Hello I need to call a REST function with an ID, that returns a promise in React.js. This function will at some point contain a certain value in its response when called . Until another service has processed an initial request this value will be null.
This is what I have done so far:
while(myVariable){
myfunction(myID).then( (response) => {
if(response['value'] != null
myVariable = false;
}
});
}
The problem with this code is that the while loop is called as fast as possible and thus completely utilises the computer. So I need a function that allows me to poll for a result by an ID until the response of one of the function calls contains a valid response.
I have tried the following method but without success, because I don't have a fixed number of runs:
Wait promise inside for loop
Thanks in regards.
As you state, the problem is that the while loop runs eagerly, not waiting for each promise to resolve.
One way to solve that is to use recursion. Recursion gives you more control over when exactly you want to 'loop' next:
let getValue = () => {
myFunction(myID).then(response => {
if (response['value'] === null) {
setTimeout(getValue);
} else {
// here you know the other service has processed the initial request
}
});
};
First I wrapped the whole thing in a function called getValue. Note that this function is only called again after the promise resolves. (The call to setTimeout is a trick to use recursion without consuming the stack.) If this still runs too quickly, pass an additional parameter of 100 or so to the setTimeout invocation.
Alternatively, you may be able to use async/await similarly to the link you shared. I'm no expert on async/await but it should work the same with while loops as with for loops, judging by this and this.
You can use the async function with await.
I also use a delay function to delay each call to the myfunction().
While you get a response, you can break the while loop.
const delay = ms => new Promise((resolve, reject) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
async function main() {
const myID = 1;
let response;
while (true) {
response = await myfunction(myID);
if (response["value"] != null) {
break;
}
await delay(5000);
}
//do Something once you get the response here below:
}
main();
I have the following code:
function MyPromise(configFunction) {
let nextSuccessCallBack = undefined;
let nextResolve = undefined;
configFunction(function(message){
setTimeout(function(){
if(nextSuccessCallBack) {
var result = nextSuccessCallBack(message);
if(result && result.then) {
result.then(nextResolve);
} else {
nextResolve && nextResolve(result);
}
}
})
});
return {
then: function(successCallback) {
nextSuccessCallBack = successCallback;
return new MyPromise(function(resolve) {
nextResolve = resolve;
})
}
}
}
new MyPromise(function(resolve, reject) {
resolve('new message');
}).then(function(message) {
console.log(message);
return 'another message'
}).then(function(message) {
console.log(message)
console.log('here')
})
In this example, it seems that the nextSuccessCallBack is set to be the callback functions within .then, then its value within the setTimeout function is now populated. However, this confuses me. I thought that when we reach the return statement in the constructor, we return the object and effectively stop the function? If that the case then how does the program even get to the setTimeout?
This is not a correct Promise implementation. It clearly has no capabilities for rejections, but also for the implemented fulfilment feature it does not comply with the Promises/A+ specification. Just to give two examples:
It does not comply with rule 2.1.2.2
When fulfilled, a promise must have a value, which must not change.
....nor with rule 2.2.2.3:
If onFulfilled is a function it must not be called more than once.
In your implementation, if you would add a second call to resolve:
new MyPromise(function(resolve, reject) {
resolve('new message'); resolve('new message2');
}).then((function(message) {
console.log(message);
// ... etc
})
...then both calls to resolve would fire the then callback, and show that the promised value was modified after the first time it was set. This is in complete violation of the principle of promises: promises can only resolve once.
It does not comply with rule 2.2.6:
then may be called multiple times on the same promise.
If/when promise is fulfilled, all respective onFulfilled callbacks must execute in the order of their originating calls to then.
This does not happen if we use the following code:
let p = new MyPromise(resolve => resolve("value"));
p.then(console.log); // This callback is called
p.then(console.log); // This callback is not called -> violation!
These are basic shortcomings, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
If you are interested in how it could be implemented in compliance with Promise/A+, then have a look at one I did a few years ago with a step-by-step explanation.
As to your question
how does the program even get to the setTimeout?
When your main code executes this:
new MyPromise(function(resolve, reject) {
resolve('new message');
})
...then the parameter variable configFunction is initialised with that callback function. The MyPromise constructor calls it, passing it the following callback as first argument:
function(message){
setTimeout(function(){
if(nextSuccessCallBack) {
var result = nextSuccessCallBack(message);
if(result && result.then) {
result.then(nextResolve);
} else {
nextResolve && nextResolve(result);
}
}
})
}
So that means that resolve in your main code's callback function is initialised with the above callback function. Then your main code's callback function calls resolve with a string argument. Since resolve is the above callback function, we can see it gets executed with message initialised to "new message". This function executes setTimeout.
The code in the snippet does solve the purpose but, it is confusing as is a bad implementation of a Promise according to the way MDN Uses Promises in JavaScript for better code efficiency and understanding.
The above code can also be written this way:
const examplePromise = new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
resolve("Another Message");
});
console.log("New Message");
examplePromise.then((message) => {
console.log(message);
});
Now, for better understading of the concept of Promises in JavaScript, I'll take another example:
Let's say I want to create a program which says hello and then after 2 seconds says How Are You?
There are two ways of solving this
Just using the setTimeout() function which executes a function after certain period of time
Using promises with setTimeout()
Case I (Using setTimeout()):
console.log("hello"); //Saying hello for the first time
setTimeout(function () {
console.log("How Are You?");
}, 2000); //2000 milliseconds is 2 seconds
Case II (Using Promises)
console.log("hello");
const example = new Promise((resolve) => {
setTimeout(() => {
resolve("How Are You?");
}, 2000);
});
example.then((message) => {
console.log(message);
});
Now, for simple cases like logging a message after 2 seconds do not require Promises. You may use them (No problem) but actually, Promises are used in cases where, you wait for a function to execute a Database Query or you need to wait for a server to give you some HTML Response or while using WebAPIs, etc.
P.S: setTimeout() is just an example. It is not a rule that you always have to use setTimeout() while writing a Promise. If you are fetching data using a WebAPI, you usually write $.ajax(...).then(...) or fetch(...).then(...) instead of setTimeout()
First, this is a very specific case of doing it the wrong way on-purpose to retrofit an asynchronous call into a very synchronous codebase that is many thousands of lines long and time doesn't currently afford the ability to make the changes to "do it right." It hurts every fiber of my being, but reality and ideals often do not mesh. I know this sucks.
OK, that out of the way, how do I make it so that I could:
function doSomething() {
var data;
function callBack(d) {
data = d;
}
myAsynchronousCall(param1, callBack);
// block here and return data when the callback is finished
return data;
}
The examples (or lack thereof) all use libraries and/or compilers, both of which are not viable for this solution. I need a concrete example of how to make it block (e.g. NOT leave the doSomething function until the callback is called) WITHOUT freezing the UI. If such a thing is possible in JS.
"don't tell me about how I should just do it "the right way" or whatever"
OK. but you should really do it the right way... or whatever
" I need a concrete example of how to make it block ... WITHOUT freezing the UI. If such a thing is possible in JS."
No, it is impossible to block the running JavaScript without blocking the UI.
Given the lack of information, it's tough to offer a solution, but one option may be to have the calling function do some polling to check a global variable, then have the callback set data to the global.
function doSomething() {
// callback sets the received data to a global var
function callBack(d) {
window.data = d;
}
// start the async
myAsynchronousCall(param1, callBack);
}
// start the function
doSomething();
// make sure the global is clear
window.data = null
// start polling at an interval until the data is found at the global
var intvl = setInterval(function() {
if (window.data) {
clearInterval(intvl);
console.log(data);
}
}, 100);
All of this assumes that you can modify doSomething(). I don't know if that's in the cards.
If it can be modified, then I don't know why you wouldn't just pass a callback to doSomething() to be called from the other callback, but I better stop before I get into trouble. ;)
Oh, what the heck. You gave an example that suggests it can be done correctly, so I'm going to show that solution...
function doSomething( func ) {
function callBack(d) {
func( d );
}
myAsynchronousCall(param1, callBack);
}
doSomething(function(data) {
console.log(data);
});
Because your example includes a callback that is passed to the async call, the right way would be to pass a function to doSomething() to be invoked from the callback.
Of course if that's the only thing the callback is doing, you'd just pass func directly...
myAsynchronousCall(param1, func);
Async functions, a feature in ES2017, make async code look sync by using promises (a particular form of async code) and the await keyword. Also notice in the code examples below the keyword async in front of the function keyword that signifies an async/await function. The await keyword won't work without being in a function pre-fixed with the async keyword. Since currently there is no exception to this that means no top level awaits will work (top level awaits meaning an await outside of any function). Though there is a proposal for top-level await.
ES2017 was ratified (i.e. finalized) as the standard for JavaScript on June 27th, 2017. Async await may already work in your browser, but if not you can still use the functionality using a javascript transpiler like babel or traceur. Chrome 55 has full support of async functions. So if you have a newer browser you may be able to try out the code below.
See kangax's es2017 compatibility table for browser compatibility.
Here's an example async await function called doAsync which takes three one second pauses and prints the time difference after each pause from the start time:
function timeoutPromise (time) {
return new Promise(function (resolve) {
setTimeout(function () {
resolve(Date.now());
}, time)
})
}
function doSomethingAsync () {
return timeoutPromise(1000);
}
async function doAsync () {
var start = Date.now(), time;
console.log(0);
time = await doSomethingAsync();
console.log(time - start);
time = await doSomethingAsync();
console.log(time - start);
time = await doSomethingAsync();
console.log(time - start);
}
doAsync();
When the await keyword is placed before a promise value (in this case the promise value is the value returned by the function doSomethingAsync) the await keyword will pause execution of the function call, but it won't pause any other functions and it will continue executing other code until the promise resolves. After the promise resolves it will unwrap the value of the promise and you can think of the await and promise expression as now being replaced by that unwrapped value.
So, since await just pauses waits for then unwraps a value before executing the rest of the line you can use it in for loops and inside function calls like in the below example which collects time differences awaited in an array and prints out the array.
function timeoutPromise (time) {
return new Promise(function (resolve) {
setTimeout(function () {
resolve(Date.now());
}, time)
})
}
function doSomethingAsync () {
return timeoutPromise(1000);
}
// this calls each promise returning function one after the other
async function doAsync () {
var response = [];
var start = Date.now();
// each index is a promise returning function
var promiseFuncs= [doSomethingAsync, doSomethingAsync, doSomethingAsync];
for(var i = 0; i < promiseFuncs.length; ++i) {
var promiseFunc = promiseFuncs[i];
response.push(await promiseFunc() - start);
console.log(response);
}
// do something with response which is an array of values that were from resolved promises.
return response
}
doAsync().then(function (response) {
console.log(response)
})
The async function itself returns a promise so you can use that as a promise with chaining like I do above or within another async await function.
The function above would wait for each response before sending another request if you would like to send the requests concurrently you can use Promise.all.
// no change
function timeoutPromise (time) {
return new Promise(function (resolve) {
setTimeout(function () {
resolve(Date.now());
}, time)
})
}
// no change
function doSomethingAsync () {
return timeoutPromise(1000);
}
// this function calls the async promise returning functions all at around the same time
async function doAsync () {
var start = Date.now();
// we are now using promise all to await all promises to settle
var responses = await Promise.all([doSomethingAsync(), doSomethingAsync(), doSomethingAsync()]);
return responses.map(x=>x-start);
}
// no change
doAsync().then(function (response) {
console.log(response)
})
If the promise possibly rejects you can wrap it in a try catch or skip the try catch and let the error propagate to the async/await functions catch call. You should be careful not to leave promise errors unhandled especially in Node.js. Below are some examples that show off how errors work.
function timeoutReject (time) {
return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
setTimeout(function () {
reject(new Error("OOPS well you got an error at TIMESTAMP: " + Date.now()));
}, time)
})
}
function doErrorAsync () {
return timeoutReject(1000);
}
var log = (...args)=>console.log(...args);
var logErr = (...args)=>console.error(...args);
async function unpropogatedError () {
// promise is not awaited or returned so it does not propogate the error
doErrorAsync();
return "finished unpropogatedError successfully";
}
unpropogatedError().then(log).catch(logErr)
async function handledError () {
var start = Date.now();
try {
console.log((await doErrorAsync()) - start);
console.log("past error");
} catch (e) {
console.log("in catch we handled the error");
}
return "finished handledError successfully";
}
handledError().then(log).catch(logErr)
// example of how error propogates to chained catch method
async function propogatedError () {
var start = Date.now();
var time = await doErrorAsync() - start;
console.log(time - start);
return "finished propogatedError successfully";
}
// this is what prints propogatedError's error.
propogatedError().then(log).catch(logErr)
If you go here you can see the finished proposals for upcoming ECMAScript versions.
An alternative to this that can be used with just ES2015 (ES6) is to use a special function which wraps a generator function. Generator functions have a yield keyword which may be used to replicate the await keyword with a surrounding function. The yield keyword and generator function are a lot more general purpose and can do many more things then just what the async await function does. If you want a generator function wrapper that can be used to replicate async await I would check out co.js. By the way co's function much like async await functions return a promise. Honestly though at this point browser compatibility is about the same for both generator functions and async functions so if you just want the async await functionality you should use Async functions without co.js.
(I recommend just using async/await it's pretty widely supported in most environments that the above strikethrough is supported in.)
Browser support is actually pretty good now for Async functions (as of 2017) in all major current browsers (Chrome, Safari, and Edge) except IE.
Take a look at JQuery Promises:
http://api.jquery.com/promise/
http://api.jquery.com/jQuery.when/
http://api.jquery.com/deferred.promise/
Refactor the code:
var dfd = new jQuery.Deferred();
function callBack(data) {
dfd.notify(data);
}
// do the async call.
myAsynchronousCall(param1, callBack);
function doSomething(data) {
// do stuff with data...
}
$.when(dfd).then(doSomething);
You can force asynchronous JavaScript in NodeJS to be synchronous with sync-rpc.
It will definitely freeze your UI though, so I'm still a naysayer when it comes to whether what it's possible to take the shortcut you need to take. It's not possible to suspend the One And Only Thread in JavaScript, even if NodeJS lets you block it sometimes. No callbacks, events, anything asynchronous at all will be able to process until your promise resolves. So unless you the reader have an unavoidable situation like the OP (or, in my case, are writing a glorified shell script with no callbacks, events, etc.), DO NOT DO THIS!
But here's how you can do this:
./calling-file.js
var createClient = require('sync-rpc');
var mySynchronousCall = createClient(require.resolve('./my-asynchronous-call'), 'init data');
var param1 = 'test data'
var data = mySynchronousCall(param1);
console.log(data); // prints: received "test data" after "init data"
./my-asynchronous-call.js
function init(initData) {
return function(param1) {
// Return a promise here and the resulting rpc client will be synchronous
return Promise.resolve('received "' + param1 + '" after "' + initData + '"');
};
}
module.exports = init;
LIMITATIONS:
These are both a consequence of how sync-rpc is implemented, which is by abusing require('child_process').spawnSync:
This will not work in the browser.
The arguments to your function must be serializable. Your arguments will pass in and out of JSON.stringify, so functions and non-enumerable properties like prototype chains will be lost.
There is one nice workaround at http://taskjs.org/
It uses generators which are new to javascript. So it's currently not implemented by most browsers. I tested it in firefox, and for me it is nice way to wrap asynchronous function.
Here is example code from project GitHub
var { Deferred } = task;
spawn(function() {
out.innerHTML = "reading...\n";
try {
var d = yield read("read.html");
alert(d.responseText.length);
} catch (e) {
e.stack.split(/\n/).forEach(function(line) { console.log(line) });
console.log("");
out.innerHTML = "error: " + e;
}
});
function read(url, method) {
method = method || "GET";
var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
var deferred = new Deferred();
xhr.onreadystatechange = function() {
if (xhr.readyState === 4) {
if (xhr.status >= 400) {
var e = new Error(xhr.statusText);
e.status = xhr.status;
deferred.reject(e);
} else {
deferred.resolve({
responseText: xhr.responseText
});
}
}
};
xhr.open(method, url, true);
xhr.send();
return deferred.promise;
}
What you want is actually possible now. If you can run the asynchronous code in a service worker, and the synchronous code in a web worker, then you can have the web worker send a synchronous XHR to the service worker, and while the service worker does the async things, the web worker's thread will wait. This is not a great approach, but it could work.
let result;
async_function().then(r => result = r);
while (result === undefined) // Wait result from async_function
require('deasync').sleep(100);
In Node.js it's possible to write synchronous code which actually invokes asynchronous operations.
node-fibers allows this. It's a 3rd party native extension provided as an npm module.
It implements fibers/coroutines, so when a specific fiber is blocked waiting for asynchronous operation, the whole program events loop doesn't block - another fiber (if exists) continues its job.
With fibers your code would look like this:
var Fiber = require('fibers');
function doSomething() {
var fiber = Fiber.current;
function callBack(data) {
fiber.run(data);
}
myAsynchronousCall(param1, callBack);
// execution blocks here
var data = Fiber.yield();
return data;
}
// The whole program must be wrapped with Fiber
Fiber(function main() {
var data = doSomething();
console.log(data);
}).run();
Note, that you should avoid it and use async/await instead. See below a note from the project readme https://github.com/laverdet/node-fibers:
NOTE OF OBSOLESCENCE -- The author of this project recommends you avoid its use if possible. The original version of this module targeted nodejs v0.1.x in early 2011 when JavaScript on the server looked a lot different. Since then async/await, Promises, and Generators were standardized and the ecosystem as a whole has moved in that direction.
I'll continue to support newer versions of nodejs as long as possible but v8 and nodejs are extraordinarily complex and dynamic platforms. It is inevitable that one day this library will abruptly stop working and no one will be able to do anything about it.
I'd like to say thank you to all the users of fibers, your support over the years has meant a lot to me.
Using Node 16's worker threads actually makes this possible, The following example the main thread is running the asynchronous code while the worker thread is waiting for it synchronously.
Not that is is very useful, but it at least does vaguely what the original question asked by waiting for asynchronous code synchronously.
const {
Worker, isMainThread, parentPort, receiveMessageOnPort
} = require('worker_threads');
if (isMainThread) {
const worker = new Worker(__filename);
worker.on('message', async () => {
worker.postMessage(await doAsyncStuff());
});
} else {
console.log(doStuffSync());
}
function doStuffSync(){
parentPort.postMessage({fn: 'doStuff'});
let message;
while (!message) {
message = receiveMessageOnPort(parentPort)
}
return message;
}
function doAsyncStuff(){
return new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(() => resolve("A test"), 1000));
}
One thing people might not consider: If you control the async function (which other pieces of code depend on), AND the codepath it would take is not necessarily asynchronous, you can make it synchronous (without breaking those other pieces of code) by creating an optional parameter.
Currently:
async function myFunc(args_etcetc) {
// you wrote this
return 'stuff';
}
(async function main() {
var result = await myFunc('argsetcetc');
console.log('async result:' result);
})()
Consider:
function myFunc(args_etcetc, opts={}) {
/*
param opts :: {sync:Boolean} -- whether to return a Promise or not
*/
var {sync=false} = opts;
if (sync===true)
return 'stuff';
else
return new Promise((RETURN,REJECT)=> {
RETURN('stuff');
});
}
// async code still works just like before:
(async function main() {
var result = await myFunc('argsetcetc');
console.log('async result:', result);
})();
// prints: 'stuff'
// new sync code works, if you specify sync mode:
(function main() {
var result = myFunc('argsetcetc', {sync:true});
console.log('sync result:', result);
})();
// prints: 'stuff'
Of course this doesn't work if the async function relies on inherently async operations (network requests, etc.), in which case the endeavor is futile (without effectively waiting idle-spinning for no reason).
Also this is fairly ugly to return either a value or a Promise depending on the options passed in.
("Why would I have written an async function if it didn't use async constructs?" one might ask? Perhaps some modalities/parameters of the function require asynchronicity and others don't, and due to code duplication you wanted a monolithic block rather than separate modular chunks of code in different functions... For example perhaps the argument is either localDatabase (which doesn't require await) or remoteDatabase (which does). Then you could runtime error if you try to do {sync:true} on the remote database. Perhaps this scenario is indicative of another problem, but there you go.)
This ability of promises includes two key features of synchronous operations as follows (or then() accepts two callbacks).
When you get the result, call resolve() and pass the final result.
In case of error, call reject().
The idea is that the result is passed through the chain of .then() handlers.
const synchronize = (() => {
let chain = Promise.resolve()
return async (promise) => {
return chain = chain.then(promise)
}
})()
I wondered the same thing and noticed that the currently best answer contains the right idea in my mind for most use cases, but forgets to mention a couple of things. When using a global variable to lock execution, we're talking about Semaphores, and there are some packages which implement those (my recommendation: async-sema). I think this makes it a little simpler and cleaner.
import { Sema } from 'async-sema'
const sema = new Sema(1) // allow only one concurrent process
async function doSomething() {
var data;
await sema.acquire();
// only one process gets inside here
data = await myAsynchronousCall(param1);
sema.release();
return data;
}
The advantage is obviously that the rest of your program can still do other things asynchronously, only the single block is kind of forced to be synchronously. Disadvantage is that you have to be careful what and where to lock, try/catch/finally possible errors, etc.
You can also convert it into callbacks.
function thirdPartyFoo(callback) {
callback("Hello World");
}
function foo() {
var fooVariable;
thirdPartyFoo(function(data) {
fooVariable = data;
});
return fooVariable;
}
var temp = foo();
console.log(temp);
The idea that you hope to achieve can be made possible if you tweak the requirement a little bit
The below code is possible if your runtime supports the ES6 specification.
More about async functions
async function myAsynchronousCall(param1) {
// logic for myAsynchronous call
return d;
}
function doSomething() {
var data = await myAsynchronousCall(param1); //'blocks' here until the async call is finished
return data;
}
I have some websocket code in JS. I have a message-handling loop like this:
socket.addEventListener('message', function (event) {
payload = JSON.parse(event.data)
method = payload.method
// Dispatch messages
if (method == 'cmd1') {
handle_cmd1(payload); // trigger event/semaphore here to wait up waiter
}
else if (method == 'cmd2') { ... }
});
And elsewhere, I have a button callback like this:
$('#my-button').change(function() {
handle_button();
});
async function handle_button() {
send_msg('msg1', 'hi');
// wait for server to reply with cmd1
cmd1_data = await something(); // what?
alert(`cmd1 data: $(cmd1_data)`);
}
The idea is that the button sends 'msg1' and the server is supposed to reply with 'cmd1' and some info. I want to wait for that reply and then do some more stuff.
So my question is how to interlock these? In C++ I'd use a semaphore. I'd rather not spin-loop; is there something in Javascript/JQuery I can use to trigger and then wait for a user-defined event like this? I'm sort of new to JS, and very new to JS async/await.
EDIT: I've made a simple jsfiddle to show what I'm after.
http://jsfiddle.net/xpvt214o/484700/
Now that I understand how promises in Javascript work, here's a working example of a promise that can get woken up from anywhere by calling a function:
wakeup = null;
// returns a promise that will be resolved by calling wakeup()
// (could be a list of these or whatever, this is just a simple demo)
function wakeable() {
return new Promise( (resolve) => {
wakeup = () => { resolve(true); }
});
}
// demo of waiting and getting woken up:
async function handle_event() {
while (true) {
console.log("waiting...")
await wakeable(); // returns to event loop here
console.log("handle event woke up!");
}
}
handle_event(); // start in "background"
wakeup(); // wake it up
setTimeout(_ => { wakeup(); }, 500); // wake it up again after a delay
What's happening here is that when you call wakeable(), it returns a promise. That promise is constructed with an anonymous function (the one taking resolve as arg); the promise constructor synchronously calls that function, passing it the promise's resolve method. In our case, the function sets wakeup to another anonymous function that calls the original resolve; it's a closure so it has access to that resolve function even when it's called later. Then it returns the new promise.
In this demo, we then await on that promise; that puts the pending promise on a queue, saves the current function state, and returns, like a generator calling yield.
A promise is resolved when its resolve function is called; in this case calling wakeup() calls the promise's internal resolve() method, which triggers any .then methods on the next tick of the Javascript event loop (using the promise queue mentioned above). Here we use await, but .then(...) would work the same way'
So there's no magic; I/O and timeout promises work the same way. They keep a private registry of functions to call when the I/O event or timeout happens, and those functions call the promise's resolve() which triggers the .then() or satisfies the await.
By the way, unlike async in python, leaving a pending promise "open" when the process exits is perfectly fine in Javascript, and in fact this demo does that. It exits when there's no more code to run; the fact that the while loop is still "awaiting" doesn't keep the process running, because it's really just some closures stored in a queue. The event loop is empty, so the process exits (assuming it's in node.js -- in a browser it just goes back to waiting for events).
something() should be a method that returns a promise() or should be another method that is also notated with async.
function something(){
return new Promise(resolve,reject) {
//... call your database
// then
resolve(theResult)
// or
reject(theError)
}
}
The async and await for the most part are really just wrappers around promises. The await returns when the promise calls resolve, and throws an exception when the promise calls reject.
Your async function can return another promise; If it returns another value, it gets turned into a resolved promise with that value.
In angular code, I have a chained promise like this:
// a function in LoaderService module.
var ensureTypesLoaded= function(){
return loadContainerTypes($scope).then(loadSampleTypes($scope)).then(loadProjectList($scope)).then(loadSubjectTypes($scope));
}
Each of these functions return a promise, that loads things from a resource and additionally modifies $scope on error and success, e.g.:
var loadProjectList = function ($scope) {
// getAll calls inside a resource method and returns promise.
return ProjectService.getAll().then(
function (items) {
// succesfull load
console.log("Promise 1 resolved");
$scope.projectList = items;
}, function () {
// Error happened
CommonService.setStatus($scope, 'Error!');
});
};
I intent to use in in a code in a controller initialziation as such:
// Part of page's controller initialization code
LoaderService.ensureTypesLoaded($scope).then(function () {
// do something to scope when successes
console.log("I will do something here after all promises resolve");
}, function () {
// do something when error
});
However, this does not work as I'd like to. Ideally message "I will do something here after all promises resolve" must appear after all promises resolve. Instead, I can see that it appears earlier than messages from resolved promises within functions that are listed ensureTypesLoaded.
I would like to create a function ensureTypesLoaded such, that:
it returns a promise that is resolved when all chained loads are resolved;
if any of "internal" promises fail, the function should not proceed to next call, but return rejected promise.
obviously, if I call ensureTypesLoaded().then(...), the things in then() must be called after everything inside ensureTypesLoaded is resolved.
Please help me with correct building of chained promises.
I thinks that problem is in your loadProjectList function. Because .then() should receive function which is called at resultion time. Usually is function returning chain promise.
But in your case you call all load immediately in parallel. It's little complicated with $scope passing. But I think your code should appear like this
//this fn is called immediatly on chain creation
var loadProjectList = function ($scope) {
//this fn is called when previous promise resolves
return function(data) {
//don't add error handling here
ProjectService.getAll().then(...)
}
}
This cause serial loading as you probably want. (just notice: for parallel excution in correct way $q.all is used)
Finally you should have error handler only in ensureTypesLoaded, not in each promise.