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screenshot | ||
src | ||
.gitignore | ||
CMakeLists.txt | ||
main.cpp | ||
README.md |
Onion Monero Blockchain Explorer
Curently available Monero blockchain explorer websites have several limitations which are of special importance to privacy-oriented users:
- they use JavaScript,
- have images which might be used for cookieless tracking,
- track users activates through google analytics,
- are closed sourced,
- are not available as hidden services,
- provide only basic search capabilities,
- can't identify users outputs based on provided Monero address and viewkey.
In this example, these limitations are addressed by development of an Onion Monero Blockchain Explorer. The example not only shows how to use Monero C++ libraries, but also demonstrates how to use:
- crow - C++ micro web framework
- lmdb++ - C++ wrapper for the LMDB
- mstch - C++ {{mustache}} templates
- rapidjson - C++ JSON parser/generator
Onion address
Tor users:
Non tor users, can try tor proxy, e.g.,
Still under development
The Onion Monero Blockchain Explorer is still under development and testing. So not everything can work as expected and the explorer can be offline from time to time, when changes are being made to it.
Onion Monero Blockchain Explorer features
The key features of the Onion Monero Blockchain Explorer are
- available as a hidden service,
- no javascript, no web analytics trackers, no images,
- open sourced,
- made fully in C++,
- the only explorer showing encrypted payments ID,
- the only explorer with the ability to search by encrypted payments ID, tx public keys, outputs public keys, input key images, output amount index and its amount,
- the only explorer showing ring signatures,
- the only explorer that can show which outputs belong to the given Monero address and viewkey,
- the only explorer showing detailed information about mixins, such as, mixins' age, timescale, mixin of mixins,
- the only explorer showing number of amount output indices.
Prerequisite
Everything here was done and tested using Monero 0.9.4 on Ubuntu 16.04 x86_64.
Instruction for Monero 0.9 compilation and Monero headers and libraries setup are as shown here:
C++ code
int main(int ac, const char* av[]) {
// get command line options
xmreg::CmdLineOptions opts {ac, av};
auto help_opt = opts.get_option<bool>("help");
// if help was chosen, display help text and finish
if (*help_opt)
{
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
auto port_opt = opts.get_option<string>("port");
auto bc_path_opt = opts.get_option<string>("bc-path");
auto custom_db_path_opt = opts.get_option<string>("custom-db-path");
auto deamon_url_opt = opts.get_option<string>("deamon-url");
//cast port number in string to uint16
uint16_t app_port = boost::lexical_cast<uint16_t>(*port_opt);
// get blockchain path
path blockchain_path;
if (!xmreg::get_blockchain_path(bc_path_opt, blockchain_path))
{
cerr << "Error getting blockchain path." << endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
// enable basic monero log output
xmreg::enable_monero_log();
// create instance of our MicroCore
// and make pointer to the Blockchain
xmreg::MicroCore mcore;
cryptonote::Blockchain* core_storage;
// initialize mcore and core_storage
if (!xmreg::init_blockchain(blockchain_path.string(),
mcore, core_storage))
{
cerr << "Error accessing blockchain." << endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
// create instance of page class which
// contains logic for the website
xmreg::page xmrblocks(&mcore, core_storage, *deamon_url_opt);
// crow instance
crow::SimpleApp app;
CROW_ROUTE(app, "/")
([&]() {
return xmrblocks.index2();
});
CROW_ROUTE(app, "/page/<uint>")
([&](size_t page_no) {
return xmrblocks.index2(page_no);
});
CROW_ROUTE(app, "/block/<uint>")
([&](size_t block_height) {
return xmrblocks.show_block(block_height);
});
CROW_ROUTE(app, "/block/<string>")
([&](string block_hash) {
return xmrblocks.show_block(block_hash);
});
CROW_ROUTE(app, "/tx/<string>")
([&](string tx_hash) {
return xmrblocks.show_tx(tx_hash);
});
CROW_ROUTE(app, "/tx/<string>/<uint>")
([&](string tx_hash, uint with_ring_signatures) {
return xmrblocks.show_tx(tx_hash, with_ring_signatures);
});
CROW_ROUTE(app, "/myoutputs").methods("GET"_method)
([&](const crow::request& req) {
string tx_hash = string(req.url_params.get("tx_hash"));
string xmr_address = string(req.url_params.get("xmr_address"));
string viewkey = string(req.url_params.get("viewkey"));
return xmrblocks.show_my_outputs(tx_hash, xmr_address, viewkey);
});
CROW_ROUTE(app, "/search").methods("GET"_method)
([&](const crow::request& req) {
return xmrblocks.search(string(req.url_params.get("value")));
});
CROW_ROUTE(app, "/autorefresh")
([&]() {
uint64_t page_no {0};
bool refresh_page {true};
return xmrblocks.index2(page_no, refresh_page);
});
// run the crow http server
app.port(app_port).multithreaded().run();
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
Example screenshot
Compile and run the explorer
Monero headers and libraries setup
The Onion Explorer uses Monero C++ libraries and headers. Also some functionality in the Explorer for mempool is achieved through patching the Monero deamon. Instructions how to download Monero source files, apply a patch, compile Monero, setup header and library files are presented here:
- https://github.com/moneroexamples/compile-monero-09-on-ubuntu-16-04 (Ubuntu 16.04)
- https://github.com/moneroexamples/compile-monero-09-on-arch-linux (Arch Linux)
Custom lmdb database
Most unique search abilities of the Onion Explorer are achieved through using a custom lmdb database constructed based on the Monero blockchain. The reason for the custom database is that Monero's own lmdb database has limited search abilities. For example, its not possible to search for a tx having a given key image, except performing an exhaustive search on the blockchain.
Compile the explorer
The dependencies are same as those for Monero, so I assume Monero compiles correctly. If so then to download and compile this example, the following steps can be executed:
# download the source code
git clone https://github.com/moneroexamples/onion-monero-blockchain-explorer.git
# enter the downloaded sourced code folder
cd onion-monero-blockchain-explorer
# create the makefile
cmake .
# compile
make
Run the explorer
Some explorer functionality depends on lmdbcpp-monero which must be up to date with monero blockchain and running alongside monero daeamon, to keep it up to date as new blocks are created in the blockchain.
Other examples
Other examples can be found on github. Please know that some of the examples/repositories are not finished and may not work as intended.
How can you help?
Constructive criticism, code and website edits are always good. They can be made through github.
Some Monero are also welcome:
48daf1rG3hE1Txapcsxh6WXNe9MLNKtu7W7tKTivtSoVLHErYzvdcpea2nSTgGkz66RFP4GKVAsTV14v6G3oddBTHfxP6tU