Clauses (Multi-Task Transaction)

A native approach to scale transaction throughput on the VeChainThor blockchain.

Introduction

Most blockchain transactions models are limited to one payload and one recipient per transaction. The VeChainThor blockchain transaction model contains a native scaling solution called clauses which allows for the transfer of multiple payloads to different recipients.

Clauses

Clauses are not transactions, but they do perform a similar function which is to deliver a payload on the VeChainThor blockchain. Clauses can be considered as an on-chain scaling mechanism which allows a user to send multiple payloads to different recipients in a single transaction. The Clause structure is defined in Golang as follows:

type Clause struct {
	body clauseBody
}

type clauseBody struct {
	To    *thor.Address `rlp:"nil"`
	Value *big.Int
	Data  []byte
}

The three fields of a clause are:

• To – recipient’s address;

• Value – amount to be transferred to the recipient;

• Data – input data.

We then define Clauses as a Clause array in the transaction model to make it possible for a transaction to contain multiple tasks.

Clause Attributes

Clauses have two interesting characteristics:

• Since clauses are included in a single transaction, their executions can be considered as atomic, meaning that, either they all succeed, or all fail.

• Clauses are processed one by one in the exact order defined in Clauses.

Conclusion

Clauses are a unique feature to the VeChainThor blockchain and allows for a transaction to deliver multiple payloads to different recipients. Clauses are a form of on-chain scaling which allows for transaction throughput on the VeChainThor blockchain. When measuring the overall activity of the VeChainThor blockchain we must include clauses in the measurement.

This article provides additional information and a demonstration of clauses on the VeChainThor blockchain.