On startup, it checks against the difficulty checkpoints, and if any mismatch is found, recalculates all the blocks with wrong difficulties. Additionally, once a week it recalculates difficulties of blocks after the last difficulty checkpoint.
The db txn in add_block ending caused the entire overarching
batch txn to stop.
Also add a new guard class so a db txn can be stopped in the
face of exceptions.
Also use a read only db txn in init when the db itself is
read only, and do not save the max tx size in that case.
This curbs runaway growth while still allowing substantial
spikes in block weight
Original specification from ArticMine:
here is the scaling proposal
Define: LongTermBlockWeight
Before fork:
LongTermBlockWeight = BlockWeight
At or after fork:
LongTermBlockWeight = min(BlockWeight, 1.4*LongTermEffectiveMedianBlockWeight)
Note: To avoid possible consensus issues over rounding the LongTermBlockWeight for a given block should be calculated to the nearest byte, and stored as a integer in the block itself. The stored LongTermBlockWeight is then used for future calculations of the LongTermEffectiveMedianBlockWeight and not recalculated each time.
Define: LongTermEffectiveMedianBlockWeight
LongTermEffectiveMedianBlockWeight = max(300000, MedianOverPrevious100000Blocks(LongTermBlockWeight))
Change Definition of EffectiveMedianBlockWeight
From (current definition)
EffectiveMedianBlockWeight = max(300000, MedianOverPrevious100Blocks(BlockWeight))
To (proposed definition)
EffectiveMedianBlockWeight = min(max(300000, MedianOverPrevious100Blocks(BlockWeight)), 50*LongTermEffectiveMedianBlockWeight)
Notes:
1) There are no other changes to the existing penalty formula, median calculation, fees etc.
2) There is the requirement to store the LongTermBlockWeight of a block unencrypted in the block itself. This is to avoid possible consensus issues over rounding and also to prevent the calculations from becoming unwieldy as we move away from the fork.
3) When the EffectiveMedianBlockWeight cap is reached it is still possible to mine blocks up to 2x the EffectiveMedianBlockWeight by paying the corresponding penalty.
Note: the long term block weight is stored in the database, but not in the actual block itself,
since it requires recalculating anyway for verification.
