How to read a transaction
What each field means, which ones matter first, and the order to read them in.
Start with status. A transaction that failed still appears on the chain and still cost a fee, but the transfer it attempted did not happen. Read the outcome before the amount.
#The outer transaction
- From: the account that signed and paid the fee.
- To: the account or contract that was called. Empty when a contract is being created.
- Value: the native currency attached to the call. It is often zero when tokens are moving.
- Input data: for a contract call, the function being asked for and its arguments.
#What happened inside
A contract call can trigger further calls and emit events. Token transfers appear as events written by the token contract, not as the transaction's value. One transaction can move several assets between several parties, so the top-level from, to and value rarely tell the whole story.
Internal calls are reconstructed by a tracing node replaying the transaction. Forensia shows what that node reported and does not replay the transaction itself. They are not separately signed, and amounts seen at different depths can describe the same value more than once. Do not add them together.