Author: Matt Whitlock 2015-09-01 21:42:09
Published on: 2015-09-01T21:42:09+00:00
The authority part of a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) is optional. A discussion thread from September 2015 shows different opinions about the structure of blockchain URIs. The thread starts with Marco Pontello defending the optionality of the chain part of the URI. He argues that since the vast majority of references will be to Bitcoin main net, it makes sense for the chain part to be optional. Matt Whitlock disagrees and suggests that the authority component of the URL should identify the chain while the path component should identify the particular block, transaction or address on that chain. Whitlock suggests that the URI should be structured as follows: blockchain://000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f/tx/ca26cedeb9cbc94e030891578e0d2b688a28902114f6ad2f24ecd3918f76c17fHe also suggests that well-known chains should be able to register a name that can be used instead of the literal hash syntax. In response, Pontello suggests that both options should be allowed. He proposes that a reference to a certain transaction could be either blockchain://tx/ca26cedeb9cbc94e030891578e0d2b688a28902114f6ad2f24ecd3918f76c17f or blockchain://ca26cedeb9cbc94e030891578e0d2b688a28902114f6ad2f24ecd3918f76c17f?chain=main.
Updated on: 2023-06-10T21:13:58.408598+00:00