I'm using MySQL (mysql-co) and ASQ(asynquence) in a simple project to get a better understanding of ES6 generators and yield functions, and I'm stumped on an odd behavior.
Short explanation of asynquence
asynquence (https://github.com/getify/asynquence) provides an easy way for me to run generators in sequence. It can also do pseudo-parallel execution but that's not what I need for now. The structure of function *x(token) is from there. token holds a connection object at [0]. yield token passes control on to the next generator function in sequence.
Code Sample 1 (works)
function *test1(token) {
var conn = token.messages[0];
var values = {id:1, dev:1, description:'This is it!'};
yield conn.query("INSERT INTO version SET ?", values);
yield token;
}
This works fine. The row described above gets inserted. I didn't know the MySQL driver allowed such a simple looking insert function but it does.
Code Sample 2 (doesn't work)
function *test1(token) {
var conn = token.messages[0];
var values = {id:1, dev:1, description:'This is it!'};
yield subtest1(conn, values);
yield token;
}
function *subtest1(conn, values) {
yield conn.query("INSERT INTO version SET ?", values);
}
This doesn't work. The actual code in question for subtest1 is in a model class, so I would prefer not to have it merged in with the controller.
I've tried a bunch of different things around with or without yield on the subtest function.
What's going on?
subtest1(conn, values) is a generator. yielding a generator object does not execute its body. That is, the yielded generator remains suspended, and it would require a call to the next() method for the first yield to be reached. There are no explicit or implicit calls to next() in Code Sample 2, and this is the reason conn.query(...) isn't executed.
How about yield* subtest1(conn, values)? From the linked page:
The yield* expression iterates over the operand and yields each value
returned by it.
It will still execute subtest lazily.
An alternative solution is to turn subtest into a regular function and return the result of conn.query(...) (assuming you only need to perform one query):
function subtest1(conn, values) {
return conn.query("INSERT INTO version SET ?", values);
}
yield subtest1(conn, values) calls subtest1(conn, values), which returns an iterator object, and then yields that from test1 as the value for that iteration of test1. It doesn't iterate the values returned by the subtest1 iterator.
You could have test1 iterate the values from subtest1's iterator by adding a * after the yield:
yield* subtest1(conn, values);
but looking at your code, I don't think you want to. If you want to split the conn.query line out into a function, it would look like this:
function *test1(token) {
var conn = token.messages[0];
var values = {id:1, dev:1, description:'This is it!'};
yield subtest1(conn, values);
yield token;
}
function subtest1(conn, values) {
return conn.query("INSERT INTO version SET ?", values);
}
This simpler version may help with the difference between yield and yield*:
function* foo() {
console.log("f");
yield bar();
console.log("f done");
}
function* bar() {
console.log("b1");
let i = 0;
while (i < 3) {
console.log("b2");
yield i;
++i;
}
console.log("b done");
}
for (let v of foo()) {
console.log(v);
}
The output of that is: (live copy on Babel's REPL)
f
{}
f done
Note how we don't see any of the "b" logging at all; that's because the {} you see after f1 is the iterator object returned by calling bar.
If we just add * on the yield bar(); line, turning it into yield* bar(), the output changes: (live copy)
f
b1
b2
0
b2
1
b2
2
b done
f done
If the operand to yield* is an iterator, yield* iterates it, yielding each of its values. It's basically:
for (value of bar()) {
yield value;
}
Related
The documentation says that "You can also provide a parameter to the next method to send a value to the generator." Where does it sends it to?
For example, take these 3 generators:
function* one() {
while(true) {
var value = yield null;
}
}
var g1 = one(); g1.next();
g1.next(1000); //yields null
function* two() {
var i = 0;
while (true) {
i += yield i;
}
}
var g2 = two(); g2.next();
g2.next(1000) // yields 1000
function* three(){
var index = 0;
while (true)
yield index++;
}
g3 = three();
g3.next();
g3.next(1000); // yields 1
In generators 3 and 1, the argument passed has no effect on next. Why is that? How does generator 2 calculates its return value? Why it is affected by the given argument?
The key to understanding this is knowing how the next function retrieves the argument passed to next(), which is as the return value of the yield operator:
[rv] = yield [expression];
Independently of the value of [expression], yield will assign to rv the value passed to next().
But, here comes the tricky part: yield will only assign the value passed to next() when resuming execution from a previous iteration. As a consequence, on the first iteration, yield does not assign anything to rv.
For example, if I have this generator:
function* gen() {
// On the first iteration, yield does not return anything.
//because it returns something ONLY when execution is resumed
returnedFromYield = yield 'foo';
yield returnedFromYield;
}
returnedFromYield is undefined on the first iteration. When execution is resumed on the second iteration, yield assigns the passed value to the returnedFromYield variable, which is then returned:
g.next(1); // 'foo'
g.next(2); // 2
Let's review another example:
function* gen() {
yield yield yield 5;
}
On the first iteration, (g.next()), yield will return 5, on the second iteration, (g.next(10)) yield is going to pass 10 to the second yield. That is, yield yield yield 5; on the second iteration is equivalent to yield yield 10;, and, on the third iteration, it's equivalent to yield valuePassedToNext.
Here's an annotated example showing the logical flow and scope for the values passed to a generator's next method. The affected area of the next method call is highlighted in the corresponding color.
a: There is no yield, so argument 'one' is ignored. The generator pauses on line 5, returning the value 1.
b: Execution resumes and 'two' replaces yield on line 5, and is assigned to the yieldValue variable. Line 6 is executed. The generator pauses on line 8, returning the value 2.
c: Execution resumes and 'three' replaces yield on line 8, and is assigned to the yieldValue variable. Line 9 is executed. The generator pauses on line 11, returning the value 3.
d: Execution resumes and 'four' replaces yield on line 11, and is assigned to the yieldValue variable. Line 12 is executed. Line 14 is executed. Finally the generator is now done, returning the value undefined.
See the logs on line 28-36
I found some code online. I've squashed the original code down into this little excerpt, that when ran, will print 1-20 to the console.
var NumbersFromOne = {
*[Symbol.iterator] () {
for (let i = 1;; ++i) yield i;
}
};
var take = function* (numberToTake, iterable) {
let remaining = numberToTake;
for (let value of NumbersFromOne) {
if (remaining-- <= 0) break;
yield value;
}
}
var printToTwenty = take(20, NumbersFromOne)
console.log(...printToTwenty);
Now, I understand that take() is a GeneratorFunction.
When take() is called, it is given an iterator.
The code "...printToTwenty" uses the spread operator to iterate through that function.
I understand that NumbersFromOne is an object.
I've come here looking for an explanation of what this part means:
*[Symbol.iterator] () {}
Declaring generator functions is done like this: function* () {}
So I'm assuming this isn't declaring a generator function.
* also doesn't represent the function name
* also can't be replaced with another operator (/, -, +)
What is the deal with that syntax, and why is the * before [Symbol.iterator]
If placed after, it will not run.
I had considered that *[Symbol.iterator] () is a way to overwrite the existing iterator property, but then wouldn't it say this[Symbol.iterator].
Thanks!
There are a few things that might make this code look complicated:
It uses the object property shorthand notation. What you're seeing here is actually the following:
var NumbersFromOne = {
[Symbol.iterator]: function* () {
for (let i = 1;; ++i) yield i;
}
};
Symbol.iterator creates a custom iterator for your NumbersFromOne object.
So your code basically means that the iterator of NumbersFromOne is defined as a generator. Instead of manually having to define a function which returns a next and other properties:
var NumbersFromOne = {
[Symbol.iterator]: function () {
var i = 1;
return {
next: function() {
return { value: i++, done: false };
}
};
}
};
Returning the generator creates the next function automatically for. This allows you to yield when you need to.
It can then be called as:
const it = NumbersFromOne[Symbol.iterator]();
it.next(); // 1
it.next(); // 2
it.next(); // 3
// ...
Note: Written this way, this iterator never ends! So if you were to call it in a for ... of loop without an end-condition, it would freeze your program.
This code generates an error:
function *giveNumbers() {
[1, 2, 3].forEach(function(item) {
yield item;
})
}
This is probably because yield is inside a function that is not a generator. Is there an elegant way to overcome this? I mean other than:
function *giveNumbers() {
let list = [1, 2, 3];
for (let i = 0; i < list.length; i++) {
yield list[i];
}
}
This is probably because yield is inside a function that is not a generator.
Yes. You cannot use yield from callbacks.
Is there an elegant way to overcome this?
Depends on the use case. Usually there is zero reason to actually want to yield from a callback.
In your case, you want a for…of loop, which is superior to .forEach in almost every aspect anyway:
function *giveNumbers() {
for (let item of [1, 2, 3])
yield item;
}
you can use the yield * syntax.
function *giveNumbers() {
yield * [1, 2, 3].map(function(item) {
return item;
})
}
yield returns the result to the caller.
let's assume the forEach callback is a generator (it's not a problem to set a costume generator there) - it means tha when the callback yield the result - it yields it back to forEach.
Basically, in your question what you attemp to do is:
callback -> yields to forEach -> yields to giveNumbers -> yields to caller
So, forEach should yield the result back to giveNumbers. but since forEach doesn't work like this, it's impossible without re-prototype arrays with costume forEach.Actually, you second snippet is the most elegant to begin with.
You can also use while and pass arguments as such (Demo)
function *giveNumbers(array, start) {
var index = start || 0;
while(array.length > index + 1) {
yield array[index++];
}
return array[index];
}
var g = giveNumbers([1,2,3], 0);
var finished = false;
while(!finished) {
var next = g.next();
console.log(next.value);
if(next.done) {
finished = true;
}
}
How does work app.use in KOA?
When I set some generator inside app.use, everything works perfect.
How can I do the same elsewhere?
When I just execute generator manual:
var getRelationsList = function *() {
var res = yield db.relations.find({});
console.log({'inside: ': res});
}
console.log({'outside: ': getRelationsList().next()});
getRelationsList().next();
I'm getting just { 'outside: ': { value: [Function], done: false } }
This what I expect is:
{ 'outside: ': { value: {object_with_results}, done: false } }
{ 'inside: ': {object_with_results}
EDIT
I changed my code like that:
var getRelationsList = function *() {
var res = yield db.relations.find({});
console.log({'inside: ': res});
}
console.log({'outside ': co(getRelationsList)});
Now inside console log show's me good results but outside console log shows me just empty object.
Generators are a powerful tool for organizing asynchronous code, but they don't magically wait for asynchronous code to run.
What's Happening
Let's walk through your code so you can see what is happening:
getRelationsList is a generator function, that when called returns a new generator. At this point, no code in your generator function has been called (although if you were passing params they would be set). You then call .next on your generator to start execution of the generator function. It will execute up until it hits the first yield statement and return an object with the yielded value and the completion status of the generator.
It seems you understand most of that so far, but generators do not magically transform the yielded out values. When you yield out db.relations.find({}), you'll get the return value of the find function which I'm assuming is a Promise or some type of thenable:
so your 'outside' value is { value:Promise, done:false }
The reason your inside console.log never ran is that you're actually creating a new generator each time you call getRelationsList(), so when you call getRelationsList().next() again after the outside console.log you're creating a new generator and calling next, so it only executes up to the first yield, just like the call on the previous line.
In order to finish execution you must call next twice on the same instance of your generator: once to execute up to the yield and once to continue execution to the end of the function.
var gen = getRelationsList()
gen.next() // { value:Promise, done:false }
gen.next() // { value:undefined, done:true } (will also console.log inside)
You'll notice, however, if you run this, the inside console.log will be undefined. That's because the value of a yield statement is equal to the value passed to the following .next() call.
For example:
var gen2 = getRelationsList()
gen2.next() // { value:Promise, done:false }
gen2.next(100) // { value:undefined, done:true }
Outputs
{ inside:100 }
Because we passed 100 to the second .next() call and that became the value of the yield db.relations.find({}) statement which was then assigned to res.
Here's a link demoing all of this: http://jsfiddle.net/qj1aszub/2/
The Solution
The creators of koa use a little library called co which basically takes yielded out promises and waits for them to complete before passing the resolved value back into the generator function (using the .next() function) so that you can write your asynchronous code in a synchronous style.
co will return a promise, which will require you to call the .then method on to get the value returned from the generator function.
var co = require('co');
var getRelationsList = function *() {
var res = yield db.relations.find({});
console.log({'inside: ': res});
return res
}
co(getRelationsList).then(function(res) {
console.log({'outside: ': res })
}).catch(function(err){
console.log('something went wrong')
});
co also allows you to yield out other generator functions and wait for their completion, so you don't have to wrap things with co at every level and deal with promises until you're at some sort of 'top level':
co(function *() {
var list = yield getRelationsList()
, processed = yield processRelations(list)
, response = yield request.post('/some/api', { data:processed })
return reponse.data
}).then(function(data) {
console.log('got:', data)
})
Your problem is that you call getRelationsList() function multiple times which is incorrect.
Change your code to following
var g = getRelationsList();
console.log('outside: ', g.next());
g.next(); //You get your console.log('inside: .... here
Generators must be acted upon by outside code.
Under the hood koa use the co library to 'Run' the generator.
Here is how you might achieve what your wanting outside of koa:
var co = require('co');
var getRelationsList = function *() {
var res = yield db.relations.find({});
console.log({'inside: ': res});
}
co(getRelationsList).catch(function(err){});
I did a short screencast on JavaScript generators that should help you understand what's going on:
http://knowthen.com/episode-2-understanding-javascript-generators/
++ EDIT
If your using generators to program in more of an synchronous style (eliminating callbacks), then all your work needs to be done in the generator and you should use a library like co to execute the generator.
Here is a more detailed example of how you would interact with a generator, manually. This should help you understand the results your getting.
function * myGenerator () {
var a = yield 'some value';
return a;
}
var iterator = myGenerator();
// above line just instantiates the generator
console.log(iterator);
// empty object returned
// {}
var res1 = iterator.next();
// calling next() start the generator to either the
// first yield statement or to return.
console.log(res1);
// res1 is an object with 2 attributes
// { value: 'some value', done: false }
// value is whatever value was to the right of the first
// yield statment
// done is an indication that the generator hasn't run
// to completion... ie there is more to do
var toReturn = 'Yield returned: ' + res1.value;
var res2 = iterator.next(toReturn);
// calling next(toReturn) passes the value of
// the variable toReturn as the return of the yield
// so it's returned to the variable a in the generator
console.log(res2);
// res2 is an object with 2 attributes
// { value: 'Yield returned: some value', done: true }
// no further yield statements so the 'value' is whatever
// is returned by the generator.
// since the generator was run to completion
// done is returned as true
I am trying to learn how to use generators and yield, so I tried the following but it doesn't seem to be working.
I am using the following function, which contains 2 async calls:
var client = require('mongodb').MongoClient;
$db = function*(collection, obj){
var documents;
yield client.connect('mongodb://localhost/test', function*(err, db){
var c = db.collection(collection);
yield c.find(obj).toArray(function(err, docs){
documents = docs;
db.close();
});
});
return documents.length;
};
Then to make the call original call, I am doing this:
var qs = require("querystring");
var query = qs.parse("keywords[]=abc&keywords[]=123");
var total = $db("ads", {"details.keywords": {$in: query["keywords[]"]}});
console.log(total);
When I get my output back in the console, I get this:
{}
I was expecting a number such as 200. What is it that I am doing wrong?
TL;DR
For the short answer, you're looking for a helper like co.
var co = require("co");
co(myGen( )).then(function (result) { });
But Why?
There is nothing inherently asynchronous about ES6 iterators, or the generators which define them.
function * allIntegers ( ) {
var i = 1;
while (true) {
yield i;
i += 1;
}
}
var ints = allIntegers();
ints.next().value; // 1
ints.next().value; // 2
ints.next().value; // 3
The .next( ) method, though, actually lets you send data back in to the iterator.
function * exampleGen ( ) {
var a = yield undefined;
var b = yield a + 1;
return b;
}
var exampleIter = exampleGen();
exampleIter.next().value; // undefined
exampleIter.next(12).value; // 13 (I passed 12 back in, which is assigned to a)
exampleIter.next("Hi").value; // "Hi" is assigned to b, and then returned
It might be confusing to think about, but when you yield it's like a return statement; the left hand side hasn't been assigned the value yet... ...and more importantly, if you had put the var y = (yield x) + 1; the parenthesis are resolved before the rest of the expression... ...so you return, and the +1 is put on hold, until a value comes back.
Then when it arrives (passed in, via the .next( )), the rest of the expression is evaluated (and then assigned to the left hand side).
The object that's returned from each call has two properties { value: ..., done: false }
value is what you've returned/yielded and done is whether or not it's hit the actual return statement at the end of the function (including implicit returns).
This is the part that can then be used to make this async magic happen.
function * asyncGen ( id ) {
var key = yield getKeyPromise( id );
var values = yield getValuesPromise( key );
return values;
}
var asyncProcess = asyncGen( 123 );
var getKey = asyncProcess.next( ).value;
getKey.then(function (key) {
return asyncProcess.next( key ).value;
}).then(function (values) {
doStuff(values);
});
There's no magic.
Instead of returning a value, I'm returning a promise.
When the promise completes, I'm pushing the result back in, using .next( result ), which gets me another promise.
When that promise resolves, I push that back in, using .next( newResult ), et cetera, until I'm done.
Can we do better?
We know now that we're just waiting for promises to resolve, then calling .next on the iterator with the result.
Do we have to know, ahead of time what the iterator looks like, to know when we're done?
Not really.
function coroutine (iterator) {
return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
function turnIterator (value) {
var result = iterator.next( value );
if (result.done) {
resolve(result.value);
} else {
result.value.then(turnIterator);
}
}
turnIterator();
};
}
coroutine( myGen ).then(function (result) { });
This isn't complete and perfect. co covers extra bases (making sure all yields get treated like promises, so you don't blow up by passing a non-promise value... ...or allowing arrays of promises to be yielded, which becomes one promise which will return the array of results for that yield ...or try/catch around the promise handling, to throw the error back into the iterator... yes, try/catch works perfectly with yield statements, done this way, thanks to a .throw(err) method on the iterator).
These things aren't hard to implement, but they make the example muddier than it needs to be.
This is exactly why co or some other "coroutine" or "spawn" method is perfect for this stuff.
The guys behind the Express server built KoaJS, using Co as a library, and Koa's middleware system just takes generators in its .use method and does the right thing.
But Wait, there's more!
As of ES7, it's very likely that the spec will add language for this exact use-case.
async function doAsyncProcess (id) {
var key = await getKeyPromise(id);
var values = await getValuesPromise(key);
return values;
}
doAsyncProcess(123).then(values => doStuff(values));
The async and await keywords are used together, to achieve the same functionality as the coroutine-wrapped promise-yielding generator, without all of the external boilerplate (and with engine-level optimizations, eventually).
You can try this today, if you're using a transpiler like BabelJS.
I hope this helps.
Yield and generators have nothing to do with asynchrony, their primary purpose is to produce iterable sequences of values, just like this:
function * gen() {
var i = 0;
while (i < 10) {
yield i++;
}
}
for (var i of gen()) {
console.log(i);
}
Just calling a function with a star (generator function) merely creates generator object (that is why you see {} in console), that can be interacted with using next function.
That said, you can use generator functions as an analogue of asynchronous functions, but you need a special runner, like co.
var client = require('mongodb').MongoClient;
$db = function*(collection, obj){
var documents;
yield client.connect('mongodb://localhost/test', function*(err, db){
var c = db.collection(collection);
yield c.find(obj).toArray(function(err, docs){
documents = docs;
db.close();
});
});
return documents.length;
};
var qs = require("querystring");
var query = qs.parse("keywords[]=abc&keywords[]=123");
var total = $db("ads", {"details.keywords": {$in: query["keywords[]"]}});
console.log(total);
As is, total is the iterator for the $db generator function. You would retrieve its yield values via total.next().value. However, the mongodb library is callback based and as such, its functions do not return values, so yield will return null.
You mentioned you were using Promises elsewhere; I would suggest taking a look at the bluebird in particular its promisify functionality. Promisification inverts the callback model so that the arguments to the callback are now used to resolve the promisified function. Even better, promisifyAll will convert an entire callback based API.
Finally, bluebird provides coroutine functionality as well; however its coroutines must return promises. So, your code may be rewritten as follows:
var mongo = require('mongodb');
var Promise = require('bluebird');
//here we convert the mongodb callback based API to a promised based API
Promise.promisifyAll(mongo);
$db = Promise.coroutine(function*(collection, obj){
//existing functions are converted to promised based versions which have
//the same name with 'Async' appended to them
return yield mongo.MongoClient.connectAsync('mongodb://localhost/test')
.then(function(db){
return db.collectionAsync(collection);})
.then(function(collection) {
return collection.countAsync();});
});
var qs = require("querystring");
var query = qs.parse("keywords[]=abc&keywords[]=123");
$db('ads',{"details.keywords": {$in: query["keywords[]"]}})
.then(console.log)