Ethereum Ethers.js: Getting Empty Results Despite Existing Transactions

When building decentralized applications, tracking transactions is essential for auditing and ensuring the integrity of your smart contracts. One common issue when working with the Ethereum blockchain is getting empty results from getLogs, despite existing transactions.

In this article, we will explore why you might see this behavior and how to troubleshoot and resolve it using Ethers.js.

Problem:

getLogs returns an array of records containing information about transactions on the Ethereum network. However, if there are no new or updated transactions for a specific address within a certain time frame (also known as the “last block” or “block number”), getLogs will return an empty array.

Why You Might See Empty Results

There could be several reasons why you are seeing empty results from getLogs. Here are a few possible causes:

• No New Transactions: If there are no new USDT transfers to specific wallet addresses within a certain time frame, getLogs will not return any records.

• Old block number

  : If the last block number is older than the block number you are interested in (e.g. 100 blocks ago), getLogs may not return any results because there are no new transactions to retrieve from that block.

• Network congestion or slow transaction processing: In a network with high traffic, it is possible that some transactions will be delayed or dropped, resulting in empty records.

Troubleshooting steps

To resolve this issue, try the following:

• Check existing transactions

  : Verify that there are indeed USDT transfers to specific wallet addresses by checking their balances and transaction history using other APIs or tools (e.g. MetaMask).

• Set a reasonable block number limit: Increase your blockNumber parameter when calling getLogs. This will force Ethers.js to retrieve records from the specified block number onwards.

• Use Pagination: If there are many transactions within a certain time frame, consider using pagination to retrieve results in chunks. This can help you process larger data sets more efficiently.

Sample Code

Here’s an example code snippet that shows how to use getLogs with pagination:

import * and ethers from 'ethers';


const walletAddress = '0x...'; // Replace with desired wallet address

constBlockNumber = 100; // Set a reasonable limit for fetching records


asynchronous function getLogs() {

  const provider = new ethers.providers.Web3Provider(window.ethereum);

  try {

    const logs = await provider.getLogs({

      address: walletAddress,

      block number: block number,

      fromBlock: blockNumber,

      toBlock: Infinity, // Get all transactions in the current block

    });
return logs;
} catch ( error ) {
console.error(error);
return [];
}
}
// Call getLogs with paging
getLogs().then(logs => console.log(logs));

By following these steps and using pagination, you should be able to resolve the issue of getting empty results from getLogs despite existing transactions.

Mantle Arbitrum