3.1. Unit

This module implements unit - a basic building block of Aleph protocol.

class aleph.data_structures.unit.Unit(creator_id, parents, txs, signature=None, coin_shares=None)

This class is the building block for the poset

Parameters

• creator_id (int) – indentification number of a process creating this unit

• parents (list) – list of parent units; first parent has to be the last unit created by the process creator_id

• txs (list) – list of transactions

• signature (bytes) – signature made by a process creating this unit preventing forging units by Byzantine processes

• coin_shares (list) – list of coin_shares if this is a prime unit, None otherwise

bytestring()

Create a bytestring with all essential info about this unit for the purpose of signature creation and checking.

hash()

Return the value of hash of this unit.

short_name()

Returns a 12 character string (surrounded by ‘< >’ brackets) – a shorter hash of the unit. To be used for printing units in logs. NOTE: this has collision resistance as long there are roughly <= 10^9 units considered simultaneusly. NOTE: this uses only characters in the set A-Z, 2-7 (base32 encoding)

transactions()

Iterate over transactions (instances of Tx class) belonging to this unit.

aleph.data_structures.unit.pretty_hash(some_hash)

Returns a 12 character string (surrounded by ‘< >’ brackets) – a shorter hash. To be used for printing hashes in logs. NOTE: this has collision resistance as long there are roughly <= 10^9 units considered simultaneusly. NOTE: this uses only characters in the set A-Z, 2-7 (base32 encoding)