Ethereum 2.0 Conversion Issue: ethers.toBigInt() Not Defined
Starting with Ethereum 2.0, the ethers.toBigInt() method has been deprecated in favor of more modern and accurate methods for converting between bigints and strings. However, a bug is still being reported by users like you.
In this article, we will dive into the details of the issue and explore possible solutions to resolve it.
The Issue: ethers.toBigInt() Not Defined
When calling ethers.toBigInt() on a converted value from 2.0, you receive the following error:
TypeError: ethers.toBigInt(...).eq is not a function
This suggests that the ethers.toBigInt() method does not have an eq method.
The reason behind the downtime
In Ethereum 2.0, the ethers library API underwent significant changes to accommodate new features and improvements in the Ethereum ecosystem. Specifically, the toBigInt function was replaced by the BigInt type from the bigint module.
While this change was intended to provide a more accurate and efficient way to work with bigints in JavaScript, it caused some inconvenience for users like you who are still using version 6 of the library.
**Solving the problem: using BigInt.toString() or BigInt.toString()
To solve the problem, you can use one of two alternatives:
Option 1: using BigInt.toString()
const bigIntValue = ethers.toBigInt(123);
console.log(BigInt.toString(bigIntValue));
This will correctly convert a bigint to a string.
Option 2: Use BigInt.toString()
Alternatively, you can use the same syntax as Option 1 and store the result of BigInt.toString():
const bigIntValue = ethers.toBigInt(123);
console.log(BigInt.toString(bigIntValue));
Conclusion
The error message indicates that ethers.toBigInt() does not have an eq method. To resolve this issue, you can use one of the two workarounds described above or simply remove the call to ethers.toBigInt() and let JavaScript handle the conversion for you.
By following these steps, you should be able to overcome the error and successfully compare your converted bigints using the ethers library on Ethereum version 2.0.
Example Use Cases
To further illustrate the point, here are some example use cases:
// Option 1: Using BigInt.toString()
console.log(ethers.toBigInt(123).toString());
// Option 2: No need to call ethers.toBigInt() and instead use BigInt.toString()
const bigIntValue = 123n;
console.log(BigInt.toString(bigIntValue));
By following these simple steps, you should be able to resolve the error and successfully work with Ethereum 2.0 bigint conversions.