corda/docs/source/tut-two-party-flow.rst

Updating the flow

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

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

Updating the borrower'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 lender's signature.

We also need to add the lender's public key to the transaction's command, making the lender 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.toSignedTransaction(txBuilder)

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

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

// 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().toSignedTransaction(txBuilder);

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

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

To make the lender a required signer, we simply add the lender'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.

The lender's flow

Reorganising our class

Before we define the lender's flow, let's reorganise IOUFlow.java/IOUFlow.kt a little bit:

• Rename IOUFlow to Initiator
• In Java, make the Initiator class static, rename its constructor to match the new name, and move the definition inside an enclosing IOUFlow class
• In Kotlin, move the definition of Initiator class inside an enclosing IOUFlow singleton object

We will end up with the following structure:

object IOUFlow {
    @InitiatingFlow
    @StartableByRPC
    class Initiator(val iouValue: Int,
        val otherParty: Party) : FlowLogic<Unit>() {

public class IOUFlow {
    @InitiatingFlow
    @StartableByRPC
    public static class Initiator extends FlowLogic<Void> {

Writing the lender's flow

We're now ready to write the lender's flow, which will respond to the borrower's attempt to gather our signature.

Inside the IOUFlow class/singleton object, add the following class:

@InitiatedBy(Initiator::class)
class Acceptor(val otherParty: Party) : FlowLogic<Unit>() {
    @Suspendable
    override fun call() {
        val signTransactionFlow = object : SignTransactionFlow(otherParty) {
            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)
    }
}

@InitiatedBy(Initiator.class)
public static class Acceptor extends FlowLogic<Void> {

    private final Party otherParty;

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

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

            @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));

        return null;
    }
}

As with the Initiator, our Acceptor flow is a FlowLogic subclass where we've overridden FlowLogic.call.

The flow is annotated with InitiatedBy(Initiator.class), which means that your node will invoke Acceptor.call when it receives a message from a instance of Initiator running on another node. What will this message from the Initiator 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 <hello-world-running>.

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.