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Posted to dev@whimsical.apache.org by sebb <se...@gmail.com> on 2017/12/15 14:03:07 UTC
How to report server error back to GUI?
I added a check for an empty list of ids to the server code for (p)pmc updates.
I have since found that it is possible to trigger this.
However the result is that the user gets a server failure message,
which is not very helpful.
It would be better to return an error to the user, but it's not clear
how to do this.
Re: How to report server error back to GUI?
Posted by sebb <se...@gmail.com>.
On 15 December 2017 at 19:32, Sam Ruby <ru...@intertwingly.net> wrote:
> On Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 12:13 PM, sebb <se...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 15 December 2017 at 15:45, Sam Ruby <ru...@intertwingly.net> wrote:
>>> On Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 10:11 AM, sebb <se...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> On 15 December 2017 at 14:15, Sam Ruby <ru...@intertwingly.net> wrote:
>>>>> On Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 9:03 AM, sebb <se...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> I added a check for an empty list of ids to the server code for (p)pmc updates.
>>>>>
>>>>> Cool. Thanks!
>>>>>
>>>>>> I have since found that it is possible to trigger this.
>>>>>
>>>>> How? Shouldn't that be fixed?
>>>>
>>>> Add committer to PMC
>>>> immediately select committer for removal.
>>>> The problem disappears if the PMC screen is refreshed first.
>>>>
>>>> Yes, it should be fixed.
>>>> But the server still needs to validate input data so there still needs
>>>> to be a way to feedback to the user.
>>>>
>>>>>> However the result is that the user gets a server failure message,
>>>>>> which is not very helpful.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> It would be better to return an error to the user, but it's not clear
>>>>>> how to do this.
>>>>>
>>>>> The current code (example:
>>>>> https://github.com/apache/whimsy/blob/5e99628962852cab88283849d0a06c44f29e4bfa/www/roster/views/mixins/add.js.rb#L48),
>>>>> checks for a status of 200, and if so parses the json and emits an
>>>>> update event.
>>>>>
>>>>> An example of handing update events:
>>>>> https://github.com/apache/whimsy/blob/5e99628962852cab88283849d0a06c44f29e4bfa/www/roster/views/pmc/main.js.rb#L192
>>>>>
>>>>> Non-200 status codes are currently handled via an alert, and currently
>>>>> only show the status code and text.
>>>>
>>>> But how can committee.json.rb change the status code and text?
>>>> I tried adding
>>>>
>>>> return {status: 201, statusText: 'end' }
>>>>
>>>> but that just is treated as success AFAICT.
>>>
>>> My thought process: if the user shouldn't be able to do something, and
>>> can; then it is our bug not theirs. As such raise an exception on the
>>> server, that will cause the body to contain a stack traceback, and
>>> send that output to the console.
>>>
>>> If there is no reasonable way for the client to prevent it, then send
>>> back a successful (in the HTTP 200 sense) response, but have the data
>>> contain the message to be shown to the user.
>>
>> That will require special processing on the client, because it will
>> have to treat some responses as alerts.
>> There is already such processing for status != 200.
>
> On the server, try:
>
> _.response.status = 405
Thanks. That works.
I discovered that this works too:
status 405
>
> There only appears to be a way to set the status code, not the status text.
Yes, unfortunately, as that would have saved some work.
However the body text is preserved and can be used to provide further info.
If errors are returned as successful JSON responses, then the JS code
will have to inspect the content to determine if it is an error.
This would require at least one key to be reserved for errors.
I think it would make more sense to use a status code rather than a
special content marker.
This should make it easier for other apps to use the server code directly.
In either case the response handling code is going to have to be modified.
> Supported status codes (and associated status texts) can be found here:
>
> http://www.rubydoc.info/gems/rack/Rack/Utils
>
> - Sam Ruby
Re: How to report server error back to GUI?
Posted by Sam Ruby <ru...@intertwingly.net>.
On Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 12:13 PM, sebb <se...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 15 December 2017 at 15:45, Sam Ruby <ru...@intertwingly.net> wrote:
>> On Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 10:11 AM, sebb <se...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> On 15 December 2017 at 14:15, Sam Ruby <ru...@intertwingly.net> wrote:
>>>> On Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 9:03 AM, sebb <se...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> I added a check for an empty list of ids to the server code for (p)pmc updates.
>>>>
>>>> Cool. Thanks!
>>>>
>>>>> I have since found that it is possible to trigger this.
>>>>
>>>> How? Shouldn't that be fixed?
>>>
>>> Add committer to PMC
>>> immediately select committer for removal.
>>> The problem disappears if the PMC screen is refreshed first.
>>>
>>> Yes, it should be fixed.
>>> But the server still needs to validate input data so there still needs
>>> to be a way to feedback to the user.
>>>
>>>>> However the result is that the user gets a server failure message,
>>>>> which is not very helpful.
>>>>>
>>>>> It would be better to return an error to the user, but it's not clear
>>>>> how to do this.
>>>>
>>>> The current code (example:
>>>> https://github.com/apache/whimsy/blob/5e99628962852cab88283849d0a06c44f29e4bfa/www/roster/views/mixins/add.js.rb#L48),
>>>> checks for a status of 200, and if so parses the json and emits an
>>>> update event.
>>>>
>>>> An example of handing update events:
>>>> https://github.com/apache/whimsy/blob/5e99628962852cab88283849d0a06c44f29e4bfa/www/roster/views/pmc/main.js.rb#L192
>>>>
>>>> Non-200 status codes are currently handled via an alert, and currently
>>>> only show the status code and text.
>>>
>>> But how can committee.json.rb change the status code and text?
>>> I tried adding
>>>
>>> return {status: 201, statusText: 'end' }
>>>
>>> but that just is treated as success AFAICT.
>>
>> My thought process: if the user shouldn't be able to do something, and
>> can; then it is our bug not theirs. As such raise an exception on the
>> server, that will cause the body to contain a stack traceback, and
>> send that output to the console.
>>
>> If there is no reasonable way for the client to prevent it, then send
>> back a successful (in the HTTP 200 sense) response, but have the data
>> contain the message to be shown to the user.
>
> That will require special processing on the client, because it will
> have to treat some responses as alerts.
> There is already such processing for status != 200.
On the server, try:
_.response.status = 405
There only appears to be a way to set the status code, not the status text.
Supported status codes (and associated status texts) can be found here:
http://www.rubydoc.info/gems/rack/Rack/Utils
- Sam Ruby
Re: How to report server error back to GUI?
Posted by sebb <se...@gmail.com>.
On 15 December 2017 at 15:45, Sam Ruby <ru...@intertwingly.net> wrote:
> On Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 10:11 AM, sebb <se...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 15 December 2017 at 14:15, Sam Ruby <ru...@intertwingly.net> wrote:
>>> On Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 9:03 AM, sebb <se...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> I added a check for an empty list of ids to the server code for (p)pmc updates.
>>>
>>> Cool. Thanks!
>>>
>>>> I have since found that it is possible to trigger this.
>>>
>>> How? Shouldn't that be fixed?
>>
>> Add committer to PMC
>> immediately select committer for removal.
>> The problem disappears if the PMC screen is refreshed first.
>>
>> Yes, it should be fixed.
>> But the server still needs to validate input data so there still needs
>> to be a way to feedback to the user.
>>
>>>> However the result is that the user gets a server failure message,
>>>> which is not very helpful.
>>>>
>>>> It would be better to return an error to the user, but it's not clear
>>>> how to do this.
>>>
>>> The current code (example:
>>> https://github.com/apache/whimsy/blob/5e99628962852cab88283849d0a06c44f29e4bfa/www/roster/views/mixins/add.js.rb#L48),
>>> checks for a status of 200, and if so parses the json and emits an
>>> update event.
>>>
>>> An example of handing update events:
>>> https://github.com/apache/whimsy/blob/5e99628962852cab88283849d0a06c44f29e4bfa/www/roster/views/pmc/main.js.rb#L192
>>>
>>> Non-200 status codes are currently handled via an alert, and currently
>>> only show the status code and text.
>>
>> But how can committee.json.rb change the status code and text?
>> I tried adding
>>
>> return {status: 201, statusText: 'end' }
>>
>> but that just is treated as success AFAICT.
>
> My thought process: if the user shouldn't be able to do something, and
> can; then it is our bug not theirs. As such raise an exception on the
> server, that will cause the body to contain a stack traceback, and
> send that output to the console.
>
> If there is no reasonable way for the client to prevent it, then send
> back a successful (in the HTTP 200 sense) response, but have the data
> contain the message to be shown to the user.
That will require special processing on the client, because it will
have to treat some responses as alerts.
There is already such processing for status != 200.
>>> ---
>>>
>>> If the UI were changed so that sending an empty list "should not
>>> happen", then an alert would be sufficient. Adding the body of the
>>> failed response to the console.log would be helpful.
>>>
>>> Alternately, the code could emit a failed event, and the that could be
>>> handled separately.
>>>
>>> - Sam Ruby
>
> - Sam Ruby
Re: How to report server error back to GUI?
Posted by Sam Ruby <ru...@intertwingly.net>.
On Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 10:11 AM, sebb <se...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 15 December 2017 at 14:15, Sam Ruby <ru...@intertwingly.net> wrote:
>> On Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 9:03 AM, sebb <se...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> I added a check for an empty list of ids to the server code for (p)pmc updates.
>>
>> Cool. Thanks!
>>
>>> I have since found that it is possible to trigger this.
>>
>> How? Shouldn't that be fixed?
>
> Add committer to PMC
> immediately select committer for removal.
> The problem disappears if the PMC screen is refreshed first.
>
> Yes, it should be fixed.
> But the server still needs to validate input data so there still needs
> to be a way to feedback to the user.
>
>>> However the result is that the user gets a server failure message,
>>> which is not very helpful.
>>>
>>> It would be better to return an error to the user, but it's not clear
>>> how to do this.
>>
>> The current code (example:
>> https://github.com/apache/whimsy/blob/5e99628962852cab88283849d0a06c44f29e4bfa/www/roster/views/mixins/add.js.rb#L48),
>> checks for a status of 200, and if so parses the json and emits an
>> update event.
>>
>> An example of handing update events:
>> https://github.com/apache/whimsy/blob/5e99628962852cab88283849d0a06c44f29e4bfa/www/roster/views/pmc/main.js.rb#L192
>>
>> Non-200 status codes are currently handled via an alert, and currently
>> only show the status code and text.
>
> But how can committee.json.rb change the status code and text?
> I tried adding
>
> return {status: 201, statusText: 'end' }
>
> but that just is treated as success AFAICT.
My thought process: if the user shouldn't be able to do something, and
can; then it is our bug not theirs. As such raise an exception on the
server, that will cause the body to contain a stack traceback, and
send that output to the console.
If there is no reasonable way for the client to prevent it, then send
back a successful (in the HTTP 200 sense) response, but have the data
contain the message to be shown to the user.
>> ---
>>
>> If the UI were changed so that sending an empty list "should not
>> happen", then an alert would be sufficient. Adding the body of the
>> failed response to the console.log would be helpful.
>>
>> Alternately, the code could emit a failed event, and the that could be
>> handled separately.
>>
>> - Sam Ruby
- Sam Ruby
Re: How to report server error back to GUI?
Posted by sebb <se...@gmail.com>.
On 15 December 2017 at 14:15, Sam Ruby <ru...@intertwingly.net> wrote:
> On Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 9:03 AM, sebb <se...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I added a check for an empty list of ids to the server code for (p)pmc updates.
>
> Cool. Thanks!
>
>> I have since found that it is possible to trigger this.
>
> How? Shouldn't that be fixed?
Add committer to PMC
immediately select committer for removal.
The problem disappears if the PMC screen is refreshed first.
Yes, it should be fixed.
But the server still needs to validate input data so there still needs
to be a way to feedback to the user.
>> However the result is that the user gets a server failure message,
>> which is not very helpful.
>>
>> It would be better to return an error to the user, but it's not clear
>> how to do this.
>
> The current code (example:
> https://github.com/apache/whimsy/blob/5e99628962852cab88283849d0a06c44f29e4bfa/www/roster/views/mixins/add.js.rb#L48),
> checks for a status of 200, and if so parses the json and emits an
> update event.
>
> An example of handing update events:
> https://github.com/apache/whimsy/blob/5e99628962852cab88283849d0a06c44f29e4bfa/www/roster/views/pmc/main.js.rb#L192
>
> Non-200 status codes are currently handled via an alert, and currently
> only show the status code and text.
But how can committee.json.rb change the status code and text?
I tried adding
return {status: 201, statusText: 'end' }
but that just is treated as success AFAICT.
> ---
>
> If the UI were changed so that sending an empty list "should not
> happen", then an alert would be sufficient. Adding the body of the
> failed response to the console.log would be helpful.
>
> Alternately, the code could emit a failed event, and the that could be
> handled separately.
>
> - Sam Ruby
Re: How to report server error back to GUI?
Posted by Sam Ruby <ru...@intertwingly.net>.
On Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 9:03 AM, sebb <se...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I added a check for an empty list of ids to the server code for (p)pmc updates.
Cool. Thanks!
> I have since found that it is possible to trigger this.
How? Shouldn't that be fixed?
> However the result is that the user gets a server failure message,
> which is not very helpful.
>
> It would be better to return an error to the user, but it's not clear
> how to do this.
The current code (example:
https://github.com/apache/whimsy/blob/5e99628962852cab88283849d0a06c44f29e4bfa/www/roster/views/mixins/add.js.rb#L48),
checks for a status of 200, and if so parses the json and emits an
update event.
An example of handing update events:
https://github.com/apache/whimsy/blob/5e99628962852cab88283849d0a06c44f29e4bfa/www/roster/views/pmc/main.js.rb#L192
Non-200 status codes are currently handled via an alert, and currently
only show the status code and text.
---
If the UI were changed so that sending an empty list "should not
happen", then an alert would be sufficient. Adding the body of the
failed response to the console.log would be helpful.
Alternately, the code could emit a failed event, and the that could be
handled separately.
- Sam Ruby