to start searching: [ic/lib.rs at master · dfinity/ic · GitHub](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/blob/master/rs/rosetta-api/icrc1/src/lib.rs#L370)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ildefons](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.dfinity.org/ildefons/32/2638_2.png) [@ildefons](https://forum.dfinity.org/u/ildefons)\
**Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 10:46am UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/how-to-decode-a-record-retrieved-from-the-archive-canister/15849/11 "2022-10-17T10:46:25Z")

</div>

actually, before sending my question, I tried to reverse engineer the encoding strategy for `parent_has` unsuccessfully probably because my rust skills are quiet bad. I would appreciate ledger developer’s feedback 🙏

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Vivienne](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.dfinity.org/vivienne/32/29170_2.png) [@Vivienne](https://forum.dfinity.org/u/Vivienne)\
**Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 11:37am UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/how-to-decode-a-record-retrieved-from-the-archive-canister/15849/12 "2022-10-17T11:37:13Z")

</div>

I’ll ask the ledger guys then

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bogwar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.dfinity.org/bogwar/32/2161_2.png) [@bogwar](https://forum.dfinity.org/u/bogwar)\
**Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 4:32pm UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/how-to-decode-a-record-retrieved-from-the-archive-canister/15849/13 "2022-10-17T16:32:21Z")

</div>

Hi @ildefons ,

Please take a look at the [specification](https://internetcomputer.org/docs/current/references/ledger/) for the ledger . In particular, there’s a [section](https://internetcomputer.org/docs/current/references/ledger#_chaining_ledger_blocks) which describes how blocks are hashed. Hopefully that will help.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ildefons](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.dfinity.org/ildefons/32/2638_2.png) [@ildefons](https://forum.dfinity.org/u/ildefons)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 12:38pm UTC](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/how-to-decode-a-record-retrieved-from-the-archive-canister/15849/14 "2022-10-20T12:38:57Z")

</div>

@bogwar, I read the specification, but I cannot figure out how to extract the information I need. For instance, what I obtain from a dfx call is:

`parent_hash = opt blob "\7f\a03-nLa\80L\be\22\a0|\aa\a8\c3\8eoZ\e5\d2\a2\d1\e5\b6\e8b\22\d9t\ef\9a";`

What I want is a string that I can use to query the parent transaction using icscan for example (wrong tx hash):

`https://icscan.io/transaction/59c91db5d34c06fcebb673f473d61c79de4532f87d257e652c097ce593da2700`

Haw can I get the hash in string format?