Subject: Re: [bitcoin-dev] BIP Proposal: Wallet Labels Export Format

From: Pavol Rusnak <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2022 22:18:27 +0200

There is already a JSON standard that has been already used in the wild for
the last 7 years described in SLIP-0015 (mentioned by Clark in this
thread). No need to reinventing the wheel again.

On Wed 24. 8. 2022 at 21:44, Ryan Havar via bitcoin-dev <
[email-masked]> wrote:

> I'd strongly suggest not using CSV. Especially for a standard. I've worked
> with it as an interchange format many a times, and it's always been a
> clusterfuck.
>
> Right off the bat, you have stuff like "The fields may be quoted, but this
> is unnecessary as the first comma in the line will always be the delimiter"
> which invariably leads to some implementations doing it, some
> implementations not doing it, and others that are intolerant of the other
> way.
>
> And you have also made the classic mistake of not strictly defining escape
> rules. So everyone will pick their own (e.g. some will \, escape commas,
> others will not cause it's quoted and escape quotes, and others will assume
> no escaping is required since its the last column in a csv).
>
> Over time it morphs into its own mini-monster that introduces so much pain.
>
> On a similar note, allowing alternatives (like: txid>index vs txid:index)
> provides no benefit, but creates additional work for implementations (who
> quite likely only test formats they produce) and future incompatibilities.
>
> I know everyone loves to hate on it, but really (line-separated?) json is
> the way to go.
>
> { "tx": "c3bdad6e7dcd7997e16a5b7b7cf4d8f6079820ff2eedd5fcbb2ad088f767b37b‎",
> "label": "wow, such label" }
> { "tx: "c3bdad6e7dcd7997e16a5b7b7cf4d8f6079820ff2eedd5fcbb2ad088f767b37b",
> "txout": 4, "label": "omg this is so easy to parse" }
> { "tx: "c3bdad6e7dcd7997e16a5b7b7cf4d8f6079820ff2eedd5fcbb2ad088f767b37b",
> "txin": 0, "label": "wow this is going to be extensible as well" }
>
>
>
>
> -Ryan
>
> ------- Original Message -------
>
> On Wednesday, August 24th, 2022 at 2:18 AM, Craig Raw via bitcoin-dev <
> [email-masked]> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I would like to propose a BIP that specifies a format for the export and
> import of labels from a wallet. While transferring access to funds across
> wallet applications has been made simple through standards such as BIP39,
> wallet labels remain siloed and difficult to extract despite their value,
> particularly in a privacy context.
>
> The proposed format is a simple two column CSV file, with the reference to
> a transaction, address, input or output in the first column, and the label
> in the second column. CSV was chosen for its wide accessibility, especially
> to users without specific technical expertise. Similarly, the CSV file may
> be compressed using the ZIP format, and optionally encrypted using AES.
>
> The full text of the BIP can be found at
> https://github.com/craigraw/bips/blob/master/bip-wallet-labels.mediawiki
> and also copied below.
>
> Feedback is appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Craig Raw
>
> ---
>
> <pre>
> BIP: wallet-labels
> Layer: Applications
> Title: Wallet Labels Export Format
> Author: Craig Raw <[email-masked]>
> Comments-Summary: No comments yet.
> Comments-URI:
> https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/wiki/Comments:BIP-wallet-labels
> Status: Draft
> Type: Informational
> Created: 2022-08-23
> License: BSD-2-Clause
> </pre>
>
> ==Abstract==
>
> This document specifies a format for the export of labels that may be
> attached to the transactions, addresses, input and outputs in a wallet.
>
> ==Copyright==
>
> This BIP is licensed under the BSD 2-clause license.
>
> ==Motivation==
>
> The export and import of funds across different Bitcoin wallet
> applications is well defined through standards such as BIP39, BIP32, BIP44
> etc.
> These standards are well supported and allow users to move easily between
> different wallets.
> There is, however, no defined standard to transfer any labels the user may
> have applied to the transactions, addresses, inputs or outputs in their
> wallet.
> The UTXO model that Bitcoin uses makes these labels particularly valuable
> as they may indicate the source of funds, whether received externally or as
> a result of change from a prior transaction.
> In both cases, care must be taken when spending to avoid undesirable leaks
> of private information.
> Labels provide valuable guidance in this regard, and have even become
> mandatory when spending in several Bitcoin wallets.
> Allowing users to export their labels in a standardized way ensures that
> they do not experience lock-in to a particular wallet application.
> In addition, by using common formats, this BIP seeks to make manual or
> bulk management of labels accessible to users without specific technical
> expertise.
>
> ==Specification==
>
> In order to make the import and export of labels as widely accessible as
> possible, this BIP uses the comma separated values (CSV) format, which is
> widely supported by consumer, business, and scientific applications.
> Although the technical specification of CSV in RFC4180 is not always
> followed, the application of the format in this BIP is simple enough that
> compatibility should not present a problem.
> Moreover, the simplicity and forgiving nature of CSV (over for example
> JSON) lends itself well to bulk label editing using spreadsheet and text
> editing tools.
>
> A CSV export of labels from a wallet must be a UTF-8 encoded text file,
> containing one record per line, with records containing two fields
> delimited by a comma.
> The fields may be quoted, but this is unnecessary, as the first comma in
> the line will always be the delimiter.
> The first line in the file is a header, and should be ignored on import.
> Thereafter, each line represents a record that refers to a label applied
> in the wallet.
> The order in which these records appear is not defined.
>
> The first field in the record contains a reference to the transaction,
> address, input or output in the wallet.
> This is specified as one of the following:
> * Transaction ID (<tt>txid</tt>)
> * Address
> * Input (rendered as <tt>txid<index</tt>)
> * Output (rendered as <tt>txid>index</tt> or <tt>txid:index</tt>)
>
> The second field contains the label applied to the reference.
> Exporting applications may omit records with no labels or labels of zero
> length.
> Files exported should use the <tt>.csv</tt> file extension.
>
> In order to reduce file size while retaining wide accessibility, the CSV
> file may be compressed using the ZIP file format, using the <tt>.zip</tt>
> file extension.
> This <tt>.zip</tt> file may optionally be encrypted using either AES-128
> or AES-256 encryption, which is supported by numerous applications
> including Winzip and 7-zip.
> In order to ensure that weak encryption does not proliferate, importers
> following this standard must refuse to import <tt>.zip</tt> files encrypted
> with the weaker Zip 2.0 standard.
> The textual representation of the wallet's extended public key (as defined
> by BIP32, with an <tt>xpub</tt> header) should be used as the password.
>
> ==Importing==
>
> When importing, a naive algorithm may simply match against any reference,
> but it is possible to disambiguate between transactions, addresses, inputs
> and outputs.
> For example in the following pseudocode:
> <pre>
> if reference length < 64
> Set address label
> else if reference length == 64
> Set transaction label
> else if reference contains '<'
> Set input label
> else
> Set output label
> </pre>
>
> Importing applications may truncate labels if necessary.
>
> ==Test Vectors==
>
> The following fragment represents a wallet label export:
> <pre>
> Reference,Label
>
> c3bdad6e7dcd7997e16a5b7b7cf4d8f6079820ff2eedd5fcbb2ad088f767b37b‎,Transaction
> 1A69TXnEM2ms9fMaY9UuiJ7415X7xZaUSg,Address
> c3bdad6e7dcd7997e16a5b7b7cf4d8f6079820ff2eedd5fcbb2ad088f767b37b‎<0,Input
> c3bdad6e7dcd7997e16a5b7b7cf4d8f6079820ff2eedd5fcbb2ad088f767b37b‎>0,Output
> c3bdad6e7dcd7997e16a5b7b7cf4d8f6079820ff2eedd5fcbb2ad088f767b37b‎:0,Output
> (alternative)
> </pre>
>
> ==Reference Implementation==
>
> TBD
>
>
>
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>
-- 
Best Regards / S pozdravom,

Pavol "stick" Rusnak
Co-Founder, SatoshiLabs