This commit change the ProcessBlock function to accept a new type named
BehaviorFlags in place of the current fastAdd parameter.
This has been done to pave the way for adding more control over the checks
that are performed such as avoiding the proof of work checks which will be
in an upcoming commit. A bitmask was chosen because it will allow the
ProcessBlock API to remain a little more stable since new flag additions
that change the behavior are only likely to be used by new code because
adding flags does not change the existing behavior.
ok @jrick
This commit changes the way that orphan blocks are identified by adding a
new boolean return value on ProcessBlock and removing the notification for
NTOrphanBlock.
This allows the calling code to identify orphan blocks immediately instead
of having to setup a seperate callback handler and implementing some type
of state tracking. This, in turn, allows cleaner code for handling them.
In addition, the tests have been updated for the new function signature
and also now check that each block is or is not an orphan as expected
which makes the tests more robust.
ok @jrick
This commit changes the RuleError type to a struct which consists of an
error code and human-readable description.
From a usage perspective, existing code should not break since type
asserting an error to a RuleError still works in the same manner. The
difference is the caller can now take that type asserted RuleError and
access the .ErrorCode field on it to programmatically identify the
specific rule that was violated.
ok @jrick
This commit refactors the code to make use of the btcnet package for
network-specific parameters instead of switching on the specific network.
For example, the percentage of the network that needs to run version 2
blocks is different between testnet and mainnet. Previously the code was
using a switch to choose these values. With this refactor, those
parameters are part of the network parameters provided when creating a new
chain instance.
Another example is checkpoints, which have been moved to btcnet so they
can be specified by the caller instead of hard coded into this package.
As a result, the checkpoints for the standard networks are now specified
in the btcnet package.
This makes it easier to add new networks such as a testnet4 should it
become needed. It also allows callers to define their own custom network
parameters without having to modify the code of the package to add new
switch cases for the custom network.
It is not necessary to do all of the transaction validation on
blocks if they have been confirmed to be in the block chain leading
up to the final checkpoint in a given blockschain.
This algorithm fetches block headers from the peer, then once it has
established the full blockchain connection, it requests blocks.
Any blocks before the final checkpoint pass true for fastAdd on
btcchain operation, which causes it to do less valiation on the block.
This commit updates the calls into btcutil, btcscript, and btcwire for the
latest API changes which remove the need for the protocol version for
serialization and deserialization of blocks and transactions.
