promise catch not working - javascript

employeeData.js
function getById(id) {
return dbPromise.one(); // using pg-promise
}
employeeService.js
function getInfoById(id) {
return employeeData.getXYZ(id); // purposefully calling a function that does not exist in the employeeData module
}
employeeApi.js // Express route function
const getInfoById = (req, res) {
employeeService.getInfoById(123)
.then(response => {
res.json(response);
})
.catch(err => {
res.json(err); // this is not being triggered
});
}
In the employeeService above I purposefully mis-typed the function name and I think it should throw an undefined error for calling a function getXYZ that does not exist in the employeeData.js. However, the catch block in employeeApi.js is not called.
Can you suggest what I might be missing here?

I think it should throw an undefined error for calling a function that does not exist
Yes, it does that. It throws an exception, it does not return a promise. As such, there is no promise object on which the then(…).catch(…) methods could be invoked.
However, the catch block is not called.
There is no catch block, it's just a method call - which doesn't happen because there's an exception. To catch it, you would need an actual try/catch block.
But that would look weird, and that's the reason why promise-returning functions should never throw. You could wrap the code with the mistake in a new Promise executor which would catch them, but the simpler choice is to use async/await syntax which guarantees to always return a promise (and reject it in case of an exception in the function body).
async function getInfoById {
return employeeData.getXYZ(123);
}

Related

ReactJS and Promise: How to call catch inside then?

So, I have got an action creator (that returns a function - I use redux-thunk). Inside the function the creator returns, I call a dispatch method and chain the then and catch methods.
Here how it looks like:
export function actionCreator(someData) {
(dispath, getState) => {
return dispatch(someAction)
.then(resp => {
//do something
// GO TO CATCH
})
.catch(err => {
return err;
})
}
}
You see the GO TO CATCH comment over there? So, how can I go to the catch block from there?
Thank you!
If you want to jump from the body of a .then() to the following .catch(), the easiest way is to throw an error:
throw new Error('I meant to blow up here.');
The error you throw is what will be passed to the body of the .catch() (the err variable, in your case).
Please note that your example already looks suspect though: your catch block is catching an error and then returning it as if the error was a regular value, which means any upstream promise-based handling will assume the dispatch was successful. Are you sure that's what you want?

Node.js await catch not returning

I am busy working with some code that is responing in an unexpected way (to me). It involves handling Node.js promise exceptions.
I have the following function modified so that all it does is fail
function asynFunc() {
return new Promise(function(res, rej) {
rej("GENERIC ERROR");
});
}
The problem comes in when I am trying to call it and handle this error. If I do the following it works as I expect it to, the function fails and executes the catch which returns, stopping the last console log from executing
async function appStart() {
try {
await asyncFunc();
} catch(log) {
console.log(log);
return;
}
console.log("YOU SHOULD NOT SEE THIS");
}
appStart();
If I write the function as follows though, it does not seem to return, it still executes the last console log regardless of the await
async function appStart() {
await asyncFunc().catch(function(log) {
console.log(log);
return;
});
console.log("YOU SHOULD NOT SEE THIS");
}
If this is doing what I think it's doing then the return is returning from the function inside of the catch and not the appStart function itself, or I'm completely wrong in which case I have no idea why it's not returning.
Is there a way to use the second catch method and still have it return from the calling function?
In the second example, you are not returning from the outside function in the catch, you are returning from the catch callback:
await asyncFunc().catch(function(log) {
console.log(log);// ^
return; // | returns from that function
});
This has the effect of catching the error and moving on and returning a new promise resolving to undefined. There is no way to control the return of the outside function from inside the callback. You need to test the result of the async operation from the outside function, which leaves you with try/catch or explicitly testing the result after the promise resolves.
You're right. It's returning only inside the catch callback, not the outer async function. That's why it exits the catch callback and resolves, and then logs "YOU SHOULD NOT SEE THIS". Generally, it's very unreadable if you mix promise then and catch chaining along with async/await and try/catch. Pick one and stick with it, because mixing them may lead to the inability to catch and handle errors seamlessly.

When do async methods throw and how do you catch them?

From node doc:
A handful of typically asynchronous methods in the Node.js API may
still use the throw mechanism to raise exceptions that must be handled
using try / catch. There is no comprehensive list of such methods;
please refer to the documentation of each method to determine the
appropriate error handling mechanism required.
Can someone bring example of such function which is async and still throws? How and when do you catch the exception then?
More particularly. Do they refer to such function:
try
{
obj.someAsync("param", function(data){
console.log(data);
});
}catch(e)
{
}
Now normally I know above doesn't make sense -because when the callback executes, try block could have been already exited.
But what kind of example does the excerpt from documentation refer to? If async method throws as they say it, where, when and how should I handle it? (or maybe if you show such function can you show where in its doc it says how to handle it as mentioned on the quote?)
The async methods like the one from your example usually throw for programmer errors like bad parameters and they call the callback with error for operational errors.
But there are also async functions in ES2017 (declared with async function) and those signal errors by rejecting the promise that they return - which turn into a thrown exception when you use them with await keyword.
Examples:
function x(arg, cb) {
if (!arg) throw new Error('Programmer error: bad arguments');
setTimeout(() => {
cb(new Error('Operational error: something bad happened'));
}, 2000);
}
Now when you use it you usually don't want to handle programmer errors - you want to fix them. So you don't do this:
try {
x();
} catch (err) {
// Why should I handle the case of bad invocation
// instead of fixing it?
}
And the operational errors you handle like this:
x(function (err) {
if (err) {
// handle error
} else {
// success
}
});
Now, if you have a function that doesn't take a callback but returns a promise:
function y() {
return new Promise((res, rej) => setTimeout(() => rej('error'), 2000));
}
Then you handle the error like this:
y().catch(error => {
// handle error
});
or, while using await:
try {
await y();
} catch (err) {
// handle error
}
For more info on the difference between operational errors and programmer errors see:
Best Practices for Error Handling in Node.js by Dave Pacheco
Error Handling in Node.js
For more info on the promises and async/await see the links in this answer.
afaik there are three ways a async function could "throw"; and how to catch each of these:
as any other function (aka. someone messed up): I'd not catch these cases because they should not be in my code, and catching such errors makes it harder to find and fix em.
function foo(){
//someone messed up, better fixing than catching this
return new Prooooooooooomise((resolve) => 42);
}
try {
foo();
}catch(err){
console.error(err);
}
Promises:
function foo(){ return Promise.resolve('bar') }
foo().then(value => value =========> 'error')
.catch(err => {
console.error(err);
return "fixedValue";
});
And Nodes callback syntax/pattern:
function foo(value, callback){
setTimeout(function(){
if(Math.random() < .5){
callback("I don't like to", undefined);
}else{
callback(null, value * 2);
}
}, 500);
}
foo(21, function(err, data){
if(err){
//no try..catch at all
console.error(err);
}else{
//do whatever with data
}
})
These are the most common async errors you'll come along; well, the first one is just a plain bug in an async mothod.

When using promises, should we use throw or reject when dealing with errors relating to incorrect arguments [duplicate]

I'm writing a JavaScript function that makes an HTTP request and returns a promise for the result (but this question applies equally for a callback-based implementation).
If I know immediately that the arguments supplied for the function are invalid, should the function throw synchronously, or should it return a rejected promise (or, if you prefer, invoke callback with an Error instance)?
How important is it that an async function should always behave in an async manner, particularly for error conditions? Is it OK to throw if you know that the program is not in a suitable state for the async operation to proceed?
e.g:
function getUserById(userId, cb) {
if (userId !== parseInt(userId)) {
throw new Error('userId is not valid')
}
// make async call
}
// OR...
function getUserById(userId, cb) {
if (userId !== parseInt(userId)) {
return cb(new Error('userId is not valid'))
}
// make async call
}
Ultimately the decision to synchronously throw or not is up to you, and you will likely find people who argue either side. The important thing is to document the behavior and maintain consistency in the behavior.
My opinion on the matter is that your second option - passing the error into the callback - seems more elegant. Otherwise you end up with code that looks like this:
try {
getUserById(7, function (response) {
if (response.isSuccess) {
//Success case
} else {
//Failure case
}
});
} catch (error) {
//Other failure case
}
The control flow here is slightly confusing.
It seems like it would be better to have a single if / else if / else structure in the callback and forgo the surrounding try / catch.
This is largely a matter of opinion. Whatever you do, do it consistently, and document it clearly.
One objective piece of information I can give you is that this was the subject of much discussion in the design of JavaScript's async functions, which as you may know implicitly return promises for their work. You may also know that the part of an async function prior to the first await or return is synchronous; it only becomes asynchronous at the point it awaits or returns.
TC39 decided in the end that even errors thrown in the synchronous part of an async function should reject its promise rather than raising a synchronous error. For example:
async function someAsyncStuff() {
return 21;
}
async function example() {
console.log("synchronous part of function");
throw new Error("failed");
const x = await someAsyncStuff();
return x * 2;
}
try {
console.log("before call");
example().catch(e => { console.log("asynchronous:", e.message); });
console.log("after call");
} catch (e) {
console.log("synchronous:", e.message);
}
There you can see that even though throw new Error("failed") is in the synchronous part of the function, it rejects the promise rather than raising a synchronous error.
That's true even for things that happen before the first statement in the function body, such as determining the default value for a missing function parameter:
async function someAsyncStuff() {
return 21;
}
async function example(p = blah()) {
console.log("synchronous part of function");
throw new Error("failed");
const x = await Promise.resolve(42);
return x;
}
try {
console.log("before call");
example().catch(e => { console.log("asynchronous:", e.message); });
console.log("after call");
} catch (e) {
console.log("synchronous:", e.message);
}
That fails because it tries to call blah, which doesn't exist, when it runs the code to get the default value for the p parameter I didn't supply in the call. As you can see, even that rejects the promise rather than throwing a synchronous error.
TC39 could have gone the other way, and had the synchronous part raise a synchronous error, like this non-async function does:
async function someAsyncStuff() {
return 21;
}
function example() {
console.log("synchronous part of function");
throw new Error("failed");
return someAsyncStuff().then(x => x * 2);
}
try {
console.log("before call");
example().catch(e => { console.log("asynchronous:", e.message); });
console.log("after call");
} catch (e) {
console.log("synchronous:", e.message);
}
But they decided, after discussion, on consistent promise rejection instead.
So that's one concrete piece of information to consider in your decision about how you should handle this in your own non-async functions that do asynchronous work.
How important is it that an async function should always behave in an async manner, particularly for error conditions?
Very important.
Is it OK to throw if you know that the program is not in a suitable state for the async operation to proceed?
Yes, I personally think it is OK when that is a very different error from any asynchronously produced ones, and needs to be handled separately anyway.
If some userids are known to be invalid because they're not numeric, and some are will be rejected on the server (eg because they're already taken) you should consistently make an (async!) callback for both cases. If the async errors would only arise from network problems etc, you might signal them differently.
You always may throw when an "unexpected" error arises. If you demand valid userids, you might throw on invalid ones. If you want to anticipate invalid ones and expect the caller to handle them, you should use a "unified" error route which would be the callback/rejected promise for an async function.
And to repeat #Timothy: You should always document the behavior and maintain consistency in the behavior.
Callback APIs ideally shouldn't throw but they do throw because it's very hard to avoid since you have to have try catch literally everywhere. Remember that throwing error explicitly by throw is not required for a function to throw. Another thing that adds to this is that the user callback can easily throw too, for example calling JSON.parse without try catch.
So this is what the code would look like that behaves according to these ideals:
readFile("file.json", function(err, val) {
if (err) {
console.error("unable to read file");
}
else {
try {
val = JSON.parse(val);
console.log(val.success);
}
catch(e) {
console.error("invalid json in file");
}
}
});
Having to use 2 different error handling mechanisms is really inconvenient, so if you don't want your program to be a fragile house of cards (by not writing any try catch ever) you should use promises which unify all exception handling under a single mechanism:
readFile("file.json").then(JSON.parse).then(function(val) {
console.log(val.success);
})
.catch(SyntaxError, function(e) {
console.error("invalid json in file");
})
.catch(function(e){
console.error("unable to read file")
})
Ideally you would have a multi-layer architecture like controllers, services, etc. If you do validations in services, throw immediately and have a catch block in your controller to catch the error format it and send an appropriate http error code. This way you can centralize all bad request handling logic. If you handle each case youll end up writing more code. But thats just how I would do it. Depends on your use case

Should an async API ever throw synchronously?

I'm writing a JavaScript function that makes an HTTP request and returns a promise for the result (but this question applies equally for a callback-based implementation).
If I know immediately that the arguments supplied for the function are invalid, should the function throw synchronously, or should it return a rejected promise (or, if you prefer, invoke callback with an Error instance)?
How important is it that an async function should always behave in an async manner, particularly for error conditions? Is it OK to throw if you know that the program is not in a suitable state for the async operation to proceed?
e.g:
function getUserById(userId, cb) {
if (userId !== parseInt(userId)) {
throw new Error('userId is not valid')
}
// make async call
}
// OR...
function getUserById(userId, cb) {
if (userId !== parseInt(userId)) {
return cb(new Error('userId is not valid'))
}
// make async call
}
Ultimately the decision to synchronously throw or not is up to you, and you will likely find people who argue either side. The important thing is to document the behavior and maintain consistency in the behavior.
My opinion on the matter is that your second option - passing the error into the callback - seems more elegant. Otherwise you end up with code that looks like this:
try {
getUserById(7, function (response) {
if (response.isSuccess) {
//Success case
} else {
//Failure case
}
});
} catch (error) {
//Other failure case
}
The control flow here is slightly confusing.
It seems like it would be better to have a single if / else if / else structure in the callback and forgo the surrounding try / catch.
This is largely a matter of opinion. Whatever you do, do it consistently, and document it clearly.
One objective piece of information I can give you is that this was the subject of much discussion in the design of JavaScript's async functions, which as you may know implicitly return promises for their work. You may also know that the part of an async function prior to the first await or return is synchronous; it only becomes asynchronous at the point it awaits or returns.
TC39 decided in the end that even errors thrown in the synchronous part of an async function should reject its promise rather than raising a synchronous error. For example:
async function someAsyncStuff() {
return 21;
}
async function example() {
console.log("synchronous part of function");
throw new Error("failed");
const x = await someAsyncStuff();
return x * 2;
}
try {
console.log("before call");
example().catch(e => { console.log("asynchronous:", e.message); });
console.log("after call");
} catch (e) {
console.log("synchronous:", e.message);
}
There you can see that even though throw new Error("failed") is in the synchronous part of the function, it rejects the promise rather than raising a synchronous error.
That's true even for things that happen before the first statement in the function body, such as determining the default value for a missing function parameter:
async function someAsyncStuff() {
return 21;
}
async function example(p = blah()) {
console.log("synchronous part of function");
throw new Error("failed");
const x = await Promise.resolve(42);
return x;
}
try {
console.log("before call");
example().catch(e => { console.log("asynchronous:", e.message); });
console.log("after call");
} catch (e) {
console.log("synchronous:", e.message);
}
That fails because it tries to call blah, which doesn't exist, when it runs the code to get the default value for the p parameter I didn't supply in the call. As you can see, even that rejects the promise rather than throwing a synchronous error.
TC39 could have gone the other way, and had the synchronous part raise a synchronous error, like this non-async function does:
async function someAsyncStuff() {
return 21;
}
function example() {
console.log("synchronous part of function");
throw new Error("failed");
return someAsyncStuff().then(x => x * 2);
}
try {
console.log("before call");
example().catch(e => { console.log("asynchronous:", e.message); });
console.log("after call");
} catch (e) {
console.log("synchronous:", e.message);
}
But they decided, after discussion, on consistent promise rejection instead.
So that's one concrete piece of information to consider in your decision about how you should handle this in your own non-async functions that do asynchronous work.
How important is it that an async function should always behave in an async manner, particularly for error conditions?
Very important.
Is it OK to throw if you know that the program is not in a suitable state for the async operation to proceed?
Yes, I personally think it is OK when that is a very different error from any asynchronously produced ones, and needs to be handled separately anyway.
If some userids are known to be invalid because they're not numeric, and some are will be rejected on the server (eg because they're already taken) you should consistently make an (async!) callback for both cases. If the async errors would only arise from network problems etc, you might signal them differently.
You always may throw when an "unexpected" error arises. If you demand valid userids, you might throw on invalid ones. If you want to anticipate invalid ones and expect the caller to handle them, you should use a "unified" error route which would be the callback/rejected promise for an async function.
And to repeat #Timothy: You should always document the behavior and maintain consistency in the behavior.
Callback APIs ideally shouldn't throw but they do throw because it's very hard to avoid since you have to have try catch literally everywhere. Remember that throwing error explicitly by throw is not required for a function to throw. Another thing that adds to this is that the user callback can easily throw too, for example calling JSON.parse without try catch.
So this is what the code would look like that behaves according to these ideals:
readFile("file.json", function(err, val) {
if (err) {
console.error("unable to read file");
}
else {
try {
val = JSON.parse(val);
console.log(val.success);
}
catch(e) {
console.error("invalid json in file");
}
}
});
Having to use 2 different error handling mechanisms is really inconvenient, so if you don't want your program to be a fragile house of cards (by not writing any try catch ever) you should use promises which unify all exception handling under a single mechanism:
readFile("file.json").then(JSON.parse).then(function(val) {
console.log(val.success);
})
.catch(SyntaxError, function(e) {
console.error("invalid json in file");
})
.catch(function(e){
console.error("unable to read file")
})
Ideally you would have a multi-layer architecture like controllers, services, etc. If you do validations in services, throw immediately and have a catch block in your controller to catch the error format it and send an appropriate http error code. This way you can centralize all bad request handling logic. If you handle each case youll end up writing more code. But thats just how I would do it. Depends on your use case

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