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ES6 Dyanmic Promise Chaining from array

Scenario
I have an array of URLs that I need to download, however each must also be supplied with a unique transaction ID that must be requested from the server and only increments when a request is successful.
Problem
As I loop through the array I need to wait for both the request for the transaction ID and the request for the file to complete before starting the next iteration of the loop but the number of files is not fixed so need to dynamically build a chain of promises.
Pseudocode
Below is some pseudocode, getFiles() is the problem because all the requests get the same transaction Id as they don't wait for the previous request to finish.
function getTransationId(){
return new Promise((resolve,reject)=> {
let id = getNextTransactionId();
if(id!=error){
resolve(id);
}else{
reject(error);
}
})
}
function getFile(url, transactionId){
return new Promise((resolve,reject)=>{
http.request(url+transactionId, function(err,response){
if(err){
reject(err);
}else{
resolve(response);
}
});
});
}
function getFilesFromArray(urlArray){
for(let url of urlArray){
getTransactionId().then(resolve=>getFile(url,resolve),reject=>console.error(reject));
}
}
Question
How do I chain chain promises together dynamically?
Answer
Here's a JSFiddle of Ovidiu's answer

A functional approach is to use reduce to iterate and return a final promise chained up from each sub-promise. It also helps building the results e.g. in an array:
function getFilesFromArray(urlArray){
const filesPromise = urlArray.reduce((curPromise, url) => {
return curPromise
.then(curFiles => {
return getTransactionId()
.then(id => getFile(url, id))
.then(newFile => [...curFiles, newFile]);
});
}, Promise.resolve([]));
filesPromise.then(files => {
console.log(files);
}
}
This effectively builds a promise chain that:
starts with a static Promise with a value [] representing the initial set of files: Promise.resolve([])
on each iteration, returns a promise that waits for the curPromise in the chain and then
performs getTransactionId and uses the id to getFile
once the file will be retrieved it will return an array containing the curFiles set in the the curPromise (previous values) and concatenates the newFile into it
the end result will be a single promise with all files collected

You can do something along these lines
function getAllFiles(i, results, urlArray) {
if(i == urlArray.length) return;
getTransationId().then(id => {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
http.request(urlArray[i] + id, (err, response) => {
if(err){
reject();
}else{
results.push(response);
resolve();
}
});
});
}).then(() => {
getAllFiles(i + 1, results, urlArray);
})
}

Try using async/await.
Read more here
async function getFilesFromArray(urlArray) {
for(let url of urlArray){
//wrap this in a try/catch block if you want to continue with execution
//if you receive an error from one of the functions
const transactionId =await getTransactionId()
const file = await getFile(url,transactionId)
}
}

You can simplify logic if you run it via synchronous executor nsynjs. Nsynjs will pause when some function evaluates to promise, and then assigns the result to data property. The code will transform like this:
function getFilesFromArray(urlArray){
for(var i = 0; i<urlArray.length; i++) {
var trId = getTransactionId().data;
// trId is ready here
var fileContent = getFile(urlArray[i],trId).data;
// file data is ready here
console.log('fileContent=',fileContent);
};
};
nsynjs.run(getFilesFromArray,{},urls,function(){
console.log('getFilesFromArray is done');
});
getFilesFromArray can be further simplified to:
function getFilesFromArray(urlArray){
for(var i = 0; i<urlArray.length; i++) {
var fileContent = getFile(urlArray[i],getTransactionId().data).data;
console.log('fileContent=',fileContent);
};
};

JavaScript: Asynchronous method in while loop

I'm tackling a project that requires me to use JavaScript with an API method call. I'm a Java programmer who has never done web development before so I'm having some trouble with it.
This API method is asynchronous and it's in a while loop. If it returns an empty array, the while loop finishes. Otherwise, it loops. Code:
var done = true;
do
{
async_api_call(
"method.name",
{
// Do stuff.
},
function(result)
{
if(result.error())
{
console.error(result.error());
}
else
{
// Sets the boolean to true if the returned array is empty, or false otherwise.
done = (result.data().length === 0) ? true : false;
}
}
);
} while (!done);
This doesn't work. The loop ends before the value of "done" is updated. I've done some reading up on the subject and it appears I need to use promises or callbacks because the API call is asynchronous, but I can't understand how to apply them to the code I have above.
Help would be appreciated!

edit: see the bottom, there is the real answer.
I encourage you yo use the Promise API. Your problem can be solved using a Promise.all call:
let promises = [];
while(something){
promises.push(new Promise((r, j) => {
YourAsyncCall(() => r());
});
}
//Then this returns a promise that will resolve when ALL are so.
Promise.all(promises).then(() => {
//All operations done
});
The syntax is in es6, here is the es5 equivalent (Promise API may be included externally):
var promises = [];
while(something){
promises.push(new Promise(function(r, j){
YourAsyncCall(function(){ r(); });
});
}
//Then this returns a promise that will resolve when ALL are so.
Promise.all(promises).then(function(){
//All operations done
});
You can also make your api call return the promise and push it directly to the promise array.
If you don't want to edit the api_call_method you can always wrap your code in a new promise and call the method resolve when it finishes.
edit: I have seen now the point of your code, sorry. I've just realized that Promise.all will not solve the problem.
You shall put what you posted (excluding the while loop and the control value) inside a function, and depending on the condition calling it again.
Then, all can be wraped inside a promise in order to make the external code aware of this asynchronous execution. I'll post some sample code later with my PC.
So the good answer
You can use a promise to control the flow of your application and use recursion instead of the while loop:
function asyncOp(resolve, reject) {
//If you're using NodeJS you can use Es6 syntax:
async_api_call("method.name", {}, (result) => {
if(result.error()) {
console.error(result.error());
reject(result.error()); //You can reject the promise, this is optional.
} else {
//If your operation succeeds, resolve the promise and don't call again.
if (result.data().length === 0) {
asyncOp(resolve); //Try again
} else {
resolve(result); //Resolve the promise, pass the result.
}
}
});
}
new Promise((r, j) => {
asyncOp(r, j);
}).then((result) => {
//This will call if your algorithm succeeds!
});
/*
* Please note that "(...) => {}" equivals to "function(...){}"
*/

sigmasoldier's solution is correct, just wanted to share the ES6 version with async / await:
const asyncFunction = (t) => new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, t));
const getData = async (resolve, reject, count) => {
console.log('waiting');
await asyncFunction(3000);
console.log('finshed waiting');
count++;
if (count < 2) {
getData(resolve, reject, count);
} else {
return resolve();
}
}
const runScript = async () => {
await new Promise((r, j) => getData(r, j, 0));
console.log('finished');
};
runScript();

If you don't want to use recursion you can change your while loop into a for of loop and use a generator function for maintaining done state. Here's a simple example where the for of loop will wait for the async function until we've had 5 iterations and then done is flipped to true. You should be able to update this concept to set your done variable to true when your webservice calls have buffered all of your data rows.
let done = false;
let count = 0;
const whileGenerator = function* () {
while (!done) {
yield count;
}
};
const asyncFunction = async function(){
await new Promise(resolve => { setTimeout(resolve); });
};
const main = new Promise(async (resolve)=>{
for (let i of whileGenerator()){
console.log(i);
await asyncFunction();
count++;
if (count === 5){
done = true;
}
}
resolve();
});
main.then(()=>{
console.log('all done!');
});

Also you may try recursion solution.
function asyncCall(cb) {
// Some async operation
}
function responseHandler(result) {
if (result.error()) {
console.error(result.error());
} else if(result.data() && result.data().length) {
asyncCall(responseHandler);
}
}
asyncCall(responseHandler);

Here is a solution I came up with. Place this in an async function.
let finished = false;
const loop = async () => {
return new Promise(async (resolve, reject) => {
const inner = async () => {
if (!finished) {
//insert loop code here
if (xxx is done) { //insert this in your loop code after task is complete
finshed = true;
resolve();
} else {
return inner();
}
}
}
await inner();
})
}
await loop();

If you don't want to use Promises you can restructure your code like so:
var tasks = [];
var index = 0;
function processNextTask()
{
if(++index == tasks.length)
{
// no more tasks
return;
}
async_api_call(
"method.name",
{
// Do stuff.
},
function(result)
{
if(result.error())
{
console.error(result.error());
}
else
{
// process data
setTimeout(processNextTask);
}
}
);
}

Your loop won't work, because it is sync, your async task is async, so the loop will finish before the async task can even respond. I'd reccomend you to use Promises to manage async tasks:
//first wrapping your API into a promise
var async_api_call_promise = function(methodName, someObject){
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
async_api_call(methodName, someObject, function(result){
if(result.error()){
reject( result.error() )
}else{
resolve( result.data() )
}
});
})
}
now to your polling code:
//a local utility because I don't want to repeat myself
var poll = () => async_api_call_promise("method.name", {/*Do stuff.*/});
//your pulling operation
poll().then(
data => data.length === 0 || poll(), //true || tryAgain
err => {
console.error(err);
return poll();
}
).then((done) => {
//done === true
//here you put the code that has to wait for your "loop" to finish
});
Why Promises? Because they do state-management of async operations. Why implement that yourself?

let taskPool = new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
resolve("Success!");
});
let that = this;
while (index < this.totalPieces) {
end = start + thisPartSize;
if (end > filesize) {
end = filesize;
thisPartSize = filesize - start;
}
taskPool.then(() => {
that.worker(start, end, index, thisPartSize);
});
index++;
start = end;
}

how to can i handle multiple callbacks return values in nodejs?

I am trying to perform sql queries based on the callback results in if conditions but i am unable to write the code .so please provide som information in code
app.get('/resell-property', function(req, res) {
var data = {}
data.unit_price_id = 1;
function callback(error, result) {
if (result.count == 0) {
return hp_property_sell_request.create(data)
}
else if (result.count > 0) {
return hp_unit_price.findAll({
where: {
unit_price_id: data.unit_price_id,
hp_property_id: data.property_id,
hp_unit_details_id: data.unit_details_id
}
})
}
}
hp_property_sell_request.findAndCountAll({
where: {
unit_price_id: data.unit_price_id
}
}).then(function (result) {
if (result) {
callback(null, result);
}
});
});
In this how can i write the callbacks for
hp_property_sell_request.create(data) ,hp_unit_price.findAll({
where: {
unit_price_id: data.unit_price_id,
hp_property_id: data.property_id,
hp_unit_details_id: data.unit_details_id
}
})
In that after returning result again i have to handle callbacks and perform this query
if(result.request_id){
return hp_unit_price.findAll({
where:{
unit_price_id:result.unit_price_id,
hp_property_id:result.property_id,
hp_unit_details_id:result.unit_details_id
}
}).then(function (result){
if(result.is_resale_unit==0 && result.sold_out==0){
return Sequelize.query('UPDATE hp_unit_price SET resale_unit_status=1 WHERE hp_unit_details_id='+result.unit_details_id+' and hp_property_id='+result.property_id)
}
})
}

The promise resolve function takes only one input argument, so if you need to pass in multiple stuff, you have to enclose them in a single object. Like, if you have to go with something like:
database.openCollection()
.then(function(collection){
var result = collection.query(something);
var resultObject = { result: result, collection: collection };
})
.then(function(resultObject){
doSomethingSyncronousWithResult(resultObject.result);
resultObject.collection.close();
});
You can't use Promise all if all of your stuff isn't a result of a promise resolve, you might need to go with something like this.
Disclaimer: The code example is a very poor one, but it explains the concept.

I would suggest you to learn about Promises, particularly Bluebird.
You can promisify traditional callback methods.
I would also create model level functions in different files. Here's an example.
parent.js
const db = require("./connections/database"); // connection to database
const getChildForParent = function (parentId, childId, callback) {
db.find({parent: parentId, child_id: childId}, "childrenTable", function(err, result) {
if (err) {
return callback(err);
}
return callback(null, result);
});
};
children.js
const db = require("./connections/database"); // connection to database
const getToysForChild = function (childId, callback) {
db.find({toy_belongs_to: parentId}, "toysTable", function(err, result) {
if (err) {
return callback(err);
}
return callback(null, result);
});
};
Then in controller you can do something like this:
const Bluebird = require("bluebird");
const Parent = require("./parent.js");
const Child = require("./child.js");
// Promisifying adds "Async" at the end of your methods' names (these are promisified)
Bluebird.promisifyAll(Parent);
Bluebird.promisifyAll(Child);
// Just an example.
app.get("/parent/:parentId/children/:childId", function(req, res) {
return Bluebird.try(function() {
return User.getChildForParentAsync(req.params.parentId, req.params.childId);
}).then(function(child) {
return Child.getToysForChildAsync(child.child_id);
}).then(function(toys) {
// Do something with toys.
});
});
Of course you can do much more with this and this is not the only way.
Also you can use Promise.all(). This method is useful for when you want to wait for more than one promise to complete.
Let's say you have a list of urls that you want to fetch and process the results after all the data has been fetched.
var urls = [url1, url2, url3, url4, url5 .......... ];
var Bluebird = require("bluebird");
var request = require("request"); // callback version library
Bluebird.promisifyAll(request);
// create a list which will keep all the promises
var promises = [];
urls.forEach(function(url) {
promises.push(request.getAsync(url1));
});
// promises array has all the promises
// Then define what you want to do on completion.
Bluebird.all(promises).then(function(results) {
// results is an array with result a url in an index
// process results.
});

I would recommend to use Promises to solve that. If you need all results of all Requests, when they are all done Promise.all() will do that for you. Your basic could look like that:
var req1 = new Promise(function(res, rej){
var req = new XMLHttpRequest()
…
req.addEventListener('load', function (e) {
res(e);
})
var req2 = //similar to the above
Promise.all([req1, req2, …]).then(function(values){
//all requests are done here and you can do your stuff
});
You can also use the new fetch api, which creates Promises like so:
var req1 = fetch(…);
var req2 = fetch(…);
Promise.all([req1, re2, …]).then(…);

How do I wait until an asynchronous process inside a loop is finished before exiting the loop?

I have some asynchronous code running inside a JavaScript forEach loop. I want to wait until the code inside the asynchronous process has finished running before proceeding after the loop.
Example below:
ids is an array of strings. db is a node module I created to work with MongoDB
var appIdsNotFound = "";
var count = 0;
ids.forEach(function(id) {
output[count] = {};
//console.log(id);
db.findApp(id, function(error, result) {
if(error) {
fatalError = true;
console.log(error);
} else {
if (result) {
output[count] = result;
//console.log(output[count]);
count++;
} else {
appNotFound = true;
appIdsNotFound += id + ", ";
console.log(appIdsNotFound);
}
}
});
});
//more code that we want to wait before executing
Is there a way to wait before executing the rest of the code that is outside the loop, and if so, how would I go about doing that.

Assuming db is some module to access your DB, try to look for the synchronous version. This assumes you are ok with synchronous, since you're attempting to write it that way, waiting for everything before proceeding.
If your db library uses promises, you can use it in conjunction with Promise.all. Fire a request for each item, collect all their promises in an array, feed them to Promise.all. The promise from Promise.all will resolve when all promises resolve.
const promises = ids.map(id => db.promiseReturningFindApp(id));
const allRequests = Promise.all(promises).then(responses => {
// responses is an array of all results
});
If you don't have a promise-returning version of your API, wrap db.findApp in a promise, do suggestion #2.
function promiseReturningFindApp(id){
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
db.findApp(id, (error, result) => {
if(error) reject(error);
else resolve(result);
});
});
}
Options 2 and 3 are asynchronous, and as such, you technically don't "wait". Therefore, code that needs to execute after can only reside in a callback.

You could make every item into an function and use async:
var async = require('async');
var output = [], appsNotFound = [];
var appRequests = ids.map((id) => (cb) => {
db.findApp(id, (error, result) => {
if (error) {
appsNotFound.push(id);
return cb();
}
output.push(id);
return cb();
})
})
async.parallel(appRequests, () => {
console.log('N# of Apps found',output.length);
console.log("Ids not found:",appIdsNotFound.join(','))
console.log("N# Apps not found:",appIdsNotFound.length)
})
If the DB don't handle it, try to use async.serial.
You can make something similar with promises if you prefer, but this requires less lines of code.

Node.js: How to run asynchronous code sequentially

I have this chunk of code
User.find({}, function(err, users) {
for (var i = 0; i < users.length; i++) {
pseudocode
Friend.find({
'user': curUser._id
}, function(err, friends) * * ANOTHER CALLBACK * * {
for (var i = 0; i < friends.length; i++) {
pseudocode
}
console.log("HERE I'm CHECKING " + curUser);
if (curUser.websiteaccount != "None") {
request.post({
url: 'blah',
formData: blah
}, function(err, httpResponse, body) { * * ANOTHER CALLBACK * *
pseudocode
sendMail(friendResults, curUser);
});
} else {
pseudocode
sendMail(friendResults, curUser);
}
});
console.log("finished friend");
console.log(friendResults);
sleep.sleep(15);
console.log("finished waiting");
console.log(friendResults);
}
});
There's a couple asynchronous things happening here. For each user, I want to find their relevant friends and concat them to a variable. I then want to check if that user has a website account, and if so, make a post request and grab some information there. Only thing is, that everything is happening out of order since the code isn't waiting for the callbacks to finish. I've been using a sleep but that doesn't solve the problem either since it's still jumbled.
I've looked into async, but these functions are intertwined and not really separate, so I wasn't sure how it'd work with async either.
Any suggestions to get this code to run sequentially?
Thanks!

I prefer the promise module to q https://www.npmjs.com/package/promise because of its simplicity
var Promises = require('promise');
var promise = new Promises(function (resolve, reject) {
// do some async stuff
if (success) {
resolve(data);
} else {
reject(reason);
}
});
promise.then(function (data) {
// function called when first promise returned
return new Promises(function (resolve, reject) {
// second async stuff
if (success) {
resolve(data);
} else {
reject(reason);
}
});
}, function (reason) {
// error handler
}).then(function (data) {
// second success handler
}, function (reason) {
// second error handler
}).then(function (data) {
// third success handler
}, function (reason) {
// third error handler
});
As you can see, you can continue like this forever. You can also return simple values instead of promises from the async handlers and then these will simply be passed to the then callback.

I rewrote your code so it was a bit easier to read. You have a few choices of what to do if you want to guarantee synchronous execution:
Use the async library. It provides some helper functions that run your code in series, particularly, this: https://github.com/caolan/async#seriestasks-callback
Use promises to avoid making callbacks, and simplify your code APIs. Promises are a new feature in Javascript, although, in my opinion, you might not want to do this right now. There is still poor library support for promises, and it's not possible to use them with a lot of popular libraries :(
Now -- in regards to your program -- there's actually nothing wrong with your code at all right now (assuming you don't have async code in the pseucode blocks). Your code right now will work just fine, and will execute as expected.
I'd recommend using async for your sequential needs at the moment, as it works both server and client side, is essentially guaranteed to work with all popular libraries, and is well used / tested.
Cleaned up code below
User.find({}, function(err, users) {
for (var i = 0; i < users.length; i++) {
Friend.find({'user':curUser._id}, function(err, friends) {
for (var i = 0; i < friends.length; i++) {
// pseudocode
}
console.log("HERE I'm CHECKING " + curUser);
if (curUser.websiteaccount != "None") {
request.post({ url: 'blah', formData: 'blah' }, function(err, httpResponse, body) {
// pseudocode
sendMail(friendResults, curUser);
});
} else {
// pseudocode
sendMail(friendResults, curUser);
}
});
console.log("finished friend");
console.log(friendResults);
sleep.sleep(15);
console.log("finished waiting");
console.log(friendResults);
}
});

First lets go a bit more functional
var users = User.find({});
users.forEach(function (user) {
var friends = Friend.find({
user: user._id
});
friends.forEach(function (friend) {
if (user.websiteaccount !== 'None') {
post(friend, user);
}
sendMail(friend, user);
});
});
Then lets async that
async.waterfall([
async.apply(Users.find, {}),
function (users, cb) {
async.each(users, function (user, cb) {
async.waterfall([
async.apply(Friends.find, { user, user.id}),
function (friends, cb) {
if (user.websiteAccount !== 'None') {
post(friend, user, function (err, data) {
if (err) {
cb(err);
} else {
sendMail(friend, user, cb);
}
});
} else {
sendMail(friend, user, cb);
}
}
], cb);
});
}
], function (err) {
if (err) {
// all the errors in one spot
throw err;
}
console.log('all done');
});
Also, this is you doing a join, SQL is really good at those.

You'll want to look into something called promises. They'll allow you to chain events and run them in order. Here's a nice tutorial on what they are and how to use them http://strongloop.com/strongblog/promises-in-node-js-with-q-an-alternative-to-callbacks/

You can also take a look at the Async JavaScript library: Async It provides utility functions for ordering the execution of asynchronous functions in JavaScript.

Note: I think the number of queries you are doing within a handler is a code smell. This problem is probably better solved at the query level. That said, let's proceed!
It's hard to know exactly what you want, because your psuedocode could use a cleanup IMHO, but I'm going to what you want to do is this:
Get all users, and for each user
a. get all the user's friends and for each friend:
send a post request if the user has a website account
send an email
Do something after the process has finished
You can do this many different ways. Vanilla callbacks or async work great; I'm going to advocate for promises because they are the future, and library support is quite good. I'll use rsvp, because it is light, but any Promise/A+ compliant library will do the trick.
// helpers to simulate async calls
var User = {}, Friend = {}, request = {};
var asyncTask = User.find = Friend.find = request.post = function (cb) {
setTimeout(function () {
var result = [1, 2, 3];
cb(null, result);
}, 10);
};
User.find(function (err, usersResults) {
// we reduce over the results, creating a "chain" of promises
// that we can .then off of
var userTask = usersResults.reduce(function (outerChain, outerResult) {
return outerChain.then(function (outerValue) {
// since we do not care about the return value or order
// of the asynchronous calls here, we just nest them
// and resolve our promise when they are done
return new RSVP.Promise(function (resolveFriend, reject){
Friend.find(function (err, friendResults) {
friendResults.forEach(function (result) {
request.post(function(err, finalResult) {
resolveFriend(outerValue + '\n finished user' + outerResult);
}, true);
});
});
});
});
}, RSVP.Promise.resolve(''));
// handle success
userTask.then(function (res) {
document.body.textContent = res;
});
// handle errors
userTask.catch(function (err) {
console.log(error);
});
});
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