Using "oneway void" in Thrift function definitions

Question

Hi all,

I'm using a oneway modifier in one of my Thrift function definitions:

...
oneway void secret_function(1: string x, 2: string y),
...

When generating the respective Erlang code via Thrift, this is translated into:

...
function_info('secret_function', reply_type) ->
  oneway_void;
function_info('secret_function', exceptions) ->
  {struct, []};
...

Please note the oneway_void atom there.

When the secret_function function is executed, I get the following error:

=ERROR REPORT==== 2-Sep-2010::18:17:08 ===
oneway void secret_function threw error which must be ignored: {error,
                                                             function_clause,
                                                             [{thrift_protocol,
                                                               term_to_typeid,
                                                               [oneway_void]},
                                                              {thrift_protocol,
                                                               struct_write_loop,
                                                               3},
                                                              {thrift_protocol,
                                                               write,2},
                                                              {thrift_processor,
                                                               send_reply,
                                                               4},
                                                              {thrift_processor,
                                                               handle_function,
                                                               2},
                                                              {thrift_processor,
                                                               loop,1}]}

Independently from the possible bugs contained in the user code, here the thrift_protocol:term_to_typeid/1 function is being called with the oneway_void atom as an argument, which causes a function clause. In fact, reading from the code (thrift_protocol.erl):

...
term_to_typeid(void) -> ?tType_VOID;
term_to_typeid(bool) -> ?tType_BOOL;
term_to_typeid(byte) -> ?tType_BYTE;
term_to_typeid(double) -> ?tType_DOUBLE;
term_to_typeid(i16) -> ?tType_I16;
term_to_typeid(i32) -> ?tType_I32;
term_to_typeid(i64) -> ?tType_I64;
term_to_typeid(string) -> ?tType_STRING;
term_to_typeid({struct, _}) -> ?tType_STRUCT;
term_to_typeid({map, _, _}) -> ?tType_MAP;
term_to_typeid({set, _}) -> ?tType_SET;
term_to_typeid({list, _}) -> ?tType_LIST.
...

A bug? Any other explanation? Why is oneway_void being passed to that function?

Answer 1

I think I know what's going on behind the scenes.

My Erlang code (the secret_function/2) was returning {ok, pid()} rather than simply ok. Even if this is conceptually wrong since I declared the function oneway_void, it took me a while to identify the cause of the problem. Maybe we could adjust the handle_succes function in Thrift so that it behaves the same way the handle_function_catch already does. This is how the handle_function_catch looks like at the moment:

...
case {ErrType, ErrData} of
    _ when IsOneway ->
        Stack = erlang:get_stacktrace(),
        error_logger:warning_msg(
          "oneway void ~p threw error which must be ignored: ~p",
          [Function, {ErrType, ErrData, Stack}]),
        {State, ok};
...

Even if the function is declared as oneway_void, when an exception is raised, the problem is reported. A potential new handle_success function, following the same reasoning, could then look like the following:

handle_success(State = #thrift_processor{service = Service},
               Function,
               Result) ->
    ReplyType  = Service:function_info(Function, reply_type),
    StructName = atom_to_list(Function) ++ "_result",

    case Result of
        {reply, ReplyData} when ReplyType =:= oneway_void ->
            Stack = erlang:get_stacktrace(),
            error_logger:warning_msg(
              "oneway void ~p sent reply which must be ignored: ~p",
              [Function, {ReplyData, Stack}]),
            {State, ok};
                {reply, ReplyData} ->
            Reply = {{struct, [{0, ReplyType}]}, {StructName, ReplyData}},
            send_reply(State, Function, ?tMessageType_REPLY, Reply);

        ok when ReplyType == {struct, []} ->
            send_reply(State, Function, ?tMessageType_REPLY, {ReplyType, {StructName}});

        ok when ReplyType == oneway_void ->
            %% no reply for oneway void
            {State, ok}
    end.

Here I'm just checking if the function is defined as oneway_void and if this is true and I still receive a return value different from the atom ok, I report the accident, still ignoring the return value.

This is what a developer would see with the updated handle_success function:

=ERROR REPORT==== 7-Sep-2010::11:06:43 ===
oneway void secret_function sent reply which must be ignored: {{ok,
                                                                  <0.262.0>},
                                                                 []}

And that could save your life at least once (cit.).