def build_operation(id, path, args, command="set", table="block"):
    """
    Data updates sent to the submitTransaction endpoint consist of a sequence of "operations". This is a helper
    function that constructs one of these operations.
    """

    if isinstance(path, str):
        path = path.split(".")

    return {"id": id, "path": path, "args": args, "command": command, "table": table}