Is my second Transaction working correctly? +Transfer Question

[AgoraMutual]

So, I finally got my client to start generating and after I got my laptop optimized for the task and waited over night. My first transaction completed resulting in +50 Coins. Yay!!

However, once that transaction was complete, a new transaction hasn't started. Or maybe it has. There's only one transaction in the list but I'm up to 131 Blocks under "Status". Is this the way it's supposed to happen? Does it keep processing on the same transaction and generating coins every 120 blocks or so? Or is it supposed to start a new transaction?

I have a Screen Shot if needed. Sorry if this is a basic question but I'm sure someone will ask if I don't.


Thanks for taking the initiative on this project Mr. Satoshi.   Maybe one day I can fire my bank once and for all.

EDIT: I decided to stop playing around and I set BitCoin up on my high powered gaming rig, forwarded 8333 to it, and started generating on it instead of my laptop. So then I transferred my previous 50 coins to that client but it's been an hour and nothing has shown up for me to accept the transfer. Both computers are on the same wireless LAN. I sent it to just the BitCoin address because I wasn't sure if I was supposed to send to my internal or external IP. I assume external because the transaction needs to be verified by other nodes. Right? I also assumed sending to the BC address only would make sure it goes through the proper channels. Did I just throw my coins away or should I wait longer? I'm new at this. Sorry.

[sirius]

So, I finally got my client to start generating and after I got my laptop optimized for the task and waited over night. My first transaction completed resulting in +50 Coins. Yay!!

Congratulations and welcome to the forum 

However, once that transaction was complete, a new transaction hasn't started. Or maybe it has. There's only one transaction in the list but I'm up to 131 Blocks under "Status". Is this the way it's supposed to happen? Does it keep processing on the same transaction and generating coins every 120 blocks or so? Or is it supposed to start a new transaction?

The number of blocks of a transaction is the amount of new blocks that have been generated by the whole network after the transaction. Each new block in the chain means new coins to its creator. One "generated" -transaction in your transaction list means that you have generated one block. You're not the first one to find the concept of a "block" a bit confusing on the first sight.

EDIT: I decided to stop playing around and I set BitCoin up on my high powered gaming rig, forwarded 8333 to it, and started generating on it instead of my laptop. So then I transferred my previous 50 coins to that client but it's been an hour and nothing has shown up for me to accept the transfer.

There's no confirmation of incoming transactions when someone sends to your Bitcoin address, all transactions are automatically completed. Did the transaction show up in the transaction list?

Both computers are on the same wireless LAN. I sent it to just the BitCoin address because I wasn't sure if I was supposed to send to my internal or external IP. I assume external because the transaction needs to be verified by other nodes. Right?

Other nodes aren't going to know which IP you're sending to, your client just connects directly to it. Both IP's are fine as long as the connection routes to the right computer. Anyway, I'd use the inner address inside a network for simplicity.

[satoshi]

The transfer is immediate if you send by IP address.  If you send by bitcoin address and the recipient isn't online at the time, it might take 30 minutes or more to see it.  

Also, the recipient needs to be synced up with the block chain before it'll see the received transaction.  That means the status bar at the bottom needs to say at least 33000 blocks, like "x connections  33200 blocks  x transactions".

However, once that transaction was complete, a new transaction hasn't started. Or maybe it has. There's only one transaction in the list but I'm up to 131 Blocks under "Status". Is this the way it's supposed to happen? Does it keep processing on the same transaction and generating coins every 120 blocks or so? Or is it supposed to start a new transaction?

The number of blocks of a transaction is the amount of new blocks that have been generated by the whole network after the transaction. Each new block in the chain means new coins to its creator. One "generated" -transaction in your transaction list means that you have generated one block. You're not the first one to find the concept of a "block" a bit confusing on the first sight.

Would it be clearer if the status said "x confirmations", like:
2/unconfirmed
3/unconfirmed
4/unconfirmed
5/unconfirmed
6 confirmations
7 confirmations
8 confirmations

Each block essentially means another node has confirmed that it agrees with all transactions up to that point.

[sirius]

Would it be clearer if the status said "x confirmations", like:
2/unconfirmed
3/unconfirmed
4/unconfirmed
5/unconfirmed
6 confirmations
7 confirmations
8 confirmations

Each block essentially means another node has confirmed that it agrees with all transactions up to that point.

"Confirmation" would be more informative than "block". It's good if the user can relate the number of "confirmations" to the number of "blocks" in the status bar.