Is it possible to use "Flash channels" to send non-transactional data, A.K.A 'zero-value' transaction type which simply broadcasts a message or data?
If so, is it free? And how to do it?
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Why would you want to do this? Why not simply broadcast a message or data without Flash Channels? – Zauz Jun 25 '18 at 10:56
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because it is faster – user3785971 Jun 25 '18 at 11:00
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No, it's not... Where did you get the impression, that it would be? – Zauz Jun 25 '18 at 11:03
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flash channels make transactions faster. blog.iota.org/instant-feeless-flash-channels-88572d9a4385 – user3785971 Jun 25 '18 at 11:10
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They enable the transacting of Iotas without doing Proof Of Work (doing POW takes a long time). But for sending data over the Internet (or any network), you don't have to do POW. You just send the data. – Zauz Jun 25 '18 at 11:16
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Transactions made in flash channels are not written to the Tangle.
There are only two events that are stored:
- opening of a flash channel
- closing of a flash channel
When opening a flash channel, two (or more) entities, let's call them Alice and Bob, lock up Iotas.
- Alice and Bob open a Flash Channel (while still online)
- Alice and Bob loose connection to any full nodes but are still connected with each other
- now Alice can send IOTAs to Bob and vice versa, POW is not required
- once they reconnect to a full node, they close the channel
This is why it wouldn't make sense to "broadcast a message or data" via Flash Channels. It would be just as good as broadcasting it without flash channels.
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Is it possible to store the data that flows from one address to another into a private blockchain/DAG since it is not being stored on the Tangle ? – user3785971 Jun 26 '18 at 17:33
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Of course, it's just data. You can do anything you want with it. But you would have to pay fees/do POW (whatever the private blockchain/DAG requires you to do in order to store data). – Zauz Jun 26 '18 at 17:37
