Extend the Checkers Game With a Leaderboard

In this section, you will learn:

• How to make an existing chain IBC-enabled.
• How to extend your chains with additional modules.

What you will be building and why

The checkers blockchain you have built has the ability to create games, play them, forfeit them, and wager on them (potentially with cross-chain tokens). A further optimization would be to include a leaderboard. This could be executed locally on the checkers blockchain to rank the best players on the checkers blockchain. You can see an example of this in the migration sections.

But what if there is more than one checkers chain? Or better yet, other game chains that allow players to play competitive games. Would it not be great to enable a standard to send the game data from the local game chain to an application-specific chain that keeps a global leaderboard? This is exactly what you will be building in the next few sections.

Remember the appchain thesis that is an integral part of the interchain philosophy - where every application has its own chain and can be optimized for the application-specific logic it executes. Then IBC can be used to interoperate between all the chains that have specialized functionality. This is the idea behind the prototype checkers and leaderboard chains you're building, enabling IBC packets to be sent between those chains to create cross-chain applications.

Adding a local leaderboard module to the checkers chain

Currently, your checkers game contains the checkers module but is not IBC-enabled. It is now time to extend your checkers game with a leaderboard by adding a new module to make it IBC-enabled.

Let’s dive right into it.

Go to your checkers folder and make sure that you are checked out on the cosmjs-elements (opens new window) branch.

In the checkers chain folder, you can scaffold a leaderboard module with Ignite:

In order to create and maintain a leaderboard, you need to store the player information. Scaffold a structure with:

Now you can use this structure to create the board itself:

The structures created by Ignite are nullable types (opens new window) by default, but you do not want that. So a few adjustments are needed - especially because you do not have a null value for an address.

You need to make the adjustments in the Protobuf files proto/leaderboard/board.proto and proto/leaderboard/genesis.proto. Make sure to import gogoproto/gogo.proto and use [(gogoproto.nullable) = false]; for the PlayerInfo and the Board (opens new window).

For example, for proto/leaderboard/board.proto try this:

Copy syntax = "proto3"; package b9lab.checkers.leaderboard; option go_package = "github.com/b9lab/checkers/x/leaderboard/types"; import "leaderboard/player_info.proto"; + import "gogoproto/gogo.proto"; message Board { - PlayerInfo playerInfo = 1; + repeated PlayerInfo playerInfo = 1 [(gogoproto.nullable) = false]; } modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... leaderboard board.proto View source

After re-compilation, you will also have to modify the x/leaderboard/genesis.go. In it, look for:

Copy - if genState.Board != nil { - k.SetBoard(ctx, *genState.Board) - } + k.SetBoard(ctx, genState.Board) modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... leaderboard genesis.go View source

And:

Copy if found { - genesis.Board = &board + genesis.Board = board } modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... leaderboard genesis.go View source

Next, in the x/leaderboard/genesis_test.go, look for:

Copy - Board: &types.Board{ - PlayerInfo: new(types.PlayerInfo), + Board: types.Board{ + PlayerInfo: []types.PlayerInfo{}, }, modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... leaderboard genesis_test.go View source

Next, in x/leaderboard/types/genesis.go, look for:

Copy - Board: nil, + Board: Board{ + PlayerInfo: []PlayerInfo{}, + }, modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... types genesis.go View source

Now, in its associated test:

Copy - Board: &types.Board{ - PlayerInfo: new(types.PlayerInfo), - }, + Board: types.Board{ + PlayerInfo: []types.PlayerInfo{}, + }, modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... types genesis_test.go View source

Lastly in:

Copy - board := &types.Board{} + board := types.Board{} ... - return network.New(t, cfg), *state.Board + return network.New(t, cfg), state.Board modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... cli query_board_test.go View source

Continue preparing your new leaderboard module.

The checkers module is the authority when it comes to who won and who lost; the leaderboard module is the authority when it comes to how to tally scores and rank players. Therefore, the leaderboard module will only expose to the checkers module functions to inform on wins and losses, like MustAddWonGameResultToPlayer(...).

To achieve this, first you need to write those functions. Create a x/leaderboard/keeper/player_info_handler.go file with the following code:

Copy package keeper import ( "github.com/b9lab/checkers/x/leaderboard/types" sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types" ) func mustAddDeltaGameResultToPlayer( k *Keeper, ctx sdk.Context, player sdk.AccAddress, wonDelta uint64, lostDelta uint64, forfeitedDelta uint64, ) (playerInfo types.PlayerInfo) { playerInfo, found := k.GetPlayerInfo(ctx, player.String()) if !found { playerInfo = types.PlayerInfo{ Index: player.String(), WonCount: 0, LostCount: 0, ForfeitedCount: 0, DateUpdated: ctx.BlockTime().UTC().Format(types.TimeLayout), } } playerInfo.WonCount += wonDelta playerInfo.LostCount += lostDelta playerInfo.ForfeitedCount += forfeitedDelta k.SetPlayerInfo(ctx, playerInfo) return playerInfo } func (k Keeper) MustAddWonGameResultToPlayer(ctx sdk.Context, player sdk.AccAddress) types.PlayerInfo { return mustAddDeltaGameResultToPlayer(&k, ctx, player, 1, 0, 0) } func (k Keeper) MustAddLostGameResultToPlayer(ctx sdk.Context, player sdk.AccAddress) types.PlayerInfo { return mustAddDeltaGameResultToPlayer(&k, ctx, player, 0, 1, 0) } func (k Keeper) MustAddForfeitedGameResultToPlayer(ctx sdk.Context, player sdk.AccAddress) types.PlayerInfo { return mustAddDeltaGameResultToPlayer(&k, ctx, player, 0, 0, 1) } modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... keeper player_info_handler.go View source

For the code above to function, you need to define TimeLayout in x/leaderboard/types/keys.go. Add the following piece of code at the end of the file:

Copy const ( TimeLayout = "2006-01-02 15:04:05.999999999 +0000 UTC" LeaderboardWinnerLength = uint64(100) ) modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... types keys.go View source

Now it is time to allow the checkers module access to the leaderboard module. This is very similar to what you did when giving access to the bank keeper when handling wager tokens.

Declare the leaderboard functions that the checkers needs:

Copy import ( leaderboardTypes "github.com/b9lab/checkers/x/leaderboard/types" ) type CheckersLeaderboardKeeper interface { MustAddWonGameResultToPlayer(ctx sdk.Context, player sdk.AccAddress) leaderboardTypes.PlayerInfo MustAddLostGameResultToPlayer(ctx sdk.Context, player sdk.AccAddress) leaderboardTypes.PlayerInfo MustAddForfeitedGameResultToPlayer(ctx sdk.Context, player sdk.AccAddress) leaderboardTypes.PlayerInfo } modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... types expected_keepers.go View source

Add this keeper interface to checkers, modify x/checkers/keeper/keeper.go, and include the leaderboard keeper:

Copy type ( Keeper struct { bank types.BankEscrowKeeper + board types.CheckersLeaderboardKeeper cdc codec.BinaryCodec storeKey sdk.StoreKey memKey sdk.StoreKey paramstore paramtypes.Subspace } ) ... func NewKeeper( bank types.BankEscrowKeeper, + board types.CheckersLeaderboardKeeper, cdc codec.BinaryCodec, storeKey, memKey sdk.StoreKey, ps paramtypes.Subspace, ) *Keeper { // set KeyTable if it has not already been set if !ps.HasKeyTable() { ps = ps.WithKeyTable(types.ParamKeyTable()) } return &Keeper{ bank: bank, + board: board, cdc: cdc, storeKey: storeKey, memKey: memKey, paramstore: ps, } } modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... keeper keeper.go View source

Make sure the app builds it correctly. Look for app.CheckersKeeper in app/app.go and modify it to include app.LeaderboardKeeper:

Copy app.CheckersKeeper = *checkersmodulekeeper.NewKeeper( app.BankKeeper, + app.LeaderboardKeeper, appCodec, ... ) modular b9-checkers-academy-draft app app.go View source

You want to store a win plus either a loss or a forfeit when a game ends. Therefore, you should create some helper functions in checkers that call the leaderboard module. Create a x/checkers/keeper/player_info_handler.go file with the following code:

Copy package keeper import ( "fmt" rules "github.com/b9lab/checkers/x/checkers/rules" "github.com/b9lab/checkers/x/checkers/types" sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types" ) func getWinnerAndLoserAddresses(storedGame *types.StoredGame) (winnerAddress sdk.AccAddress, loserAddress sdk.AccAddress) { if storedGame.Winner == rules.PieceStrings[rules.NO_PLAYER] { panic(types.ErrThereIsNoWinner.Error()) } redAddress, err := storedGame.GetRedAddress() if err != nil { panic(err.Error()) } blackAddress, err := storedGame.GetBlackAddress() if err != nil { panic(err.Error()) } if storedGame.Winner == rules.PieceStrings[rules.RED_PLAYER] { winnerAddress = redAddress loserAddress = blackAddress } else if storedGame.Winner == rules.PieceStrings[rules.BLACK_PLAYER] { winnerAddress = blackAddress loserAddress = redAddress } else { panic(fmt.Sprintf(types.ErrWinnerNotParseable.Error(), storedGame.Winner)) } return winnerAddress, loserAddress } func (k *Keeper) MustRegisterPlayerWin(ctx sdk.Context, storedGame *types.StoredGame) { winnerAddress, loserAddress := getWinnerAndLoserAddresses(storedGame) k.board.MustAddWonGameResultToPlayer(ctx, winnerAddress) k.board.MustAddLostGameResultToPlayer(ctx, loserAddress) } func (k *Keeper) MustRegisterPlayerForfeit(ctx sdk.Context, storedGame *types.StoredGame) { winnerAddress, loserAddress := getWinnerAndLoserAddresses(storedGame) k.board.MustAddWonGameResultToPlayer(ctx, winnerAddress) k.board.MustAddForfeitedGameResultToPlayer(ctx, loserAddress) } modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... keeper player_info_handler.go View source

Do not forget to add the new errors in x/checkers/types/errors.go:

Copy ErrWinnerNotParseable = sdkerrors.Register(ModuleName, 1118, "winner is not parseable: %s") ErrThereIsNoWinner = sdkerrors.Register(ModuleName, 1119, "there is no winner") ErrInvalidDateAdded = sdkerrors.Register(ModuleName, 1120, "dateAdded cannot be parsed: %s") ErrCannotAddToLeaderboard = sdkerrors.Register(ModuleName, 1121, "cannot add to leaderboard: %s") modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... types errors.go View source

With the helper functions ready, you can call them where needed. Add the call for a win in x/checkers/keeper/msg_server_play_move.go:

Copy func (k msgServer) PlayMove(goCtx context.Context, msg *types.MsgPlayMove) (*types.MsgPlayMoveResponse, error) { ... lastBoard := game.String() if storedGame.Winner == rules.PieceStrings[rules.NO_PLAYER] { k.Keeper.SendToFifoTail(ctx, &storedGame, &systemInfo) storedGame.Board = lastBoard } else { k.Keeper.RemoveFromFifo(ctx, &storedGame, &systemInfo) storedGame.Board = "" k.Keeper.MustPayWinnings(ctx, &storedGame) + // Here you can register a win + k.Keeper.MustRegisterPlayerWin(ctx, &storedGame) } ... modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... keeper msg_server_play_move.go View source

Add the call for a forfeit in x/checkers/keeper/end_block_server_game.go:

Copy func (k Keeper) ForfeitExpiredGames(goCtx context.Context) { ... if deadline.Before(ctx.BlockTime()) { // Game is past deadline k.RemoveFromFifo(ctx, &storedGame, &systemInfo) lastBoard := storedGame.Board if storedGame.MoveCount <= 1 { // No point in keeping a game that was never really played k.RemoveStoredGame(ctx, gameIndex) if storedGame.MoveCount == 1 { k.MustRefundWager(ctx, &storedGame) } } else { storedGame.Winner, found = opponents[storedGame.Turn] if !found { panic(fmt.Sprintf(types.ErrCannotFindWinnerByColor.Error(), storedGame.Turn)) } k.MustPayWinnings(ctx, &storedGame) + // Here you can register a forfeit + k.MustRegisterPlayerForfeit(ctx, &storedGame) storedGame.Board = "" k.SetStoredGame(ctx, storedGame) } ... modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... keeper end_block_server_game.go View source

That will get the job done, and add the player's win, loss, or forfeit counts to the store.

If you did the migration part of this hands-on exercise, you may notice that, here, although the player info is updated, the leaderboard is not. This is deliberate in order to show a different workflow.

Here, the leaderboard is updated on-demand by adding the signers of a message as candidates to the leaderboard. Scaffold a new message:

Again, you can first create some helper functions in x/leaderboard/types/board.go:

Copy func ParseDateAddedAsTime(dateAdded string) (dateAddedParsed time.Time, err error) { dateAddedParsed, errDateAdded := time.Parse(types.TimeLayout, dateAdded) return dateAddedParsed, sdkerrors.Wrapf(errDateAdded, types.ErrInvalidDateAdded.Error(), dateAdded) } func SortPlayerInfo(playerInfoList []types.PlayerInfo) { sort.SliceStable(playerInfoList[:], func(i, j int) bool { if playerInfoList[i].WonCount > playerInfoList[j].WonCount { return true } if playerInfoList[i].WonCount < playerInfoList[j].WonCount { return false } firstPlayerTime, _ := ParseDateAddedAsTime(playerInfoList[i].DateUpdated) secondPlayerTime,_ := ParseDateAddedAsTime(playerInfoList[j].DateUpdated) return firstPlayerTime.After(secondPlayerTime) }) } func UpdatePlayerInfoList(winners []PlayerInfo, candidates []PlayerInfo) (updated []PlayerInfo) { found := false for _, candidate := range candidates { for winnerIndex, winner := range winners { if winner.Index == candidate.Index { winners[winnerIndex] = candidate found = true break } } if !found { updated = append(winners, candidate) } else { updated = winners } } SortPlayerInfo(updated) if LeaderboardWinnerLength < uint64(len(updated)) { updated = updated[:LeaderboardWinnerLength] } return updated } modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... types board.go View source

The function that sorts players is rather inefficient, as it parses dates a lot. To optimize this part, you would have to introduce a new type with the date already parsed. See the migration section for an example.

If it cannot parse the date information, it will return an error that you need to declare in x/leaderboard/types/errors.go:

Copy ErrInvalidDateAdded = sdkerrors.Register(ModuleName, 1120, "dateAdded cannot be parsed: %s") modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... types errors.go View source

Now you need to call what you created in x/leaderboard/keeper/msg_server_update_board.go:

Copy package keeper import ( "context" "github.com/b9lab/checkers/x/leaderboard/types" sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types" ) func (k msgServer) UpdateBoard(goCtx context.Context, msg *types.MsgUpdateBoard) (*types.MsgUpdateBoardResponse, error) { ctx := sdk.UnwrapSDKContext(goCtx) - // TODO: Handling the message - _ = ctx + board, found := k.GetBoard(ctx) + if !found { + panic(types.ErrBoardNotFound) + } + playerInfoList := board.PlayerInfo + candidates := make([]types.PlayerInfo, 0, len(msg.GetSigners())) + for _, signer := range msg.GetSigners() { + candidate, found := k.GetPlayerInfo(ctx, signer.String()) + if found { + candidates = append(candidates, candidate) + } + } + if len(candidates) == 0 { + return nil, types.ErrCandidateNotFound + } + updated := types.UpdatePlayerInfoList(playerInfoList, candidates) + board.PlayerInfo = updated + k.SetBoard(ctx, board) return &types.MsgUpdateBoardResponse{}, nil } modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... keeper msg_server_update_board.go View source

Also call the two new errors:

Copy ErrBoardNotFound = sdkerrors.Register(ModuleName, 1502, "board not found") ErrCandidateNotFound = sdkerrors.Register(ModuleName, 1503, "candidate not found") modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... types errors.go View source

That is it! Now the checkers blockchain can keep track of player information, and create or update the leaderboard based on player input.

Unit tests

You have created a new expected keeper. Have Mockgen create its mocks by reusing the make command prepared earlier:

Update the checkers keeper factory for tests:

Copy func CheckersKeeper(t testing.TB) (*keeper.Keeper, sdk.Context) { - return CheckersKeeperWithMocks(t, nil) + return CheckersKeeperWithMocks(t, nil, nil) } - func CheckersKeeperWithMocks(t testing.TB, bank *mock_types.MockBankEscrowKeeper) (*keeper.Keeper, sdk.Context) { + func CheckersKeeperWithMocks(t testing.TB, bank *mock_types.MockBankEscrowKeeper, leaderboard *mock_types.MockCheckersLeaderboardKeeper) (*keeper.Keeper, sdk.Context) { ... k := keeper.NewKeeper( bank, + leaderboard, cdc, storeKey, memStoreKey, paramsSubspace, ) ... return k, ctx } modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... keeper checkers.go View source

Because of the change of signature of this function, you need to adjust wherever it is called, like so:

Copy func setupMsgServerWithOneGameForPlayMove(t testing.TB) (types.MsgServer, keeper.Keeper, context.Context, - *gomock.Controller, *mock_types.MockBankEscrowKeeper) { + *gomock.Controller, *mock_types.MockBankEscrowKeeper, *mock_types.MockCheckersLeaderboardKeeper) { ctrl := gomock.NewController(t) bankMock := mock_types.NewMockBankEscrowKeeper(ctrl) - k, ctx := keepertest.CheckersKeeperWithMocks(t, bankMock) + leaderboardMock := mock_types.NewMockCheckersLeaderboardKeeper(ctrl) + k, ctx := keepertest.CheckersKeeperWithMocks(t, bankMock, leaderboardMock) checkers.InitGenesis(ctx, *k, *types.DefaultGenesis()) ... - return server, *k, context, ctrl, bankMock + return server, *k, context, ctrl, bankMock, leaderboardMock } modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... keeper msg_server_play_move_test.go View source

You must also change where it is used. Mostly like this, when the leaderboard is not called:

Copy func TestPlayMove(t *testing.T) { - msgServer, _, context, ctrl, escrow := setupMsgServerWithOneGameForPlayMove(t) + msgServer, _, context, ctrl, escrow, _ := setupMsgServerWithOneGameForPlayMove(t) defer ctrl.Finish() ... } modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... keeper msg_server_play_move_test.go View source

Like this, when the leaderboard is called but you are not looking to confirm the calls:

Copy func TestPlayMoveUpToWinner(t *testing.T) { - msgServer, keeper, context, ctrl, escrow := setupMsgServerWithOneGameForPlayMove(t) + msgServer, keeper, context, ctrl, escrow, board := setupMsgServerWithOneGameForPlayMove(t) ctx := sdk.UnwrapSDKContext(context) defer ctrl.Finish() escrow.ExpectAny(context) + board.ExpectAny(context) ... } modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... keeper msg_server_play_move_winner_test.go View source

This introduces a new function, so (as you did for the bank keeper mock) you add the missing helpers to define expectations. For instance:

Copy func (escrow *MockCheckersLeaderboardKeeper) ExpectAny(context context.Context) { escrow.EXPECT().MustAddWonGameResultToPlayer(sdk.UnwrapSDKContext(context), gomock.Any()).AnyTimes() escrow.EXPECT().MustAddLostGameResultToPlayer(sdk.UnwrapSDKContext(context), gomock.Any()).AnyTimes() escrow.EXPECT().MustAddForfeitedGameResultToPlayer(sdk.UnwrapSDKContext(context), gomock.Any()).AnyTimes() } func (escrow *MockCheckersLeaderboardKeeper) ExpectWin(context context.Context, who string) *gomock.Call { whoAddr, err := sdk.AccAddressFromBech32(who) if err != nil { panic(err) } return escrow.EXPECT().MustAddWonGameResultToPlayer(sdk.UnwrapSDKContext(context), whoAddr) } ... modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... mock_types leaderboard_helpers.go View source

Do not forget to add tests to check that the leaderboard is called as expected:

Copy func TestPlayMoveUpToWinnerCalledLeaderboard(t *testing.T) { msgServer, _, context, ctrl, escrow, board := setupMsgServerWithOneGameForPlayMove(t) defer ctrl.Finish() escrow.ExpectAny(context) board.ExpectWin(context, bob).Times(1) board.ExpectLoss(context, carol).Times(1) playAllMoves(t, msgServer, context, "1", game1Moves) } modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... keeper msg_server_play_move_winner_test.go View source

Do not forget to add some unit tests (opens new window) for your leaderboard keeper too.

Forwarding player information via IBC

It is time to look at how you can forward the player information via IBC.

Remember, you created the module with the --ibc flag.

You can scaffold an IBC transaction with:

How the message constructor was created makes the player information a parameter. However, you do not want arbitrary player information, but instead want to fetch the creator's player information from the store. To do this, make a small adjustment to x/leaderboard/client/cli/tx_candidate.go. Look for the following lines and remove them:

Copy func CmdSendCandidate() *cobra.Command { cmd := &cobra.Command{ - Use: "send-candidate [src-port] [src-channel] [player-info]", + Use: "send-candidate [src-port] [src-channel]", Short: "Send a candidate over IBC", - Args: cobra.ExactArgs(3), + Args: cobra.ExactArgs(2), RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error { ... - argPlayerInfo := new(types.PlayerInfo) - err = json.Unmarshal([]byte(args[2]), argPlayerInfo) - if err != nil { - return err - } ... - msg := types.NewMsgSendCandidate(creator, srcPort, srcChannel, argPlayerInfo, timeoutTimestamp) + msg := types.NewMsgSendCandidate(creator, srcPort, srcChannel, timeoutTimestamp) ... }, } ... return cmd } modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... cli tx_candidate.go View source

You will also need to remove the import of encoding/json because it is not used anymore, and you should remove the parameter argPlayerInfo from the types.NewMsgSendCandidate(...) call, from function (opens new window), and not least from MsgSendCandidate itself:

Copy message MsgSendCandidate { ... uint64 timeoutTimestamp = 4; - PlayerInfo playerInfo = 5; } modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... leaderboard tx.proto View source

The last step is to implement the logic to fetch and send the player information in x/leaderboard/keeper/msg_server_candidate.go:

Copy func (k msgServer) SendCandidate(goCtx context.Context, msg *types.MsgSendCandidate) (*types.MsgSendCandidateResponse, error) { ctx := sdk.UnwrapSDKContext(goCtx) - // TODO: logic before transmitting the packet + // get the Player data + playerInfo, found := k.GetPlayerInfo(ctx, msg.Creator) + if !found { + return nil, types.ErrCandidateNotFound + } // Construct the packet var packet types.CandidatePacketData - packet.PlayerInfo = msg.PlayerInfo + packet.PlayerInfo = &playerInfo ... } modular b9-checkers-academy-draft ... keeper msg_server_candidate.go View source

You do not handle received packets, because this module is only meant for sending player information to a separate leaderboard chain, which you will create next.