block

Documentation

Overview

Package block contains struct definitions and functions for Block which is an important struct for the blockchain.

Index

• func GetCurrentTime() uint64
• func GetGenesisBlock(fullBlock bool) interface{}
• type Block
  • func NewBlock(blockID uint32, blockTime uint64, prevBlockHash hash.Hash, ...) Block
• type Header

Functions

func GetCurrentTime

func GetCurrentTime() uint64

GetCurrentTime returns the current timestamp so that it can be used as BlockTime which is uint64. It returns the epoch time in seconds (10 digits for the next many years).

func GetGenesisBlock

func GetGenesisBlock(fullBlock bool) interface{}

GetGenesisBlock takes a bool value (get block full or light) and creates the static genesis block or header and returns it. Note that PrevBlockHash points to an imaginary hash, as block index -1 does not exist.

Types

type Block

type Block struct {
	// header (stored by full node + light node)
	BlockHeader Header // header being a struct makes serialization (with light node support) easier

	// stored by full node only
	Transactions   []transaction.Transaction // list of transactions
	SimulationTask simpar.SimulationTask
}

Block holds blockchain data and is serialized and stored in the chaindb bucket of the database. A full node will store the entire block, will a light node will only store the header of the block.

func NewBlock

func NewBlock(blockID uint32, blockTime uint64, prevBlockHash hash.Hash, stateMerkleRoot hash.Hash,
	problemID hash.Hash, blockWinner winner.BlockWinner,
	transactions []transaction.Transaction, simTask simpar.SimulationTask) Block

NewBlock is the constructor function for Block. By using this constructor to create a new block, a Merkle Tree for the transaction list is automatically constructed and its root hash stored in the header of the block.

type Header

type Header struct {
	BlockID                uint32             // 0, 1, 2, ...
	BlockTime              uint64             // block timestamp (epoch time in seconds)
	PrevBlockHash          hash.Hash          // hash of previous block (more specifically, the hash of a block is the hash of a block's header)
	TransactionsMerkleRoot hash.Hash          // root hash of transactions merkle tree
	StateMerkleRoot        hash.Hash          // root hash of state merkle tree
	ProblemID              hash.Hash          // hash of block problem that is bound to this block
	BlockWinner            winner.BlockWinner // address of winner node, hash of solution, amount of token reward
}

Header holds block metadata and is part of every block. Headers are equipped with Merkle tree root hash data so that light node protocols can exist.