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			129 lines
		
	
	
		
			4.6 KiB
		
	
	
	
		
			Plaintext
		
	
	
	
	
	
<pre>
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  BIP: 122
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  Layer: Applications
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  Title: URI scheme for Blockchain references / exploration
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  Author: Marco Pontello <marcopon@gmail.com>
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  Comments-Summary: No comments yet.
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  Comments-URI: https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/wiki/Comments:BIP-0122
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  Status: Draft
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  Type: Standards Track
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  Created: 2015-08-29
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  License: PD
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  Post-History: https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2015-August/010712.html
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</pre>
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==Abstract==
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This BIP proposes a URI scheme for looking up blocks, transactions and addresses on a Blockchain explorer, or in general to make proper Blockchain references.
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==Motivation==
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The purpose of this URI scheme is to enable users to handle all the requests for details about blocks, transactions, etc. with their preferred tool (being that a web service or a local application).
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Currently a Bitcoin client usually points to an arbitrary blockchain explorer when the user looks for the details of a transaction or allows the user to choose from a set of alternatives.
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Resorting to copy + paste into a browser is often required.
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The same happens with posts and messages that reference some particular txs or blocks, if they provide links at all.
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==Specification==
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The URI follow this form:
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 <nowiki>blockchain:[//<chain>]/<tx|block|address>/<hash></nowiki>
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Where:
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{| class="wikitable"
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! style="text-align: center;" | Element
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! colspan="2" style="text-align: center;" | Description
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! Required?
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|-
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| chain
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| colspan="2" | '''chain ID''' (see below) of the desired chain, leading 0s included. If omitted (which would be the usual case), Bitcoin main net is assumed.
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| optional
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|-
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| rowspan="3" | type
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| tx
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| for transactions.
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| rowspan="3" | required
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|-
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| block
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| for blocks (supports both hash or height).
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|-
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| address
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| for addresses.
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|-
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| hash
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| colspan="2" | the relevant hash to refer to (leading zeros included), or block height.
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| required
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|}
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====ABNF grammar====
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<pre>
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blockchainuri = "blockchain:" ["//" chain] "/" object
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object = ("tx" "/" hash) / ("block" "/" (hash / blockheight)) /
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         ("address" "/" address)
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chain = hash
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hash = 64HEXDIG
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blockheight = 1*15DIGIT ; 15 is somehow arbitrary, i.e. a "small" int.
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address = base58 ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base58
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</pre>
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----
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===Definition of chain ID===
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The '''chain ID''' of a chain is the block hash of the corresponding genesis block. For forked chains, it's the block hash of the first block after fork.
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So, for example:
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<pre>
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Bitcoin main   : 000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f
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Bitcoin test   : 000000000933ea01ad0ee984209779baaec3ced90fa3f408719526f8d77f4943
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Bitcoin regtest: 0f9188f13cb7b2c71f2a335e3a4fc328bf5beb436012afca590b1a11466e2206
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</pre>
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An example of forked chain (Feathercoin, that forked Litecoin):
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<img src=bip-0122/chainid.png></img>
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<pre>
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Litecoin   : 12a765e31ffd4059bada1e25190f6e98c99d9714d334efa41a195a7e7e04bfe2
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Feathercoin: fdbe99b90c90bae7505796461471d89ae8388ab953997aa06a355bbda8d915cb
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</pre>
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==Examples==
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A transaction on Bitcoin main net:
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 blockchain:/tx/b462ae6eb8bdae2e060239a2a3ea5d9c3e0f9ef34d9717beb2dcf0ed42cee7da
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A block on Bitcoin main net:
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 blockchain:/block/00000000000000000119af5bcae2926df54ae262e9071a94a99c913cc217cc72
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or
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 blockchain:/block/372338
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An address on Bitcoin main net:
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 blockchain:/address/16EW6Rv9P9AxFDBrZV816dD4sj1EAYUX3f
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A transaction on Bitcoin test net:
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 blockchain://000000000933ea01ad0ee984209779baaec3ced90fa3f408719526f8d77f4943/tx/3b95a766d7a99b87188d6875c8484cb2b310b78459b7816d4dfc3f0f7e04281a
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==Rationale==
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From the point of view of a wallet (or other Blockchain related tool) developers which need to reference Blockchain data, using this scheme mean that he can simply make it a `blockchain:` link without having to worry about any specific Blockchain explorer or provide a means for the user to select one.
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Blockchain explorers in turn will simply offer to handle the `blockchain:` URI schema, the first time the user visit their website, or launch/install the application, or even set themselves if there isn't already one.
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Users can link directly to their preferred block explorer (avoiding copy + paste which can be awkward on mobile devices).
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== Sample implementation ==
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[https://github.com/MarcoPon/blockchain-exploration Demo Blockchain: URI handler on GitHub]
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==Acknowledgements==
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Thanks to Btc Drak for suggesting support for different networks and Jorge Timon for the suggestion that we could identify each network by its genesis block hash.
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Thanks to Richard Moore, Matt Whitlock, Andreas Schildbach for help with the structure and hierarchy of the URI scheme.
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==Copyright==
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This document is placed in the public domain.
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