reth/docs/crates/db.md

db

The database is a central component to Reth, enabling persistent storage for data like block headers, block bodies, transactions and more. The Reth database is comprised of key-value storage written to the disk and organized in tables. This chapter might feel a little dense at first, but shortly, you will feel very comfortable understanding and navigating the db crate. This chapter will go through the structure of the database, its tables and the mechanics of the Database trait.

Tables

Within Reth, the database is organized via "tables". A table is any struct that implements the Table trait.

File: crates/storage/db-api/src/table.rs

pub trait Table: Send + Sync + Debug + 'static {
    /// Return table name as it is present inside the MDBX.
    const NAME: &'static str;
    /// Whether the table is also a `DUPSORT` table.
    const DUPSORT: bool;
    /// Key element of `Table`.
    ///
    /// Sorting should be taken into account when encoding this.
    type Key: Key;
    /// Value element of `Table`.
    type Value: Value;
}

//--snip--
pub trait Key: Encode + Decode + Ord + Clone + Serialize + for<'a> Deserialize<'a> {}

//--snip--
pub trait Value: Compress + Decompress + Serialize {}

The Table trait has two generic values, Key and Value, which need to implement the Key and Value traits, respectively. The Encode trait is responsible for transforming data into bytes so it can be stored in the database, while the Decode trait transforms the bytes back into their original form. Similarly, the Compress and Decompress traits transform the data to and from a compressed format when storing or reading data from the database.

There are many tables within the node, all used to store different types of data from Headers to Transactions and more. Below is a list of all of the tables. You can follow this link if you would like to see the table definitions for any of the tables below.

• CanonicalHeaders
• HeaderTerminalDifficulties (deprecated)
• HeaderNumbers
• Headers
• BlockBodyIndices
• BlockOmmers
• BlockWithdrawals
• Transactions
• TransactionHashNumbers
• TransactionBlocks
• Receipts
• Bytecodes
• PlainAccountState
• PlainStorageState
• AccountsHistory
• StoragesHistory
• AccountChangeSets
• StorageChangeSets
• HashedAccounts
• HashedStorages
• AccountsTrie
• StoragesTrie
• AccountsTrieChangeSets
• StoragesTrieChangeSets
• TransactionSenders
• StageCheckpoints
• StageCheckpointProgresses
• PruneCheckpoints
• VersionHistory
• ChainState
• Metadata

Database

Reth's database design revolves around its main Database trait, which implements the database's functionality across many types. Let's take a quick look at the Database trait and how it works.

File: crates/storage/db-api/src/database.rs

/// Main Database trait that can open read-only and read-write transactions.
///
/// Sealed trait which cannot be implemented by 3rd parties, exposed only for consumption.
pub trait Database: Send + Sync + Debug {
    /// Read-Only database transaction
    type TX: DbTx + Send + Sync + Debug + 'static;
    /// Read-Write database transaction
    type TXMut: DbTxMut + DbTx + TableImporter + Send + Sync + Debug + 'static;

    /// Create read only transaction.
    #[track_caller]
    fn tx(&self) -> Result<Self::TX, DatabaseError>;

    /// Create read write transaction only possible if database is open with write access.
    #[track_caller]
    fn tx_mut(&self) -> Result<Self::TXMut, DatabaseError>;

    /// Takes a function and passes a read-only transaction into it, making sure it's closed in the
    /// end of the execution.
    fn view<T, F>(&self, f: F) -> Result<T, DatabaseError>
    where
        F: FnOnce(&mut Self::TX) -> T,
    {
        let mut tx = self.tx()?;

        let res = f(&mut tx);
        tx.commit()?;

        Ok(res)
    }

    /// Takes a function and passes a write-read transaction into it, making sure it's committed in
    /// the end of the execution.
    fn update<T, F>(&self, f: F) -> Result<T, DatabaseError>
    where
        F: FnOnce(&Self::TXMut) -> T,
    {
        let tx = self.tx_mut()?;

        let res = f(&tx);
        tx.commit()?;

        Ok(res)
    }
}

Any type that implements the Database trait can create a database transaction, as well as view or update existing transactions. For example, you can open a read-write transaction directly via tx_mut(), write to tables, and commit:

let tx = db.tx_mut()?;
tx.put::<tables::CanonicalHeaders>(block_number, block.hash())?;
tx.put::<tables::Headers>(block_number, header.clone())?;
tx.put::<tables::HeaderNumbers>(block.hash(), block_number)?;
tx.commit()?;

The Database defines two associated types TX and TXMut.

File: crates/storage/db-api/src/database.rs

The TX type can be any type that implements the DbTx trait, which provides a set of functions to interact with read only transactions.

File: crates/storage/db-api/src/transaction.rs

/// Read only transaction
pub trait DbTx: Debug + Send + Sync {
    /// Cursor type for this read-only transaction
    type Cursor<T: Table>: DbCursorRO<T> + Send + Sync;
    /// `DupCursor` type for this read-only transaction
    type DupCursor<T: DupSort>: DbDupCursorRO<T> + DbCursorRO<T> + Send + Sync;

    /// Get value by an owned key
    fn get<T: Table>(&self, key: T::Key) -> Result<Option<T::Value>, DatabaseError>;
    /// Get value by a reference to the encoded key (avoids cloning for raw keys)
    fn get_by_encoded_key<T: Table>(
        &self,
        key: &<T::Key as Encode>::Encoded,
    ) -> Result<Option<T::Value>, DatabaseError>;
    /// Commit for read only transaction will consume and free transaction and allows
    /// freeing of memory pages
    fn commit(self) -> Result<bool, DatabaseError>;
    /// Aborts transaction
    fn abort(self);
    /// Iterate over read only values in table.
    fn cursor_read<T: Table>(&self) -> Result<Self::Cursor<T>, DatabaseError>;
    /// Iterate over read only values in dup sorted table.
    fn cursor_dup_read<T: DupSort>(&self) -> Result<Self::DupCursor<T>, DatabaseError>;
    /// Returns number of entries in the table.
    fn entries<T: Table>(&self) -> Result<usize, DatabaseError>;
    /// Disables long-lived read transaction safety guarantees.
    fn disable_long_read_transaction_safety(&mut self);
}

The TXMut type can be any type that implements the DbTxMut trait, which provides a set of functions to interact with read/write transactions and the associated cursor types.

File: crates/storage/db-api/src/transaction.rs

/// Read write transaction that allows writing to database
pub trait DbTxMut: Send + Sync {
    /// Read-Write Cursor type
    type CursorMut<T: Table>: DbCursorRW<T> + DbCursorRO<T> + Send + Sync;
    /// Read-Write `DupCursor` type
    type DupCursorMut<T: DupSort>: DbDupCursorRW<T>
        + DbCursorRW<T>
        + DbDupCursorRO<T>
        + DbCursorRO<T>
        + Send
        + Sync;

    /// Put value to database
    fn put<T: Table>(&self, key: T::Key, value: T::Value) -> Result<(), DatabaseError>;
    /// Append value with the largest key to database (fast path)
    fn append<T: Table>(&self, key: T::Key, value: T::Value) -> Result<(), DatabaseError> {
        self.put::<T>(key, value)
    }
    /// Delete value from database
    fn delete<T: Table>(&self, key: T::Key, value: Option<T::Value>)
        -> Result<bool, DatabaseError>;
    /// Clears database.
    fn clear<T: Table>(&self) -> Result<(), DatabaseError>;
    /// Cursor mut
    fn cursor_write<T: Table>(&self) -> Result<Self::CursorMut<T>, DatabaseError>;
    /// `DupCursor` mut.
    fn cursor_dup_write<T: DupSort>(&self) -> Result<Self::DupCursorMut<T>, DatabaseError>;
}

Let's take a look at the DbTx and DbTxMut traits in action.

Revisiting the DatabaseProvider<Tx> struct as an example, the DatabaseProvider<Tx>::header_by_number() function currently delegates to the static-file provider:

File: crates/storage/provider/src/providers/database/mod.rs

impl<TX: DbTx> HeaderProvider for DatabaseProvider<TX> {
   //--snip--

    fn header_by_number(&self, num: BlockNumber) -> ProviderResult<Option<Self::Header>> {
        self.static_file_provider.header_by_number(num)
    }

   //--snip--
}

Notice that the function uses a turbofish to define which table to use when passing in the key to the DbTx::get() function. Taking a quick look at the function definition, a generic T is defined that implements the Table trait mentioned at the beginning of this chapter.

File: crates/storage/db-api/src/transaction.rs

fn get<T: Table>(&self, key: T::Key) -> Result<Option<T::Value>, DatabaseError>;

This design pattern is very powerful and allows Reth to use the methods available to the DbTx and DbTxMut traits without having to define implementation blocks for each table within the database.

Let's take a look at a couple of examples before moving on. In the snippet below, the DbTxMut::put() method is used to insert values into the CanonicalHeaders, Headers and HeaderNumbers tables.

File: crates/storage/provider/src/providers/database/provider.rs

self.tx.put::<tables::CanonicalHeaders>(block_number, block.hash())?;
self.tx.put::<tables::Headers>(block_number, block.header.clone())?;
self.tx.put::<tables::HeaderNumbers>(block.hash(), block_number)?;

Let's take a look at the DatabaseProviderRW<DB: Database> struct, which is used to create a mutable transaction to interact with the database. The DatabaseProviderRW<DB: Database> struct implements the Deref and DerefMut traits, which return a reference to its first field, which is a TxMut. Recall that TxMut is a generic type on the Database trait, which is defined as type TXMut: DbTxMut + DbTx + Send + Sync;, giving it access to all of the functions available to DbTx, including the DbTx::get() function.

This next example shows reading headers from static files using the static-file provider.

File: crates/storage/provider/src/providers/static_file/manager.rs

// Read headers for a specific block range from static files
let headers = provider.static_file_provider().headers_range(block_range.clone())?;

Let's look at an example of how cursors are used. The code snippet below contains the unwind method from the BodyStage defined in the stages crate. This function is responsible for unwinding any changes to the database if there is an error when executing the body stage within the Reth pipeline.

File: crates/stages/stages/src/stages/bodies.rs

/// Unwind the stage.
fn unwind(
    &mut self,
    provider: &Provider,
    input: UnwindInput,
) -> Result<UnwindOutput, StageError> {
   self.buffer.take();

   ensure_consistency(provider, Some(input.unwind_to))?;
   provider.remove_bodies_above(input.unwind_to)?;

    Ok(UnwindOutput {
        checkpoint: StageCheckpoint::new(input.unwind_to)
            .with_entities_stage_checkpoint(stage_checkpoint(provider)?),
    })
}

This function first grabs a mutable cursor for the BlockBodyIndices, BlockOmmers, BlockWithdrawals, TransactionBlocks tables.

Then it gets a walker of the block body cursor, and then walk backwards through the cursor to delete the block body entries from the last block number to the block number specified in the UnwindInput struct.

While this is a brief look at how cursors work in the context of database tables, the chapter on the libmdbx crate will go into further detail on how cursors communicate with the database and what is actually happening under the hood.

Summary

This chapter was packed with information, so let's do a quick review. The database is comprised of tables, with each table being a collection of key-value pairs representing various pieces of data in the blockchain. Any struct that implements the Database trait can view, update or delete entries in the various tables. The database design leverages nested traits and generic associated types to provide methods to interact with each table in the database.

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