net: announce our height in the handshake, and say when we are behind

src/gui.cpp

@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ extern CAddress      addrLocalHost;
 
 void   MainFrameRepaint();
 int    GetDiscoveredPeerCount();
+int    GetPeerMedianHeight();
 string DateTimeStr(int64 nTime);
 bool   SendMoney(CScript scriptPubKey, int64 nValue, CWalletTx& wtxNew);
 int64  GetBalance();
@@ -238,6 +239,15 @@ static void DrawStatusBar()
             connected, discovered, nBestHeight);
     }
 
+    // A node that has stopped receiving looks exactly like one with nothing to
+    // do. Now that peers announce their height, say the difference out loud
+    // instead of leaving the user to guess from a number that stopped moving.
+    int peerHeight = GetPeerMedianHeight();
+    if (peerHeight >= 0 && nBestHeight < peerHeight - 1)
+        ImGui::TextColored(ImVec4(0.95f, 0.65f, 0.20f, 1.0f),
+                           "Behind the network by %d block(s) -- peers report height %d",
+                           peerHeight - nBestHeight, peerHeight);
+
     ImGui::End();
 }
 

src/main.cpp

@@ -1884,6 +1884,12 @@ bool ProcessMessage(CNode* pfrom, string strCommand, CDataStream& vRecv)
         if (pfrom->nVersion == 0)
             return false;
 
+        // Optional: peers older than this field simply end the message here,
+        // and nStartingHeight stays -1 for them. Never make this a requirement
+        // -- every node released so far sends the short form.
+        if (!vRecv.empty())
+            vRecv >> pfrom->nStartingHeight;
+
         pfrom->vSend.SetVersion(min(pfrom->nVersion, VERSION));
         pfrom->vRecv.SetVersion(min(pfrom->nVersion, VERSION));
 
@@ -1912,7 +1918,7 @@ bool ProcessMessage(CNode* pfrom, string strCommand, CDataStream& vRecv)
         if (!vPexOut.empty())
             pfrom->PushMessage("btfpeers", vPexOut);
 
-        if (LogAcceptsCategory("net")) printf("version addrMe = %s\n", addrMe.ToString().c_str());
+        if (LogAcceptsCategory("net")) printf("version addrMe = %s, peer height = %d\n", addrMe.ToString().c_str(), pfrom->nStartingHeight);
     }
 
 

src/net.cpp

@@ -1225,6 +1225,65 @@ void ThreadMessageHandler(void* parg)
     }
 }
 
+int GetPeerMedianHeight()
+{
+    vector<int> vHeights;
+    CRITICAL_BLOCK(cs_vNodes)
+        foreach(CNode* pnode, vNodes)
+            if (pnode->nStartingHeight >= 0)
+                vHeights.push_back(pnode->nStartingHeight);
+
+    if (vHeights.empty())
+        return -1;
+
+    sort(vHeights.begin(), vHeights.end());
+    return vHeights[vHeights.size() / 2];
+}
+
+
+// Say out loud when we are behind the network.
+//
+// This is the whole reason the height is in the handshake. Every serious bug
+// this node has had looked identical from the outside: running, threads alive,
+// nothing in the log, and no blocks arriving. A node that knows where everyone
+// else is can say so, and "8 blocks behind for 27 minutes" is a sentence a
+// user can act on. Deliberately not behind a debug category -- an operator who
+// already suspects trouble is not the one who needs telling.
+static void WarnIfBehind()
+{
+    static int64 nLastWarned;
+    static int64 nBehindSince;
+
+    int nPeers = GetPeerMedianHeight();
+    if (nPeers < 0 || nBestHeight < 0)
+        return;
+
+    // One block of slack: somebody is always mid-relay.
+    if (nBestHeight >= nPeers - 1)
+    {
+        nBehindSince = 0;
+        return;
+    }
+
+    int64 nNow = GetTime();
+    if (nBehindSince == 0)
+    {
+        nBehindSince = nNow;
+        return;
+    }
+
+    // Falling briefly behind is ordinary. Staying behind is not.
+    if (nNow - nBehindSince < BTF_BEHIND_GRACE_SECS)
+        return;
+    if (nNow - nLastWarned < BTF_BEHIND_WARN_INTERVAL_SECS)
+        return;
+
+    nLastWarned = nNow;
+    printf("WARNING: %d blocks behind the network (height %d, peers report %d) for %d minutes\n",
+           nPeers - nBestHeight, nBestHeight, nPeers, (int)((nNow - nBehindSince) / 60));
+}
+
+
 void ThreadMessageHandler2(void* parg)
 {
     printf("ThreadMessageHandler started\n");
@@ -1250,6 +1309,8 @@ void ThreadMessageHandler2(void* parg)
             pnode->Release();
         }
 
+        WarnIfBehind();
+
         // Wait and allow messages to bunch up
         vfThreadRunning[2] = false;
         Sleep(100);

src/net.h

@@ -69,6 +69,21 @@ static const int          BTF_HANDSHAKE_GRACE_SECS = 60;
 // stay well under BTF_RECV_TIMEOUT_SECS.
 static const int          BTF_PING_INTERVAL_SECS   = 10 * 60;
 
+// How long a node must stay behind the network before it says so, and how
+// often it repeats itself. Five minutes is two and a half block intervals --
+// long enough that ordinary relay lag never trips it.
+static const int          BTF_BEHIND_GRACE_SECS         = 5 * 60;
+static const int          BTF_BEHIND_WARN_INTERVAL_SECS = 5 * 60;
+
+// Defined in main.cpp. Declared here because CNode announces it in the version
+// message, and net.h is included before main.h.
+extern int nBestHeight;
+
+// Median height announced by the peers we are connected to, or -1 while nobody
+// has told us anything. Median rather than maximum so one peer claiming an
+// absurd height cannot move it.
+int GetPeerMedianHeight();
+
 // Descriptors to hand a peer: ours first, then peers that answered us.
 void BtfPexCollect(std::vector<std::string>& vDescOut);
 // Verify descriptors a peer sent and remember the good ones. Returns how many.
@@ -528,6 +543,11 @@ class CNode
     int64 nLastRecv;
     int64 nLastSendEmpty;
 
+    // Height this peer announced in its version message, or -1 if it sent a
+    // version message that predates the field. Knowing how far along everyone
+    // else is, is the only way a node can tell "in sync" from "not hearing".
+    int nStartingHeight;
+
 
     CNode(SOCKET hSocketIn, CAddress addrIn, bool fInboundIn=false)
     {
@@ -549,12 +569,16 @@ class CNode
         nLastSend = 0;
         nLastRecv = 0;
         nLastSendEmpty = GetTime();
+        nStartingHeight = -1;
         vfSubscribe.assign(256, false);
 
         // Push a version message
         /// when NTP implemented, change to just nTime = GetAdjustedTime()
         int64 nTime = (fInbound ? GetAdjustedTime() : GetTime());
-        PushMessage("version", VERSION, nLocalServices, nTime, addr);
+        // nBestHeight goes last so a node that predates it stops reading after
+        // addr and treats the rest as trailing bytes, which cost it a log line
+        // and nothing else.
+        PushMessage("version", VERSION, nLocalServices, nTime, addr, nBestHeight);
     }
 
     ~CNode()
@@ -771,6 +795,22 @@ class CNode
         }
     }
 
+    template<typename T1, typename T2, typename T3, typename T4, typename T5>
+    void PushMessage(const char* pszCommand, const T1& a1, const T2& a2, const T3& a3, const T4& a4, const T5& a5)
+    {
+        try
+        {
+            BeginMessage(pszCommand);
+            vSend << a1 << a2 << a3 << a4 << a5;
+            EndMessage();
+        }
+        catch (...)
+        {
+            AbortMessage();
+            throw;
+        }
+    }
+
 
     void PushRequest(const char* pszCommand,
                      void (*fn)(void*, CDataStream&), void* param1)