Glossary

Authorization

Granting a participant the rights to perform certain operations on the blockchain (in particular, to use API methods)

Address

The identifier of a network member derived from its public key. Each address has its own balance and state

Account

A set of data about a network member used to identify him or her

Alias

The conditional name of a network member associated with its address. An alias is assigned to a member using the transaction 10 and can be specified in transactions instead of the address of a specific member

Anchoring

Algorithm for checking data in a private blockchain for invariance by validating it in a larger network

Asset

A digital asset in blockchain. An asset is a set of tokens

Atomic transaction

A container transaction consisting of several other transactions. If one of the transactions placed in the atomic is not executed, all other transactions are also not executed

Balance

Number of tokens owned by the address in the blockchain

Block

A set of transactions recorded in the blockchain, signed by the miner and containing a link to the signature of the previous block. The default block size is 1 MB or 6000 transactions. The block size can be changed. The number of transactions in a block also depends on the transaction size and the mining speed.

Blockchain

A decentralized, distributed, and publicly accessible digital registry that records information in such a way that any individual record cannot be changed once it is made without changing all subsequent blocks

Validation

Confirmation of data invariability (integrity)

Generator

An auxiliary utility that allows you to create key pairs or key strings

Generating balance

Minimum balance, giving the address the right to mine

Access group

List of addresses with access to sensitive data on the blockchain

Data crawler

Service for extracting data from a node and loading it into a data preparation service

Smart contract execution

Execution of program code embedded in a smart contract in a blockchain

Key block

Initial block of a mining round, containing service information:

  • public key of the miner for validation of microblock signatures;

  • a miner fee for a previous block;

  • the miner signature;

  • a reference to a previous block

Fee

The amount of tokens an address pays for the transactions it sends to the blockchain

Consensus

Algorithm of coordination of information recorded in the blockchain between its participants

License

A document granting the right to use the Waves Enterprise blockchain platform

Leasing

Leasing of tokens on a participant’s balance to other participants. Leasing is used to create a generating balance from the participant taking tokens on lease, as well as to increase the probability of the participant’s selection by the miner of the next round when using the LPoS consensus algorithm

Miner

Node, having the right to create new blockchain blocks

Mining

The process of creating new blockchain blocks

Migration

The process of changing key blockchain parameters

Microblock

A set of transactions applied to a blockchain state. The number of transactions in a microblock is limited to 500 units. Microblocks form a network block. Microblocks are generated only under load: if there are no transactions, only blocks are released.

Node

A network participant’s computer with the Waves Enterprise blockchain platform software installed and a network address assigned

Node update

Updating the Waves Enterprise blockchain platform software installed on a network member’s computer

Image

A smart contract template that contains its code and is used to create a Docker container in which the smart contract is executed

Rollback

Sending an already created block for re-mining due to failures occurring on blockchain nodes

Peer

Node network address

Transaction signing

Adding to the body of the transaction the public key of its creator, used to confirm the integrity of the transaction in the blockchain

Private network, sidechain

A blockchain network separate from Waves Enterprise Mainnet and with its own registered participants

Private key

A string combination of characters for transactional signing and token access, to which only its owner has access. The private key is inextricably linked to the public key

Transaction broadcasting

Writing a transaction to a blockchain block during a mining round

Public network

A large blockchain network where each participant is known and registered in advance (e.g., Waves Enterprise Mainnet)

Public key

A string combination of characters inextricably linked to the private key. The public key is attached to transactions to confirm the correctness of the user’s signature made on the private key

Unconfirmed transaction pool (UTX pool)

A component of the Waves Enterprise blockchain platform that stores unconfirmed transactions until they are verified and sent to the blockchain

Round

The process of mining a block by a blockchain network participant

Repository

Smart contract image repository deployed with Docker Registry software

Permission

Granting or denying of certain operations in the blockchain

Network message

Network event information sent by a node to other nodes in the blockchain

Smart contract

A separate application which saves its entry data in the blockchain, as well as the output results of its algorithm

Snapshot

A set of all the blockchain current data on accounts, smart contracts, sensitive data access groups, permissions and registered nodes. A snapshot contains no history of changing values, transactions or blocks.

Creation of a smart contract

Upload a new smart contract to the blockchain using transaction 103

Soft fork

Mechanism for activating pre-built blockchain functionality

State

Blockchain transaction history stored in the database of each node

Address state

Data set of an individual address: balances, information about sent data transactions, results of execution of smart contracts called by the address

Smart contract state

Current data on the smart contract execution result, such as calculation result. This data is recorded and updated using the 104 transaction. Smart contract parameters such as publication time, information about whether the smart contract has been disabled, and other information about the smart contract itself are not included in the smart contract state and are stored outside of the blockchain in the Docker registry.

Token
  1. A blockchain unit used to motivate participants to mine on the network.

    When using the platform on the Mainnet, the WEST system token is used. In addition to the system token, you can create and use other tokens.

    Unlike blockchain platforms where you need to publish a ERC-20 standard smart contact to create a new token, the Waves Enterprise network provides the native way to issue tokens via a token issue transaction.

  2. The object used to authorize the blockchain participant

Transaction

A separate operation in the blockchain that changes the network state and is performed on behalf of a participant. By sending a transaction the participant sends a request to the network with a set of data necessary to change the state accordingly

AQDS

Advanced qualified digital signature based of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). AQDS is issued by an accredited Certification Authority (CA). As a rule, the validity period of an AQDS is limited to one year

Participant

User of the Waves Enterprise blockchain platform software, sending transactions to the blockchain

Fork

The formation of a new blockchain branch

Keystore

A closed repository where key pairs of blockchain nodes are stored

Hash

A unique set of characters generated from raw data using a given algorithm. Hash allows to uniquely identify the raw data

Keystring hash

A set of characters generated from a key string specified by the participant and used to authorize him in the blockchain

Service Endpoint

HTTP or HTTPS address to which the HTTP method refers. The endpoint performs a specific task, accepts parameters and returns data.

API method

A separate procedure called by a member via the API of the blockchain platform (gRPC or REST API) and designed to perform a specific operation in the blockchain

CEK

Content Encryption Key – data encryption key. The key is used to encrypt text data

Crash Fault Tolerance (CFT)

A PoA-based consensus algorithm that prevents blockchain forks from occurring in the event of any malfunction by one or more participants

Genesis block

Initial block of the blockchain network, containing service transactions for the distribution of primary roles and balances of participants

KEK

Key Encryption Key used to encrypt the content encryption key (CEK)

Leased Proof of Stake (LPoS)

The PoS consensus algorithm that enables a participant to lease tokens to other participants

Liquid block

Block state during a mining round from the formation of its key block to the formation of the next key block

MVCC (Multiversion concurrency control)

A mechanism for managing concurrent access to the state of smart contracts through multiversionality. With this mechanism, the node supports the ability to execute multiple transactions of any smart contracts in parallel, while ensuring data consistency.

JWT (JSON Web Token)

JSON-formatted object used to authorize a blockchain participant using the oAuth protocol

PKI

Public Key Infrastructure in which each key is represented by two parts: public and private. For more information, see. Public key infrastructure

Proof of Authority (PoA)

Consensus algorithm, in which the ability to verify transactions and create new blocks is given to the more authoritative nodes

Proof of Stake (PoS)

A consensus algorithm in which the node that checks transactions and mines in the next round is chosen based on its current balance

Sandbox

Blockchain platform trial mode

Seed phrase

A set of 24 randomly defined words to restore access to the address balance

Targetnet

A blockchain network into which data from a private network is anchored