<div dir="ltr"><div>Hi!</div><div>My first post here, hope I'm following the right conventions.</div><div>I had this humble idea for a while, so I thought to go ahead and propose</div><div>it.</div><div><br></div><div><div>BIP: XX</div><div>Title: URI scheme for Blockchain exploration</div><div>Author: Marco Pontello</div><div>Status: Draft</div><div>Type: Standards Track</div><div>Created: 29 August 2015</div><div><br></div><div>Abstract</div><div>========</div><div>This BIP propose a simple URI scheme for looking up blocks, transactions,</div><div>addresses on a Blockchain explorer.</div><div><br></div><div>Motivation</div><div>==========</div><div>The purpose of this URI scheme is to enable users to handle all the</div><div>requests for details about blocks, transactions, etc. with their preferred</div><div>tool (being that a web service or a local application).</div><div><br></div><div>Currently a Bitcoin client usually point to an arbitrary blockchain</div><div>explorer when the user look for the details of a transaction (es. Bitcoin</div><div>Wallet use BitEasy, Mycelium or Electrum use Blockchain.info, etc.).</div><div>Other times resorting to cut&paste is needed.</div><div>The same happens with posts and messages that reference some particular</div><div>txs or blocks, if they provide links at all.</div><div><br></div><div>Specification</div><div>=============</div><div>The URI follow this simple form:</div><div><br></div><div>blockchain: <hash/string> </div><div><br></div><div>Examples:</div><div><br></div><div>blockchain:00000000000000001003e880d500968d51157f210c632e08a652af3576600198</div><div>blockchain:001949</div><div>blockchain:3b95a766d7a99b87188d6875c8484cb2b310b78459b7816d4dfc3f0f7e04281a</div><div><br></div><div>Rationale</div><div>=========</div><div>I thought about using some more complex scheme, or adding qualifiers to</div><div>distinguish blocks from txs, but in the end I think that keeping it simple</div><div>should be practical enough. Blockchain explorers can apply the same</div><div>disambiguation rules they are already using to process the usual search</div><div>box. </div><div><br></div><div>From the point of view of a wallet developer (or other tool that need to</div><div>show any kind of Blockchain references), using this scheme mean that he</div><div>can simply make it a blockchain: link and be done with it, without having</div><div>to worry about any specific Blockchain explorer or provide a means for the</div><div>user to select one.</div><div><br></div><div>Blockchain explorers in turn will simply offer to handle the blockchain:</div><div>URI, the first time the user visit their website, or launch/install the</div><div>application, or even set themselves if there isn't already one.</div><div><br></div><div>Users get the convenience of using always their preferred explorer, which</div><div>can be especially handy on mobile devices, where juggling with cut&paste</div><div>is far from ideal.</div><div><br></div></div><div><br></div>
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