Glossary
Concise Binary Object Representation (CBOR)#
The Concise Binary Object Representation is a data format based on JSON, featuring small code and message size, and extensibility. In the Holium protocol, it is extended in a representation freed from any semantic lock, known as HoliumCBOR. Read more on CBOR documentation.
Connection#
A connection links two transformations in a pipeline. They are they edges of the underlying DAG. See Selector for more details.
Content Identifier (CID)#
A Content Identifier is a self-describing content-addressed label used to point to data in the interplanetary area or in IPFS. It is the core identifier used for IPFS and IPLD. Find more on IPFS documentation.
Directed acyclic graph (DAG)#
A directed acyclic graph (DAG) formally is a directed graph with no directed cycles. It is made of nodes and edges, with each edge directed from one node to another, such that following those directions will never form a closed loop. They offer the characteristic of being capable of being topologically ordered, by arranging the nodes as a linear ordering that is consistent with all edge directions.
In Holium, all transformation pipelines are directed acyclic graphs.
HoliumCBOR#
See CBOR.
Module#
WebAssembly programs are organized into modules, which are the unit of deployment, loading, and compilation. A module collects definitions for types, functions, tables, memories, and globals.
In Holium, the code for several pure functions can be placed in the same module. For this reason, a transformation holds a module bytecode and a handle.
Multiformats#
The Multiformats project is a collection of protocols that aim to future-proof systems today, used by CIDs. A key design principle is enhancing format values with self-description allowing for interoperability and protocol agility. Read more about Multiformats documentation.
Pipeline#
A pipeline, or transformation pipeline, is the structure in Holium that links atomic transformations. It is specified as a DAG of nodes which hold data, sometimes Wasm code, and are linked by connections.
Selector#
A selector is an expression, often represented as a JSON literal, describing traversal over a tree (or more generally a DAG) and selecting a subset of nodes by marking them during the walk.
In Holium, selectors allow shaping data between transformations (nodes) of a pipeline (dag). In that purpose, any connection (edge) holds a tail selector informing the parts of data from the parent node to handle, and a head selector matching its cardinality and describing how to shape it into parts of the input parameter of the child node.
Selectors used in Holium and specified in the reference schema are a subset of IPLD Selectors. Read more on IPLD documentation.
Transformation#
Nodes of a pipeline effectively executing code to manipulate data are known in the Holium protocol as transformations.
They can be considered as pure functions taking one parameter in HoliumCBOR format, executing, and returning on HoliumCBOR value in case of success.
In practice, a transformation is made of a Wasm module and a string named handle informing on the name of the function to be run.
WebAssembly#
WebAssembly (Wasm) is a safe, portable, low-level code format designed for efficient execution and compact representation. In the Holium protocol, it is used as the common code format for all transformation nodes of a pipeline. Read more on the documentation by the World Wide Web Consortium.