contract block_identifier default change

Changed default block_identifier in contract.call() to None.
Changed parse_block_identifier to use web3.eth.defaultBlock if None is passed in

Author: newtectonics

newsfragments/2777.breaking.rst

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+When calling a contract, use ``w3.eth.default_block`` if no block_identifier is specified instead of ``latest``.

tests/core/contracts/test_contract_call_interface.py

@@ -1021,6 +1021,20 @@ def test_call_revert_contract(revert_contract):
         revert_contract.functions.revertWithMessage().call({"gas": 100000})
 
 
+def test_changing_default_block_identifier(w3, math_contract):
+    assert math_contract.caller.counter() == 0
+    assert w3.eth.default_block == "latest"
+
+    math_contract.functions.increment(7).transact()
+    assert math_contract.caller.counter() == 7
+
+    assert math_contract.functions.counter().call(block_identifier=1) == 0
+    w3.eth.default_block = 1
+    assert math_contract.functions.counter().call(block_identifier=None) == 0
+    w3.eth.default_block = 0x2
+    assert math_contract.functions.counter().call(block_identifier=None) == 7
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_async_invalid_address_in_deploy_arg(
     AsyncWithConstructorAddressArgumentsContract,
@@ -1885,3 +1899,22 @@ async def test_async_returns_data_from_specified_block(async_w3, async_math_cont
 
     assert output1 == 1
     assert output2 == 2
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_async_changing_default_block_identifier(async_w3, async_math_contract):
+    assert await async_math_contract.caller.counter() == 0
+    assert async_w3.eth.default_block == "latest"
+
+    await async_math_contract.functions.increment(7).transact()
+    assert await async_math_contract.caller.counter() == 7
+
+    assert await async_math_contract.functions.counter().call(block_identifier=1) == 0
+    async_w3.eth.default_block = 1
+    assert (
+        await async_math_contract.functions.counter().call(block_identifier=None) == 0
+    )
+    async_w3.eth.default_block = 0x2
+    assert (
+        await async_math_contract.functions.counter().call(block_identifier=None) == 7
+    )

web3/contract.py

@@ -1197,7 +1197,7 @@ def __call__(self, *args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> "ContractFunction":
     def call(
         self,
         transaction: Optional[TxParams] = None,
-        block_identifier: BlockIdentifier = "latest",
+        block_identifier: BlockIdentifier = None,
         state_override: Optional[CallOverride] = None,
         ccip_read_enabled: Optional[bool] = None,
     ) -> Any:
@@ -1308,7 +1308,7 @@ def __call__(self, *args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> "AsyncContractFunction":
     async def call(
         self,
         transaction: Optional[TxParams] = None,
-        block_identifier: BlockIdentifier = "latest",
+        block_identifier: BlockIdentifier = None,
         state_override: Optional[CallOverride] = None,
         ccip_read_enabled: Optional[bool] = None,
     ) -> Any:
@@ -1346,8 +1346,7 @@ async def call(
             self._return_data_normalizers,
             self.function_identifier,
             call_transaction,
-            # BlockIdentifier does have an Awaitable type in types.py
-            block_id,  # type: ignore
+            block_id,
             self.contract_abi,
             self.abi,
             state_override,
@@ -2177,6 +2176,8 @@ async def async_call_contract_function(
 def parse_block_identifier(
     w3: "Web3", block_identifier: BlockIdentifier
 ) -> BlockIdentifier:
+    if block_identifier is None:
+        return w3.eth.default_block
     if isinstance(block_identifier, int):
         return parse_block_identifier_int(w3, block_identifier)
     elif block_identifier in {"latest", "earliest", "pending", "safe", "finalized"}:
@@ -2191,11 +2192,13 @@ def parse_block_identifier(
 
 async def async_parse_block_identifier(
     w3: "Web3", block_identifier: BlockIdentifier
-) -> Awaitable[BlockIdentifier]:
+) -> BlockIdentifier:
+    if block_identifier is None:
+        return w3.eth.default_block
     if isinstance(block_identifier, int):
         return await async_parse_block_identifier_int(w3, block_identifier)
     elif block_identifier in {"latest", "earliest", "pending", "safe", "finalized"}:
-        return block_identifier  # type: ignore
+        return block_identifier
     elif isinstance(block_identifier, bytes) or is_hex_encoded_block_hash(
         block_identifier
     ):
@@ -2218,7 +2221,7 @@ def parse_block_identifier_int(w3: "Web3", block_identifier_int: int) -> BlockNu
 
 async def async_parse_block_identifier_int(
     w3: "Web3", block_identifier_int: int
-) -> Awaitable[BlockNumber]:
+) -> BlockNumber:
     if block_identifier_int >= 0:
         block_num = block_identifier_int
     else:
@@ -2227,7 +2230,7 @@ async def async_parse_block_identifier_int(
         block_num = last_block_num + block_identifier_int + 1
         if block_num < 0:
             raise BlockNumberOutofRange
-    return BlockNumber(block_num)  # type: ignore
+    return BlockNumber(block_num)
 
 
 def transact_with_contract_function(