Web interface

[arichnad]

I started a conversation with @killerstorm about some ways I can contribute. I think it'll be a web interface.

NOTE: this will likely go into a separate git repo (which might start out as a fork of abe) so as to keep from polluting ngcccbase.

I'd like to discuss what the requirements should be, and then some possible solutions.

To start us off:

Requirements: Should work with user-supplied colors. System should be able to be performant even on colors with lots of transactions.

Possible solution: Fork bitcoinx/bitcoin-abe ?

[arichnad]

I have a small pull request on bitcoinx/bitcoin-abe.

I've also got a killerstorm/bitcoin-tx-spent-db version to work with bitcoin-abe called arichnad/bitcoin-tx-spent-db-abe.

If you'd like to put that into bitcoinx, that's fine with me.

I will continue to develop both bitcoin-abe and arichnad/bitcoin-tx-spent-db-abe to make them better.

Once they're better, I'll probably put them up on a server. Is there a server you'd like to see it up on? Or should I put it up on my server?

[killerstorm]

Thanks.

Yep, we have a server which runs Abe, I'll update it and add explorer code in a couple of days.

[arichnad]

I've added user-defined colors to the javascript side. You can see arichnad/color-explorer-vagrant (which uses arichnad/bitcoin-tx-spent-db-abe and bitcoinx/bitcoin-abe) loaded up here: http://coloredcoinexplorer.org/

I'll continue adding features. Feel free to pull in whatever repos you want to bitcoinx.

Any suggestions on new features?

Let me know if you have any color definitions you're using for testing.

[arichnad]

Added the ability to parse URLs. So now we can pass around URLs with actual data in them:

removed old URL

Describes a few colors and goes to a specific transaction.

[killerstorm]

Hmm, it didn't work, but anyway: using this kind of format for colors is a bad idea because it can be confusing, as NGCCC uses somewhat similar color_desc format.

I think the right way to do it is to remember color set on server. Then user gets color_set_hash for colors he entered, server remembers association of color_set_hash with a set of colors. Page can get color_set_hash in parameter, does lookup on server, gets color set, and proceeds from it

The algorithm to get color_set_hash is in ngcccbase: wallet_model.ColorSet.get_hash_string()

Basically, it is sha256 of a deterministic JSON serialization of a list of color_desc's.

color_desc is of form "obc:::"

[arichnad]

Oops, you can try again.

"sha256 of a deterministic JSON serialization of a list of color_desc's"

I understand the concept, I'll give it a try. I've been hoping to get the server to help out on color lookups. I might actually abandon bitcoin-tx-spent-db-abe and move most of the code over to the python/sqlite side.

[killerstorm]

I understand the concept, I'll give it a try. I've been hoping to get the
server to help out on color lookups. I might actually abandon
bitcoin-tx-spent-db-abe and move most of the code over to the python/sqlite
side.

Is it possible to make it configurable? E.g. there is same front-end, but
back-end can be either based on backward scan, or on data from server.
I think that would be ideal.

More code to maintain, but worth it.

BTW NGCCC supports both forward scan and backward scan now. It looks like
about 90% of code is in common, so it's hardly an issue.

[arichnad]

Should I use color_set.get_hash_string or color_set.get_color_string?

(The latter seems much shorter, but I'm worried it could be too short [re birthday attack])

[killerstorm]

get_hash_string

get_color_string is, indeed, too short. (We use it just for a sanity check now.)

[arichnad]

Things Fixed:

1. "using this kind of format for colors is a bad idea because it can be confusing"
2. "remember color set on server"
3. "user gets color_set_hash for colors he entered"
4. "server remembers association of color_set_hash with a set of colors"
5. "Page can get color_set_hash in parameter, does lookup on server, gets color set, and proceeds from it"

Try new URL here:

http://coloredcoinexplorer.com/color-explorer/index.html?colorSetHash=d2c626205c7e6576230beb705536b6b1bd46aa3bdfd61cbcb51b8e9eba525556&goto=b1586cd10b32f78795b86e9a3febe58dcb59189175fad884a7f4a6623b77486e

[arichnad]

I've yet to test between color_set_hash values on ngccc vs coloredcoinexplorer. I've noticed the heights didn't seem right on ngccc when I used it on Tuesday. (also I'm not sure why we need heights, but I'm using them anyways)

[arichnad]

About a month ago, I noticed people discussing color kernels on the mailing list ad nauseam.

Is there a color kernel that we've settled on? I need to make sure bitcoin-abe-color-explorer stays consistent and probably need to get the python parts to use the same color kernel classes if we think this will change.

[killerstorm]

It looks like we've settled on epobc.

Yes, it's important to use same code, i.e. coloredcoinlib. Please let me know if there is any problem with it.