264 lines
9.0 KiB
Markdown
264 lines
9.0 KiB
Markdown
# *insight API*
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*insight API* is an open-source bitcoin blockchain REST
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and websocket API. Insight API runs in NodeJS and use LevelDB for storage.
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*Insight API* allows to develop bitcoin related applications such as wallets that
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require certain information from the blockchain that bitcoind does not provide.
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A blockchain explorer front-end have been developed to top of *Insight API*, it can
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be downloaded at [Github Insight Repository](https://github.com/bitpay/insight).
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## Prerequisites
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* **bitcoind** - Download and Install [Bitcoin](http://bitcoin.org/en/download)
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*insight API* needs a *trusted* bitcoind node to run. *insight API* will connect to the node
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thru the RPC API, Peer-to-peer protocol and will even read its raw .dat files for syncing.
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Configure bitcoind to listen to RPC calls and set `txindex` to true.
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The easiest way to do this is by copying `./etc/bitcoind/bitcoin.conf` to your
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bitcoin data directory (usually `"~/.bitcoin"` on Linux, `"%appdata%\Bitcoin\"` on Windows,
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or `"~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin"` on Mac OS X).
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bitcoind must be running and must have finished downloading the blockchain **before** running *insight API*.
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* **Node.js v0.10.x** - Download and Install [Node.js](http://www.nodejs.org/download/).
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* **NPM** - Node.js package manager, should be automatically installed when you get node.js.
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## Quick Install
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Check the Prerequisites section above before installing.
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To install Insight API, clone the main repository:
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$ git clone https://github.com/bitpay/insight-api && cd insight-api
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Install dependencies:
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$ npm install
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Run the main application:
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$ node insight.js
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Then open a browser and go to:
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http://localhost:3001
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Please note that the app will need to sync its internal database
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with the blockchain state, which may take some time. You can check
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sync progress from within the web interface.
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## Configuration
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All configuration is specified in the [config](config/) folder, particularly the [config.js](config/config.js) file. There you can specify your application name and database name. Certain configuration values are pulled from environment variables if they are defined:
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```
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BITCOIND_HOST # RPC bitcoind host
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BITCOIND_PORT # RPC bitcoind Port
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BITCOIND_P2P_PORT # P2P bitcoind Port
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BITCOIND_USER # RPC username
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BITCOIND_PASS # RPC password
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BITCOIND_DATADIR # bitcoind datadir for livenet, or datadir/testnet3 for testnet
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INSIGHT_NETWORK [= 'livenet' | 'testnet']
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INSIGHT_DB # Path where to store insight's internal DB. (defaults to $HOME/.insight)
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```
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Make sure that bitcoind is configured to [accept incoming connections using 'rpcallowip'](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Running_Bitcoin).
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In case the network is changed (testnet to livenet or vice versa) levelDB database needs to be deleted. This can be performed running:
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```util/sync.js -D``` and waiting for *insight* to synchronize again. Once the database is deleted, the sync.js process can be safely interrupted (CTRL+C) and continued from the synchronization process embedded in main app.
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## Synchronization
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The initial synchronization process scans the blockchain from the paired bitcoind server to update addresses and balances. *insight* needs one (and only one) trusted bitcoind node to run. This node must have finished downloading the blockchain before running *insight*.
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While *insight* is synchronizing the website can be accessed (the sync process is embedded in the webserver), but there may be missing data or incorrect balances for addresses. The 'sync' status is shown on the top-right of all pages.
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The blockchain can be read from bitcoind's raw `.dat` files or RPC interface. Reading the information from the `.dat` files is much faster so it's the recommended (and default) alternative. `.dat` files are scanned in the default location for each platform. In case a non-standard location is used, it needs to be defined (see the Configuration section). The synchronization type being used can be seen at the [Status page](http://localhost:3001/status). As of February 2014, using `.dat` files the sync process takes 7 hrs. for livenet and 20 mins. for testnet.
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While synchronizing the blockchain, *insight* listens for new blocks and transactions relayed by the bitcoind node. Those are also stored on *insight*'s database. In case *insight* is shutdown for a period of time, restarting it will trigger a partial (historic) synchronization of the blockchain. Depending on the size of that synchronization task, a reverse RPC or forward `.dat` syncing strategy will be used.
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If bitcoind is shutdown, *insight* needs to be stopped and restarted once bitcoind is restarted.
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### Syncing old blockchain data manualy
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Old blockchain data can be manually synced issuing:
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$ util/sync.js
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Check util/sync.js --help for options, particulary -D to erase the current DB.
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*NOTE* that there is no need to run this manually since the historic synchronization is embedded on the web application, so by running you will trigger the historic sync automatically.
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### DB storage requirement
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To store the blockchain and address related information, *insight* uses LevelDB. Two DBs are created: txs and blocks. By default these are stored on
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```<user's home>/db```
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Please note that previous version's of Insight-API store that on `<insight's root>/db`
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this can be changed on config/config.js. As of February 2014, storing the livenet blockchain takes ~30GB of disk space (2GB for the testnet).
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## Development
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To run insight locally for development with grunt:
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```$ NODE_ENV=development grunt```
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To run the tests
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```$ grunt test```
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Contributions and suggestions are welcomed at [insight-api github repository](https://github.com/bitpay/insight-api).
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## API
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By default, insight provides a REST API at `/api`, but this prefix is configurable from the var `apiPrefix` in the `config.js` file.
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The end-points are:
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### Block
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```
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/api/block/[:hash]
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/api/block/00000000a967199a2fad0877433c93df785a8d8ce062e5f9b451cd1397bdbf62
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```
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### Transaction
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```
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/api/tx/[:txid]
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/api/tx/525de308971eabd941b139f46c7198b5af9479325c2395db7f2fb5ae8562556c
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```
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### Address
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```
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/api/addr/[:addr][?noTxList=1]
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/api/addr/mmvP3mTe53qxHdPqXEvdu8WdC7GfQ2vmx5?noTxList=1
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```
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### Unspent Outputs
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```
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/api/addr/[:addr]/utxo
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```
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### Unspent Outputs for multiple addresses
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GET method:
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```
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/api/addrs/[:addrs]/utxo
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/api/addrs/2NF2baYuJAkCKo5onjUKEPdARQkZ6SYyKd5,2NAre8sX2povnjy4aeiHKeEh97Qhn97tB1f/utxo
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```
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POST method:
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```
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/api/addrs/utxo
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```
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POST params:
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```
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addrs: 2NF2baYuJAkCKo5onjUKEPdARQkZ6SYyKd5,2NAre8sX2povnjy4aeiHKeEh97Qhn97tB1f
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```
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### Transactions by Block
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```
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/api/txs/?block=HASH
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/api/txs/?block=00000000fa6cf7367e50ad14eb0ca4737131f256fc4c5841fd3c3f140140e6b6
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```
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### Transactions by Address
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```
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/api/txs/?address=ADDR
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/api/txs/?address=mmhmMNfBiZZ37g1tgg2t8DDbNoEdqKVxAL
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```
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### Historic blockchain data sync status
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```
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/api/sync
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```
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### Live network p2p data sync status
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```
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/api/peer
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```
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### Status network
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```
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/api/status?q=xxx
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```
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Where "xxx" can be:
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* getInfo
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* getDifficulty
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* getTxOutSetInfo
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* getBestBlockHash
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* getLastBlockHash
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## Web Socket API
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The web socket API is served using [socket.io](http://socket.io) at:
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```
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/socket.io/1/
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```
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Bitcoin network events published are:
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'tx': new transaction received from network. Data will be a app/models/Transaction object.
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Sample output:
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```
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{
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"txid":"00c1b1acb310b87085c7deaaeba478cef5dc9519fab87a4d943ecbb39bd5b053",
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"processed":false
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...
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}
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```
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'block': new block received from network. Data will be a app/models/Block object.
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Sample output:
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```
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{
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"hash":"000000004a3d187c430cd6a5e988aca3b19e1f1d1727a50dead6c8ac26899b96",
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"time":1389789343,
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...
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}
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```
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'sync': every 1% increment on the sync task, this event will be triggered.
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Sample output:
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```
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{
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blocksToSync: 164141,
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syncedBlocks: 475,
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upToExisting: true,
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scanningBackward: true,
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isEndGenesis: true,
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end: "000000000933ea01ad0ee984209779baaec3ced90fa3f408719526f8d77f4943",
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isStartGenesis: false,
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start: "000000009f929800556a8f3cfdbe57c187f2f679e351b12f7011bfc276c41b6d"
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}
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```
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## License
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(The MIT License)
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Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
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a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
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'Software'), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
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without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
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distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
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permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
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the following conditions:
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The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
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included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
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THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED 'AS IS', WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
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EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
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MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
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IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
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CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT,
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TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
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SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
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