* aristo: fork support via layers/txframes
This change reorganises how the database is accessed: instead holding a
"current frame" in the database object, a dag of frames is created based
on the "base frame" held in `AristoDbRef` and all database access
happens through this frame, which can be thought of as a consistent
point-in-time snapshot of the database based on a particular fork of the
chain.
In the code, "frame", "transaction" and "layer" is used to denote more
or less the same thing: a dag of stacked changes backed by the on-disk
database.
Although this is not a requirement, in practice each frame holds the
change set of a single block - as such, the frame and its ancestors
leading up to the on-disk state represents the state of the database
after that block has been applied.
"committing" means merging the changes to its parent frame so that the
difference between them is lost and only the cumulative changes remain -
this facility enables frames to be combined arbitrarily wherever they
are in the dag.
In particular, it becomes possible to consolidate a set of changes near
the base of the dag and commit those to disk without having to re-do the
in-memory frames built on top of them - this is useful for "flattening"
a set of changes during a base update and sending those to storage
without having to perform a block replay on top.
Looking at abstractions, a side effect of this change is that the KVT
and Aristo are brought closer together by considering them to be part of
the "same" atomic transaction set - the way the code gets organised,
applying a block and saving it to the kvt happens in the same "logical"
frame - therefore, discarding the frame discards both the aristo and kvt
changes at the same time - likewise, they are persisted to disk together
- this makes reasoning about the database somewhat easier but has the
downside of increased memory usage, something that perhaps will need
addressing in the future.
Because the code reasons more strictly about frames and the state of the
persisted database, it also makes it more visible where ForkedChain
should be used and where it is still missing - in particular, frames
represent a single branch of history while forkedchain manages multiple
parallel forks - user-facing services such as the RPC should use the
latter, ie until it has been finalized, a getBlock request should
consider all forks and not just the blocks in the canonical head branch.
Another advantage of this approach is that `AristoDbRef` conceptually
becomes more simple - removing its tracking of the "current" transaction
stack simplifies reasoning about what can go wrong since this state now
has to be passed around in the form of `AristoTxRef` - as such, many of
the tests and facilities in the code that were dealing with "stack
inconsistency" are now structurally prevented from happening. The test
suite will need significant refactoring after this change.
Once this change has been merged, there are several follow-ups to do:
* there's no mechanism for keeping frames up to date as they get
committed or rolled back - TODO
* naming is confused - many names for the same thing for legacy reason
* forkedchain support is still missing in lots of code
* clean up redundant logic based on previous designs - in particular the
debug and introspection code no longer makes sense
* the way change sets are stored will probably need revisiting - because
it's a stack of changes where each frame must be interrogated to find an
on-disk value, with a base distance of 128 we'll at minimum have to
perform 128 frame lookups for *every* database interaction - regardless,
the "dag-like" nature will stay
* dispose and commit are poorly defined and perhaps redundant - in
theory, one could simply let the GC collect abandoned frames etc, though
it's likely an explicit mechanism will remain useful, so they stay for
now
More about the changes:
* `AristoDbRef` gains a `txRef` field (todo: rename) that "more or less"
corresponds to the old `balancer` field
* `AristoDbRef.stack` is gone - instead, there's a chain of
`AristoTxRef` objects that hold their respective "layer" which has the
actual changes
* No more reasoning about "top" and "stack" - instead, each
`AristoTxRef` can be a "head" that "more or less" corresponds to the old
single-history `top` notion and its stack
* `level` still represents "distance to base" - it's computed from the
parent chain instead of being stored
* one has to be careful not to use frames where forkedchain was intended
- layers are only for a single branch of history!
* fix layer vtop after rollback
* engine fix
* Fix test_txpool
* Fix test_rpc
* Fix copyright year
* fix simulator
* Fix copyright year
* Fix copyright year
* Fix tracer
* Fix infinite recursion bug
* Remove aristo and kvt empty files
* Fic copyright year
* Fix fc chain_kvt
* ForkedChain refactoring
* Fix merge master conflict
* Fix copyright year
* Reparent txFrame
* Fix test
* Fix txFrame reparent again
* Cleanup and fix test
* UpdateBase bugfix and fix test
* Fixe newPayload bug discovered by hive
* Fix engine api fcu
* Clean up call template, chain_kvt, andn txguid
* Fix copyright year
* work around base block loading issue
* Add test
* Fix updateHead bug
* Fix updateBase bug
* Change func commitBase to proc commitBase
* Touch up and fix debug mode crash
---------
Co-authored-by: jangko <jangko128@gmail.com>
* Sync scheduler provides an independent `ticker` loop process
why:
Can be used to update `metrics` and for debug logging. While an event
driven solution would stall if there are no events at the moment (e.g.
when the syncer hibernates, the `ticker` will run regardless.
* Use `runTicker()` loop interface alike for updating ticker
why:
Not event driven anymore so it will not stall when the syncer
hibernates.
* Re-implement logging ticker by running it within the `runTicker()` driver
why:
Simplifies implementation
* Re-name metrics variable to better fit into the current naming schemes
* Fix copyright header
The EVM stack is a hot spot in EVM execution and we end up paying a nim
seq tax in several ways, adding up to ~5% of execution time:
* on initial allocation, all bytes get zeroed - this means we have to
choose between allocating a full stack or just a partial one and then
growing it
* pushing and popping introduce additional zeroing
* reallocations on growth copy + zero - expensive again!
* redundant range checking on every operation reducing inlining etc
Here a custom stack using C memory is instroduced:
* no zeroing on allocation
* full stack allocated on EVM startup -> no reallocation during
execution
* fast push/pop - no zeroing again
* 32-byte alignment - this makes it easier for the compiler to use
vector instructions
* no stack allocated for precompiles (these never use it anyway)
Of course, this change also means we have to manage memory manually -
for the EVM, this turns out to be not too bad because we already manage
database transactions the same way (they have to be freed "manually") so
we can simply latch on to this mechanism.
While we're at it, this PR also skips database lookup for known
precompiles by resolving such addresses earlier.
`updateOk` is obsolete and always set to true - callers should not have
to care about this detail
also take the opportunity to clean up storage root naming
* prefer the spec-derived name where possible
* don't pass stateRoot to LedgerRef and friends (it doesn't do anything)
* add deprecation warning in graphql - it needs updating to use
forkedchain instead
The reverse slot hash mechanism causes quite a bit of database traffic
but is broadly not useful except for iterating the storage of an
account, something that a validator never does (it's used by the
tracers).
This flag adds one more thing that is not stored in the database, to be
explored more comprehensively when designing full, validator and archive
modes with different pruning options in the future.
`ldb` says this is 60gb of data (!):
```
ldb --db=. --ignore_unknown_options --column_family=KvtGen approxsize
--hex --from=0x05
--to=0x05ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
66488353954
```
* Extract `CoreDb` constructor helpers from `base.nim` into separate module
why:
This makes it easier to avoid circular imports.
* Extract `Ledger` constructor helpers from `base.nim` into separate module
why:
Move `accounts_ledger.nim` file to sub-folder `backend`. That way the
layout resembles that of the `core_db`.
* Updates and corrections
* Extract `CoreDb` configuration from `base.nim` into separate module
why:
This makes it easier to avoid circular imports, in particular
when the capture journal (aka tracer) is revived.
* Extract `Ledger` configuration from `base.nim` into separate module
why:
This makes it easier to avoid circular imports (if any.)
also:
Move `accounts_ledger.nim` file to sub-folder `backend`. That way the
layout resembles that of the `core_db`.
* Tighten `CoreDb` API for accounts
why:
Apart from cruft, the way to fetch the accounts state root via a
`CoreDbColRef` record was unnecessarily complicated.
* Extend `CoreDb` API for accounts to cover storage tries
why:
In future, this will make the notion of column objects obsolete. Storage
trees will then be indexed by the account address rather than the vertex
ID equivalent like a `CoreDbColRef`.
* Apply new/extended accounts API to ledger and tests
details:
This makes the `distinct_ledger` module obsolete
* Remove column object constructors
why:
They were needed as an abstraction of MPT sub-trees including storage
trees. Now, storage trees are handled by the account (e.g. via address)
they belong to and all other trees can be identified by a constant well
known vertex ID. So there is no need for column objects anymore.
Still there are some left-over column object methods wnich will be
removed next.
* Remove `serialise()` and `PayloadRef` from default Aristo API
why:
Not needed. `PayloadRef` was used for unstructured/unknown payload
formats (account or blob) and `serialise()` was used for decodng
`PayloadRef`. Now it is known in advance what the payload looks
like.
* Added query function `hasStorageData()` whether a storage area exists
why:
Useful for supporting `slotStateEmpty()` of the `CoreDb` API
* In the `Ledger` replace `storage.stateEmpty()` by `slotStateEmpty()`
* On Aristo, hide the storage root/vertex ID in the `PayloadRef`
why:
The storage vertex ID is fully controlled by Aristo while the
`AristoAccount` object is controlled by the application. With the
storage root part of the `AristoAccount` object, there was a useless
administrative burden to keep that storage root field up to date.
* Remove cruft, update comments etc.
* Update changed MPT access paradigms
why:
Fixes verified proxy tests
* Fluffy cosmetics
* Update some docu & messages
* Remove cruft from the ledger modules
* Must not overwrite genesis data on an initialised database
why:
This will overwrite the global state of the Aristo single state DB.
Otherwise resuming at the last synced state becomes impossible.
* Provide latest block number from journal
why:
This relates the global state of the DB directly to the corresponding
block number.
* Implemented unit test providing DB pre-load and resume
* Aristo: Re-phrase `LayerDelta` and `LayerFinal` as object references
why:
Avoids copying in some cases
* Fix copyright header
* Aristo: Verify `leafTie.root` function argument for `merge()` proc
why:
Zero root will lead to inconsistent DB entry
* Aristo: Update failure condition for hash labels compiler `hashify()`
why:
Node need not be rejected as long as links are on the schedule. In
that case, `redo[]` is to become `wff.base[]` at a later stage.
This amends an earlier fix, part of #1952 by also testing against
the target nodes of the `wff.base[]` sets.
* Aristo: Add storage root glue record to `hashify()` schedule
why:
An account leaf node might refer to a non-resolvable storage root ID.
Storage root node chains will end up at the storage root. So the link
`storage-root->account-leaf` needs an extra item in the schedule.
* Aristo: fix error code returned by `fetchPayload()`
details:
Final error code is implied by the error code form the `hikeUp()`
function.
* CoreDb: Discard `createOk` argument in API `getRoot()` function
why:
Not needed for the legacy DB. For the `Arsto` DB, a lazy approach is
implemented where a stprage root node is created on-the-fly.
* CoreDb: Prevent `$$` logging in some cases
why:
Logging the function `$$` is not useful when it is used for internal
use, i.e. retrieving an an error text for logging.
* CoreDb: Add `tryHashFn()` to API for pretty printing
why:
Pretty printing must not change the hashification status for the
`Aristo` DB. So there is an independent API wrapper for getting the
node hash which never updated the hashes.
* CoreDb: Discard `update` argument in API `hash()` function
why:
When calling the API function `hash()`, the latest state is always
wanted. For a version that uses the current state as-is without checking,
the function `tryHash()` was added to the backend.
* CoreDb: Update opaque vertex ID objects for the `Aristo` backend
why:
For `Aristo`, vID objects encapsulate a numeric `VertexID`
referencing a vertex (rather than a node hash as used on the
legacy backend.) For storage sub-tries, there might be no initial
vertex known when the descriptor is created. So opaque vertex ID
objects are supported without a valid `VertexID` which will be
initalised on-the-fly when the first item is merged.
* CoreDb: Add pretty printer for opaque vertex ID objects
* Cosmetics, printing profiling data
* CoreDb: Fix segfault in `Aristo` backend when creating MPT descriptor
why:
Missing initialisation error
* CoreDb: Allow MPT to inherit shared context on `Aristo` backend
why:
Creates descriptors with different storage roots for the same
shared `Aristo` DB descriptor.
* Cosmetics, update diagnostic message items for `Aristo` backend
* Fix Copyright year
* Explicitly use shared `Kvt` table on `Ledger` and `Clique` lookup.
why:
Speeds up lookup time with `Aristo` backend. For writing `Clique` data,
the `Companion` model allows to write `Clique` data past the database
locked by evm transactions.
* Implement `CoreDb` profiling with API tracking
why:
Chasing time spent per APT procs ...
* Implement `Ledger` profiling with API tracking
why:
Chasing time spent per APT procs ...
* Always hashify when commiting or storing
why:
A dirty cache makes no sense when committing
* Make sure that a zero key is created when adding/updating vertices
why:
This is an error fix mainly for edge cases. A typical error was
that the root key got deleted when there were only a few vertices
left on the DB.
* Need all created and changed vertices zero-keyed on the cache
why:
A zero key (i.e. empty Merkle hash) indicates that a vertex key
needs to be updated. This would not be needed immediately after
a merge as there is an actual leaf path on the cache layer. But
after subsequent merge and delete operations this information
might get blurred.
* Re-org hashing algorithm
why:
Apart from errors, the previous implementation was too slow for
two reasons:
+ some control hashes were calculated for debugging (now all
verification is done in `aristo_check` module)
+ the leaf paths stored on the cache are used to build the
labelling (aka hashing) schedule; there paths were accumulated
over successive hash sessions although it is clear that all
keys were generated, already
* Make sure that storage tries are not pruned (by default) on the new Ledger API
why:
Pruning might kill some unwanted entries from storage tries ending up with an unstable database
leading to crashes.
* Implement `CoreDb` and `LedgerRef` API tracing
details:
+ Locally enabled at compile time via constants `ProvideCoreDbLegacyAPI`
and `EnableApiTracking` in either `base.nim` source
+ If enabled it can be selectively turned on/off via public switches in
the `CoreDb` descriptor.
* Allow suppressing opportunistic `ifNecessaryGetXxx()` functions
why:
Better troubleshooting when the system crashes (assertions will then
most probably happen outside an `async` function.)
* Provide TDD/debug facility for inspecting `persistBlocks()` working
detail:
+ Make sure that the last block of a test sample is the first batch
item in `persistBlocks()`.
+ Additionally, allow `AccountsCache` API tracing by setting the flag
`extraTraceMessages = true` in the file `accounts_cache.nim`
* Overload AccountsCache by abstraction wrapper
details:
Can facilitate CoreDb API switch, details in `ledger/README.md`.
