fix: Longer package Path Spend More Gas [investigate]

[notJoon]

Description

This PR address the process of identifying and resolviong the cause of gas usage variations during deployment based on the length of package path.

Testing Process

To identify the cause, I conducted tests using txtar testscript. I used the following script, chainging only the length of the package path for check.

# script file path:  gno.land/cmd/gnoland/testdata/addpkg_long_pkg_path.txtar

loadpkg gno.land/p/demo/ufmt

# start a new node
gnoland start

gnokey maketx addpkg -pkgdir $WORK -pkgpath gno.land/p/demo/foo/aaa -gas-fee 1ugnot -gas-wanted 1430000 -broadcast -chainid=tendermint_test test1
#stdout OK!

-- foo.gno --
package aaa

import (
	"gno.land/p/demo/ufmt"
)

func Foo() string {
	return ufmt.Sprintf("foo")
}

cd gno.land/cmd/gnoland
go test -v . -run Testdata/addpkg_long

Even when an out of gas error occured, the only function visible in the stack trace was the ExecSignAndBroadcast function in maketx.go file. Therefore, I added additional debugging lines to trace which function were being called.

Cause Identification

While running the test script, I discovered that the NewAnteHandler function was being called repeatedly. This function contains the following line, where TxSizeCostPerByte is set a default value of 10:

func NewAnteHandler(ak AccountKeeper, bank BankKeeperI, sigGasConsumer SignatureVerificationGasConsumer, opts AnteOptions) sdk.AnteHandler {
    // ... 
    newCtx.GasMeter().ConsumeGas(params.TxSizeCostPerByte*store.Gas(len(newCtx.TxBytes())), "txSize")
    // ...
}

I added a debugging line like below:

func NewAnteHandler(ak AccountKeeper, bank BankKeeperI, sigGasConsumer SignatureVerificationGasConsumer, opts AnteOptions) sdk.AnteHandler {
    // ... 
    newCtx.GasMeter().ConsumeGas(params.TxSizeCostPerByte*store.Gas(len(newCtx.TxBytes())), "txSize")
+   println("xxxxxxxx ante gas consumed", newCtx.GasMeter().GasConsumed())
    // ...
}

Output

go test -v . -run Testdata/addpkg_long

=== RUN   TestTestdata
=== RUN   TestTestdata/addpkg_long_pkg_path
xxxxxxxx ante gas consumed 0
xxxxxxxx ante gas consumed 3500
xxxxxxxx ante gas consumed 3500
xxxxxxxx ante gas consumed 3500
    testscript.go:558: WORK=$WORK
        PATH=/Users/not_joon/go/pkg/mod/golang.org/[email protected]/bin:/opt/anaconda3/envs/py10/bin:/opt/anaconda3/condabin:/Users/not_joon/go/bin:/Users/not_joon/.cargo/bin:/opt/anaconda3/envs/py10/bin:/opt/anaconda3/condabin:/opt/homebrew/bin:/opt/homebrew/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/System/Cryptexes/App/usr/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/local/bin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/bin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/appleinternal/bin:/usr/local/share/dotnet:~/.dotnet/tools:/usr/local/go/bin:/opt/anaconda3/envs/py10/bin:/opt/anaconda3/condabin:/Users/not_joon/Library/Application Support/Coursier/bin:/bin
        GOTRACEBACK=system
        HOME=/no-home
        TMPDIR=$WORK/.tmp
        devnull=/dev/null
        /=/
        :=:
        $=$
        exe=
        SID=4dc452c5
        USER_SEED_test1=source bonus chronic canvas draft south burst lottery vacant surface solve popular case indicate oppose farm nothing bullet exhibit title speed wink action roast
        USER_ADDR_test1=g1jg8mtutu9khhfwc4nxmuhcpftf0pajdhfvsqf5
        GNOROOT=/Users/not_joon/gno-core
        GNOHOME=/var/folders/kl/ny3lwtcn4gqdcwx0mz2lk4z80000gn/T/TestTestdata418531309/001/gno
        
        > loadpkg gno.land/p/demo/ufmt
        "gno.land/p/demo/ufmt" package was added to genesis
        # start a new node (1.550s)
        > gnoland start
        [stdout]
        node started successfully
        
        > gnokey maketx addpkg -pkgdir $WORK -pkgpath gno.land/p/demo/foo/aaa -gas-fee 1ugnot -gas-wanted 1430000 -broadcast -chainid=tendermint_test test1
        [stdout]
        
        OK!
        GAS WANTED: 1430000
        GAS USED:   1425960
        HEIGHT:     130
        EVENTS:     []
        TX HASH:    /QBcHVwP3Svird/uTUtXTsYxqBTSwHO0JZBQxKqQPCI=
        
        [stderr]
        Enter password.
        
        #stdout OK! (0.000s)
        PASS
        
--- PASS: TestTestdata (1.89s)
    --- PASS: TestTestdata/addpkg_long_pkg_path (1.88s)
PASS
ok      github.com/gnolang/gno/gno.land/cmd/gnoland 

I executed the script while chainging the pacakge path to make have different lengths and confirmed that the gas amount changed according to the length of TxBytes() as follows:

Case 1: Package path length 22 (gno.land/p/demo/foo/aa)

TxSizeCosePerByte	Consumption at NewAnteHandler call	Total gas consumption	Increase
0	0	1422130	0
1	347	1422477	+347
10 (default value)	3470	1425600	+3470

Case 2: Package path length 23 (gno.land/p/demo/foo/aaa)

TxSizeCosePerByte	Consumption at NewAnteHandler call	Total gas consumption	Increase
0	0	1422460	0
1	350	1422810	+350
10 (default value)	3500	1425960	+3500

We can observe that as the length of the package path increases, so does the gas usage. However, since gas usage is calculated based on the length of the transaction data obtained through the TxBytes method, we can hypothesize that it is also affected by the length of the contract content, not only the package path.

[TODO]

---

Related Issue

#2083

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[codecov]

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All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests ✅

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[zivkovicmilos]

Pinging @piux2 @deelawn for visibility

[deelawn]

@moul @leohhhn Did we reach any decision on this in the call earlier today? Will we allow these kind of gas consumption increases in favor of incentivizing users to use shorter package paths? Or does there need to be more research done?

[leohhhn]

No decision was reached yesterday. I still think making people pay more simply because of the longer username is unfair, but I do agree that shorter paths are more readable.

Maybe a good compromise would be to only count gas for the part after gno.land/{p,r}/namespace. Anything before is ignored for gas, anything after is the user's choice and we can still incentivize short paths. WDYT?

[notJoon]

@leohhhn I also agree with your opinion. maybe related with #2727

I also considering replacing the raw package path with an address value to ensure that data od the same length is always inserted.

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[piux2]

This is expected behavior. The total transaction size per block is capped. We charge a gas fee based on the message size per byte. The package path is part of the transaction message.

[thehowl]

Agreed with @piux2. If the issue only concerns things like the anteHandler, small increases in gas usages are expected. I think one more interesting scenario, where we should possibly expect to use more or less the same amount of gas and should verify, is if I import a package or realm with a differing import path. (We should look to make it about the same if it's longer or shorter).