Using Objects

Once you’ve created your Object, you can use it in Move entry functions, structs, transfer it, and modify it using any refs you generated during Object construction. Below are various ways to utilize, manage, and interact with Objects in Move.

Using an Object as an entry function argument

Objects in move functions have the type Object<T>, where T is the type of a resource owned by the Object. All Objects have an ObjectCore type which contains the metadata for the Object.

To use an Object parameter, users can pass in the Object address or a reference to the Object. At runtime the contract will verify that the Object exists at that address, and has a resource of type T before executing the function.

Example.move

module my_addr::object_playground {
  use aptos_framework::object::Object;
 
  struct MyAwesomeStruct has key {}
 
  /// This will fail if the object doesn't have MyAwesomeStruct stored
  entry fun do_something(object: Object<MyAwesomeStruct>) {
    // ...
  }
  
  /// All Objects have ObjectCore, so this will only fail if the 
  /// address is not an object
  entry fun do_something_to_object_core(object: Object<ObjectCore>) {
    // ...
  }
}

To let the user of the entry function specify the type of resource, you can keep the generic type T like so:

Example.move

module my_addr::object_playground {
  use aptos_framework::object::Object;
 
  /// This will fail if the object doesn't have the generic `T` stored
  entry fun do_something<T>(object: Object<T>) {
    // ...
  }
}

Object types

You can refer to an Object by any type of resource that is owned by the Object. For convenience, you can convert an address to an Object, or convert an Object between types as long as the resources are available using address_to_object and convert<T> like so:

Example.move

module my_addr::object_playground {
  use aptos_framework::object::{self, Object, ObjectCore};
 
  struct MyAwesomeStruct has key {}
 
  fun convert_type(object: Object<ObjectCore>): Object<MyAwesomeStruct> {
    object::convert<MyAwesomeStruct>(object)
  }
 
  fun address_to_type(object_address: address): Object<MyAwesomeStruct> {
    object::address_to_object<MyAwesomeStruct>(object_address)
  }
}

Objects can be owned by any address, including Objects, Accounts, and Resource accounts. This allows composability between objects and complex relationships between them.

Using an Object as type of a field in struct

Objects can help represent complicated types by using them in structs. For example,

Example.move

module my_addr::object_playground {
  use aptos_framework::object::{Self, Object};
  use aptos_framework::fungible_asset::Metadata;
  use aptos_framework::primary_fungible_store;
 
  struct MyStruct has key {
    fungible_asset_object: Object<Metadata>
  }
 
  entry fun create_fungible_asset(creator: &signer) {
    let fa_obj_constructor_ref = &object::create_sticky_object(@my_addr);
    let fa_obj_signer = object::generate_signer(fa_obj_constructor_ref);
    let fa_obj_addr = signer::address_of(&fa_obj_signer);
    primary_fungible_store::create_primary_store_enabled_fungible_asset(
        fa_obj_constructor_ref,
        max_supply,
        name,
        symbol,
        decimals,
        icon_uri,
        project_uri
    );
    move_to(creator, MyStruct {
      fungible_asset_object: object::address_to_object(fa_obj_addr)
    });
  }
}

Looking up who owns an Object

When writing contracts for Objects, it is often important to verify ownership before modifying the Object. Because an Object can be owned by any address, verifying ownership needs to account for whether the owner is an Account, a Resource Account or another Object like so:

Example.move

module my_addr::object_playground {
  use std::signer;
  use aptos_framework::object::{self, Object};
 
  // Not authorized!
  const E_NOT_AUTHORIZED: u64 = 1;
 
  fun check_owner_is_caller<T>(caller: &signer, object: Object<T>) {
    assert!(
      object::is_owner(object, signer::address_of(caller)),
      E_NOT_AUTHORIZED
    );
  }
 
  fun check_is_owner_of_object<T>(addr: address, object: Object<T>) {
    assert!(object::owner(object) == addr, E_NOT_AUTHORIZED);
  }
 
  fun check_is_nested_owner_of_object<T, U>(
    caller: &signer,
    outside_object: Object<T>,
    inside_object: Object<U>
  ) {
    // Ownership expected
    // Caller account -> Outside object -> inside object
 
    // Check outside object owns inside object
    let outside_address = object::object_address(outside_object);
    assert!(object::owns(inside_object, outside_address), E_NOT_AUTHORIZED);
 
    // Check that the caller owns the outside object
    let caller_address = signer::address_of(caller);
    assert!(object::owns(outside_object, caller_address), E_NOT_AUTHORIZED);
 
    // Check that the caller owns the inside object (via the outside object)
    // This can skip the first two calls (and even more nested)
    assert!(object::owns(inside_object, caller_address), E_NOT_AUTHORIZED);
  }
}

Transfer of ownership

By default, all Objects are transferrable. Some Objects are configured to disable ungated_transfers when they are constructed (see Constructing Objects for more details).

You can transfer an Object like so:

Example.move

module my_addr::object_playground {
  use aptos_framework::object::{self, Object};
 
  /// Transfer to another address, this can be an object or account
  fun transfer<T>(owner: &signer, object: Object<T>, destination: address) {
    object::transfer(owner, object, destination);
  }
 
  /// Transfer to another object
  fun transfer_to_object<T, U>(
    owner: &signer,
    object: Object<T>,
    destination: Object<U>
  ) {
    object::transfer_to_object(owner, object, destination);
  }
}

⚠️

If ungated_transfer is disabled, then all transfers need to use a special permission given by a TransferRef or LinearTransferRef.

Events

By default, Objects only have a TransferEvent which triggers whenever the Object is transferred.

Objects can be extended to have additional events.

You can use the following functions to create event handles for Objects:

example.move

module 0x1::object {
  /// Create a guid for the object, typically used for events
  public fun create_guid(object: &signer): guid::GUID {}
 
  /// Generate a new event handle.
  public fun new_event_handle<T: drop + store>(object: &signer): event::EventHandle<T> {}
}

Generated event handles can be transferred to the Object as long as you have the Object’s SignerRef. For example:

example.move

module 0x42::example {
  use aptos_framework::event;
  use aptos_framework::fungible_asset::FungibleAsset;
  use aptos_framework::object::{Self, Object};
 
  struct LiquidityPoolEventStore has key {
    create_events: event::EventHandle<CreateLiquidtyPoolEvent>,
  }
 
  struct CreateLiquidtyPoolEvent {
    token_a: address,
    token_b: address,
    reserves_a: u128,
    reserves_b: u128,
  }
 
  public entry fun create_liquidity_pool_with_events(
        token_a: Object<FungibleAsset>,
        token_b: Object<FungibleAsset>,
        reserves_a: u128,
        reserves_b: u128
  ) {
    let exchange_signer = &get_exchange_signer();
    let liquidity_pool_constructor_ref = &object::create_object_from_account(
      exchange_signer
    );
    let liquidity_pool_signer = &object::generate_signer(
      liquidity_pool_constructor_ref
    );
    let event_handle = object::new_event_handle<CreateLiquidtyPoolEvent>(
      liquidity_pool_signer
    );
 
    event::emit_event<CreateLiquidtyPoolEvent>(&mut event_handle, CreateLiquidtyPoolEvent {
      token_a: object::object_address(&token_a),
      token_b: object::object_address(&token_b),
      reserves_a,
      reserves_b,
    });
 
    move_to(liquidity_pool_signer, LiquidityPool {
      token_a,
      token_b,
      reserves_a,
      reserves_b
    });
 
    move_to(liquidity_pool_signer, LiquidityPoolEventStore {
      create_events: event_handle
    });
  }
}

Modifying Objects after creation

In general, Objects can only be modified with Refs generated during construction. See Creating and Configuring Objects for more details on what Refs are available, how to generate them, and how to use them. This is how you add additional resources to an Object, delete it, and extend it.

One exception to this is “burning” an Object, which sets a flag so Wallet providers know to not display that Object. This can be used to declutter when an Object is not actually deletable.

Example.move

module my_addr::object_playground {
  use aptos_framework::object::{self, Object};
 
  fun burn_object<T>(owner: &signer, object: Object<T>) {
    object::burn(owner, object);
    assert!(object::is_burnt(object) == true, 1);
  }
}

If you later decide that you want the Object to be displayed again, you can un-”burn” it.

Example.move

module my_addr::object_playground {
  use aptos_framework::object::{self, Object};
 
  fun unburn_object<T>(owner: &signer, object: object::Object<T>) {
    object::unburn(owner, object);
    assert!(object::is_burnt(object) == false, 1);
  }
}

Example contracts

Here are three real-world code snippets which use Objects:

Creating Objects Digital Asset (DA)