Block Chain API for BTC transactions

Question

I want to fetch transactions for an address from the following api:

https://blockchain.info/address/$btc_address?format=json

The thing is understanding the json returned from the api, I don't understand which of them are the transaction and the time when that transaction took place and the confirmations of a transaction.

Can any one help?

Answer 1

The result returned from that API is a compound JSON object containing:

1. Address basic information and summary
2. List of transactions associated with that address

The transactions are included in a JSON-encoded list under the txs key. Every transaction itself is a dictionary-like object holding pertinent information.

It should be pretty clear when you visualize it into a tree structure. You can use JSONView plugin for Firefox or Chrome - it'll render all application/json responses in a nice hierarchical and clickable tree and help you understand it.

Answer 2

You are probably looking for the transaction protocol specification. Here is the link from the bitcoin wiki.

You can map JSON keys returned from blockchain.info to the transaction protocol below. For instance the description field version on the wiki maps to blockchain.info's ver.

You need to parse through that structure according to the protocol into native structures/objects in whatever programming language you are using.