Merge branch 'master' of /git/bitcoin-cash-spec

home.md

@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@
 			-   thinblock
 			-   get_xblocktx
 			-   xblocktx
+      -   [Node Handshake](/protocol/network/node-handshake)
     -   Simple Payment Verification (SPV)
 	    -   Bloom Filters
     -   Simple Ledger Protocol

protocol/network/messages.md

@@ -23,13 +23,13 @@ The P2P network has a variety of message types.  All P2P messages follow a binar
 
 ### Net Magic
 
-The `net magic` field is always `E3E1F3E8`.  Any message received that does not begin with the `net magic` should be ignored.
+The network identifier is used to separate blockchains and test networks. This reduces unnecessary load on peers, allowing them to rapidly ban nodes rather then forcing the peer to do a blockchain analysis before banning or disconnecting.  For Bitcoin Cash main net, the `net magic` field is always `E3E1F3E8`.  Any message received that does not begin with the `net magic` is invalid.
 
 The `net magic` is designed to be unlikely to occur in normal data--the characters are rarely used upper ASCII, are not valid as UTF-8, and produce a large 32-bit integer with any alignment.  `E3E1F3E8` is the ASCII string, "cash", with each byte's highest bit set.
 
 ### Command String
 
-The `command string` is a fixed-length 12 byte ASCII string.  The command string is used to determine the type of message being transmitted.  Messages with unknown an unrecognized `command string` are ignored.
+The `command string` is a fixed-length 12 byte ASCII string.  Commands may not be longer than 12 bytes.  Commands that are shorter than 12-bytes are right-padded with null bytes (`0x00`).  The command string is used to determine the type of message being transmitted.  Messages with an unrecognized `command string` are ignored.
 
 The following messages are considered standard by all node implementations.
 

protocol/network/node-handshake.md

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# Node Handshake