[ANNOUNCE] Abe 0.7: Open Source Block Explorer Knockoff

[BkkCoins]

Is there a correct way to terminate the Abe server? I've been using Ctrl-C but notice it spits out an ugly Keyboard exception. If I wrote a small patch to catch the exception and gracefully close would that be useful and accepted? Or maybe I'm just doing it wrong?

[1714038321]

1714038321

[John Tobey]

I use Ctrl-C and tolerate the keyboard exception backtrace.  Once I had a good use for the trace, when I was optimising the initial load time.  I can imagine this happening again, so I would probably keep an option to show it, perhaps the existing --debug option.

On the website, I use Daemontools (similar to /etc/init.d/ scripts or Windows services) to stop and start, and that uses a different signal, which Python does not translate into an exception, so it doesn't log backtraces.

Feel free to post patches here or on github.  Even if I'm slow to respond, someone else may want the feature.

[BkkCoins]

Oh, yes, I recall Daemontools from qmail. But now that you mention it I could just use an upstart conf file and then start/stop as a service in Ubuntu. This is nicer than using the full cmd anyway.

And... here's mine, it works.
/etc/init/abe.conf

Code:

description     "Start Abe - Alternative Block Explorer"

# uncomment if you want autostart
#start on runlevel [2345]
#stop on runlevel [016]

respawn
exec su -c '/usr/bin/python -m Abe.abe --config=/home/<user>/.bitcoin/abe.conf 2>>/var/log/abe.log' <user>

Of course, change the <user> or paths to suit. I start it as my user name because I think that's safer than running as root. Also note that I set the database path in abe.conf so it gets found. I added the "2>>/var/log/abe.log" so activity gets logged but if you run as <user> you will need to create the log file with <user> write perms.

Now you can start Abe with,
sudo start abe

and stop it with
sudo stop abe

It's kind of nice looking up block chain events on my own notebook and I like the compact concise format of Abe output.

[mrb]

Abe is fast; good work John! It took barely 90 minutes to import the chain on my cheap laptop.

[mila]

Abe is fast; good work John! It took barely 90 minutes to import the chain on my cheap laptop.

OT but didn't you die recently, or something?

OBE is awesome. donated

[John Tobey]

Still breathing, thanks.    Any special requests?

[mrb]

OT but didn't you die recently, or something?

I think a "lolwut?" is appropriate here.

[Xenland]

Is this code stable?

[mila]

OT but didn't you die recently, or something?

I think a "lolwut?" is appropriate here.

OT there's this programming language C and it's author username was mrb. he died. r from k&r

[k]

I was looking at the ABE at this site http://blockexplorer.sytes.net/chain/Bitcoin

Why is the number of outstanding bitcoins not a multiple of 50?
At block 149439 it says 7471999.91789992 outstanding.

[John Tobey]

Why is the number of outstanding bitcoins not a multiple of 50?
At block 149439 it say 7471999.91789992 outstanding.

The number is below the expected value.  Sometimes (just once?) a miner claims less than the allowed amount in coinbase transaction outputs.  Abe adjusts the outstanding amount by subtracting a block's inputs from its outputs, not by assuming 50 per block.  This is convenient for multi-chain support, since alternative chains have their own inflation formulas, which Abe knows nothing about.

Also, sometimes people send coins to pseudo-addresses, which have the form of an address but are not generated in the normal way as the public part of a key pair.  These are lost coins.  Abe recognizes one pseudo-address (pubkey_hash zero) and uses it internally as the destination of namecoin network fees.  A few bitcoins have gone there, and as a side-effect of namecoin accounting, Abe subtracts them from the outstanding value.

There are other ways coins can be proven lost, which Abe may someday implement, driving the reported outstanding amount even lower.  But it will stay close to the maximum as long as people follow the incentives to save bitcoins.

[mrb]

OT there's this programming language C and it's author username was mrb. he died. r from k&r

It was dmr, not mrb.

[k]

Why is the number of outstanding bitcoins not a multiple of 50?
At block 149439 it say 7471999.91789992 outstanding.

The number is below the expected value.  Sometimes (just once?) a miner claims less than the allowed amount in coinbase transaction outputs.  Abe adjusts the outstanding amount by subtracting a block's inputs from its outputs, not by assuming 50 per block.  This is convenient for multi-chain support, since alternative chains have their own inflation formulas, which Abe knows nothing about.

thanks John for that explanation.

[mila]

OT there's this programming language C and it's author username was mrb. he died. r from k&r

It was dmr, not mrb.

oh, what a mistake I made! now I stand corrected, thank you.

[molecular]

Is this code stable?

been using it rather heavily (also for alt-chains), seems rock-solid to me.

[John Tobey]

Is this code stable?

Sorry, I overlooked this question.  I hope to have a test suite one day and won't release a 1.0 without one.  Numbered versions 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6 all have git branches for bugfixes, and I intend to backport any critical fixes to these.  As for the latest commit, it may contain untested code and disruptive changes.

[terrytibbs]

Trying to get Abe running with Apache and FastCGI doing all the heavy lifting, but I'm getting this:

Code:

root@terrytibbs:/home/user/src/bitcoin-abe# /usr/bin/python
Python 2.6.6 (r266:84292, Dec 26 2010, 22:31:48)
[GCC 4.4.5] on linux2
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import subprocess, sys, os
>>> command=["sudo", "-u", "user", "/home/user/cgi-bin/abe", str(os.getpid())]
>>> subprocess.Popen(command, stdin=sys.stdin).wait()
sudo: /home/user/cgi-bin/abe: command not found
1

What's up?

[John Tobey]

Code:

root@terrytibbs:/home/user/src/bitcoin-abe# /usr/bin/python
sudo: /home/user/cgi-bin/abe: command not found

You have to replace "USER" with your login, for example /home/terrytibbs/cgi-bin/abe.  And the doc tells you later how to create that file.
Edit: the file could be anywhere, ~/cgi-bin is just a suggested location.

[terrytibbs]

Code:

root@terrytibbs:/home/user/src/bitcoin-abe# /usr/bin/python
sudo: /home/user/cgi-bin/abe: command not found

You have to replace "USER" with your login, for example /home/terrytibbs/cgi-bin/abe.  And the doc tells you later how to create that file.
Edit: the file could be anywhere, ~/cgi-bin is just a suggested location.

I know, but my user is aptly named just that, "user".

[terrytibbs]

No luck?