Updating the flow¶

To update the flow, we’ll need to do two things:

Update the lender’s side of the flow to request the borrower’s signature
Create a flow for the borrower to run in response to a signature request from the lender

Updating the lender’s flow¶

In the original CorDapp, we automated the process of notarising a transaction and recording it in every party’s vault by invoking a built-in flow called FinalityFlow as a subflow. We’re going to use another pre-defined flow, called CollectSignaturesFlow, to gather the borrower’s signature.

We also need to add the borrower’s public key to the transaction’s command, making the borrower one of the required signers on the transaction.

In IOUFlow.java/IOUFlow.kt, update IOUFlow.call as follows:

...

// We add the items to the builder.
val state = IOUState(iouValue, me, otherParty)
val cmd = Command(IOUContract.Create(), listOf(me.owningKey, otherParty.owningKey))
txBuilder.withItems(state, cmd)

// Verifying the transaction.
txBuilder.verify(serviceHub)

// Signing the transaction.
val signedTx = serviceHub.signInitialTransaction(txBuilder)

// Obtaining the counterparty's signature
val fullySignedTx = subFlow(CollectSignaturesFlow(signedTx, CollectSignaturesFlow.tracker()))

// Finalising the transaction.
subFlow(FinalityFlow(fullySignedTx))

...

import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
import java.security.PublicKey;
import java.util.List;

...

// We add the items to the builder.
IOUState state = new IOUState(iouValue, me, otherParty);
List<PublicKey> requiredSigners = ImmutableList.of(me.getOwningKey(), otherParty.getOwningKey());
Command cmd = new Command(new IOUContract.Create(), requiredSigners);
txBuilder.withItems(state, cmd);

// Verifying the transaction.
txBuilder.verify(getServiceHub());

// Signing the transaction.
final SignedTransaction signedTx = getServiceHub().signInitialTransaction(txBuilder);

// Obtaining the counterparty's signature
final SignedTransaction fullySignedTx = subFlow(new CollectSignaturesFlow(signedTx, CollectSignaturesFlow.Companion.tracker()));

// Finalising the transaction.
subFlow(new FinalityFlow(fullySignedTx));

return null;

To make the borrower a required signer, we simply add the borrower’s public key to the list of signers on the command.

CollectSignaturesFlow, meanwhile, takes a transaction signed by the flow initiator, and returns a transaction signed by all the transaction’s other required signers. We then pass this fully-signed transaction into FinalityFlow.

Creating the borrower’s flow¶

We’re now ready to write the lender’s flow, which will respond to the borrower’s attempt to gather our signature. In a new IOUFlowResponder.java file in Java, or within the App.kt file in Kotlin, add the following class:

...

import net.corda.core.transactions.SignedTransaction

...

@InitiatedBy(IOUFlow::class)
class IOUFlowResponder(val otherParty: Party) : FlowLogic<Unit>() {
    @Suspendable
    override fun call() {
        val signTransactionFlow = object : SignTransactionFlow(otherParty, SignTransactionFlow.tracker()) {
            override fun checkTransaction(stx: SignedTransaction) = requireThat {
                val output = stx.tx.outputs.single().data
                "This must be an IOU transaction." using (output is IOUState)
                val iou = output as IOUState
                "The IOU's value can't be too high." using (iou.value < 100)
            }
        }

        subFlow(signTransactionFlow)
    }
}

package com.template.flow;

import co.paralleluniverse.fibers.Suspendable;
import com.template.state.IOUState;
import net.corda.core.contracts.ContractState;
import net.corda.core.flows.FlowException;
import net.corda.core.flows.FlowLogic;
import net.corda.core.flows.InitiatedBy;
import net.corda.core.flows.SignTransactionFlow;
import net.corda.core.identity.Party;
import net.corda.core.transactions.SignedTransaction;
import net.corda.core.utilities.ProgressTracker;

import static net.corda.core.contracts.ContractsDSL.requireThat;

@InitiatedBy(IOUFlow.class)
public class IOUFlowResponder extends FlowLogic<Void> {
    private final Party otherParty;

    public IOUFlowResponder(Party otherParty) {
        this.otherParty = otherParty;
    }

    @Suspendable
    @Override
    public Void call() throws FlowException {
        class signTxFlow extends SignTransactionFlow {
            private signTxFlow(Party otherParty, ProgressTracker progressTracker) {
                super(otherParty, progressTracker);
            }

            @Override
            protected void checkTransaction(SignedTransaction stx) {
                requireThat(require -> {
                    ContractState output = stx.getTx().getOutputs().get(0).getData();
                    require.using("This must be an IOU transaction.", output instanceof IOUState);
                    IOUState iou = (IOUState) output;
                    require.using("The IOU's value can't be too high.", iou.getValue() < 100);
                    return null;
                });
            }
        }

        subFlow(new signTxFlow(otherParty, SignTransactionFlow.Companion.tracker()));

        return null;
    }
}

As with the IOUFlow, our IOUFlowResponder flow is a FlowLogic subclass where we’ve overridden FlowLogic.call.

The flow is annotated with InitiatedBy(IOUFlow.class), which means that your node will invoke IOUFlowResponder.call when it receives a message from a instance of Initiator running on another node. What will this message from the IOUFlow be? If we look at the definition of CollectSignaturesFlow, we can see that we’ll be sent a SignedTransaction, and are expected to send back our signature over that transaction.

We could handle this manually. However, there is also a pre-defined flow called SignTransactionFlow that can handle this process for us automatically. SignTransactionFlow is an abstract class, and we must subclass it and override SignTransactionFlow.checkTransaction.

Once we’ve defined the subclass, we invoke it using FlowLogic.subFlow, and the communication with the borrower’s and the lender’s flow is conducted automatically.

CheckTransactions¶

SignTransactionFlow will automatically verify the transaction and its signatures before signing it. However, just because a transaction is valid doesn’t mean we necessarily want to sign. What if we don’t want to deal with the counterparty in question, or the value is too high, or we’re not happy with the transaction’s structure?

Overriding SignTransactionFlow.checkTransaction allows us to define these additional checks. In our case, we are checking that:

The transaction involves an IOUState - this ensures that IOUContract will be run to verify the transaction
The IOU’s value is less than some amount (100 in this case)

If either of these conditions are not met, we will not sign the transaction - even if the transaction and its signatures are valid.

Conclusion¶

We have now updated our flow to gather the lender’s signature as well, in line with the constraints in IOUContract. We can now run our updated CorDapp, using the instructions here.

Our CorDapp now requires agreement from both the lender and the borrower before an IOU can be created on the ledger. This prevents either the lender or the borrower from unilaterally updating the ledger in a way that only benefits themselves.