Author: Marco Pontello 2015-09-01 21:43:39
Published on: 2015-09-01T21:43:39+00:00
The email conversation discusses the structure of blockchain Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) and how to identify chains and specific blocks, transactions, or addresses within them. Matt Whitlock suggests that the "authority" component of the URL should identify the chain and the "path" component should identify the particular block, transaction, or address in that chain. He proposes a new format for blockchain URIs that would include the chain ID as the first element after the blockchain scheme, followed by the type of reference being made (e.g., tx for transaction), and finally the reference itself (e.g., the hash of the transaction). He also suggests allowing well-known chains to register a name that could be used as an alternative to the literal hash syntax. Marco Pontello agrees with the proposal but suggests making the chain part optional since most references will be to the Bitcoin main net. He also proposes letting users use name constants as a more relaxed alternative to using the genesis block hash, which would spare a source lookup just to write a correct reference to a transaction. The conversation ends with a mention of an online file identifier tool.
Updated on: 2023-06-10T21:14:07.772263+00:00