Explorer: Change URL on block page to have height as id instead of hash

[Neotamandua]

Summary

Right now, the URL of a specific block looks like this:
https://apps.dusk.network/explorer/blocks/block/?id=4b26693aaadc9cd696e778eacea224521dffc8351700a258216510251edaba60

instead of e.g.,
https://apps.dusk.network/explorer/block/27730

It is not possible to jump to a specific block by setting the URL id to a specific height.

Possible Solution (optional)

Change the URL to reflect the block height, not the block hash. This makes the URL more usable and shorter.

[nortonandreev]

Let's discuss with the team and see.

It is not possible to jump to a specific block by setting the URL id to a specific height.

You can use the search bar, it's enough to specify the block height there.

blocks/block/?id=4b26693aaadc9cd696e778eacea224521dffc8351700a258216510251edaba60

I'm not quite sure why the URL is like that. Why not just blocks/4b26693aaadc9cd696e778eacea224521dffc8351700a258216510251edaba60?

cc: @ascartabelli @kieranhall

[ascartabelli]

I'm not quite sure why the URL is like that. Why not just blocks/4b26693aaadc9cd696e778eacea224521dffc8351700a258216510251edaba60?

Not sure either, as this is inherited from the old explorer, but my guess would be to avoid dynamic routes.

[HDauven]

Love the idea, here's more examples of other chains doing it this way:
https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/blocks/btc/879095
https://solscan.io/block/313771617
https://explorer.aptoslabs.com/block/276749094?network=mainnet
https://cardanoscan.io/block/11347315
https://tronscan.org/#/block/68713003
https://polkadot.subscan.io/block/24272580

[nortonandreev]

Love the idea, here's more examples of other chains doing it this way: https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/blocks/btc/879095 https://solscan.io/block/313771617 https://explorer.aptoslabs.com/block/276749094?network=mainnet https://cardanoscan.io/block/11347315 https://tronscan.org/#/block/68713003 https://polkadot.subscan.io/block/24272580

We use a static adapter, so dynamic paths are not currently a possibility.

However, we can still make the urls more unified. I would suggest a scheme like:

/explorer/{resource-type}/view?id={identifier}, so something like

/explorer/transactions/view?id=b52f1d7f...
/explorer/blocks/view?id= b52f1d7f...
/explorer/blocks/view?block=017490983...
/explorer/accounts/view?address=sfdqL8gv96W...

What do you think, @ascartabelli?

[ascartabelli]

Love the idea, here's more examples of other chains doing it this way: https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/blocks/btc/879095 https://solscan.io/block/313771617 https://explorer.aptoslabs.com/block/276749094?network=mainnet https://cardanoscan.io/block/11347315 https://tronscan.org/#/block/68713003 https://polkadot.subscan.io/block/24272580

We use a static adapter, so dynamic paths are not currently a possibility.

Actually I found out they are, instead!

I'll contact you about the details.