Defining then() after promise has been retrieved

Defining then() after promise has been retrieved - javascript

I have a question about attaching callback functions to promises in AngularJS.
Suppose I have a service with a function that returns a promise. I make a call to this function and store the promise locally. Then I define a callback function on the promise.
var promise = TestService.get();
console.log('We have a promise!');
promise.then(function (result){
console.log('Here is the result:'+result);
});
In this case, we have a potentially risky situation. If the promise is resolved before we get to promise.then(..., the result is not outputted to the console (until the next digest cycle).
Alternatively, I could write the above code like this:
TestService.get().then(function (result){
console.log('Here is the result:'+result);
});
My question:
Has the risk been mitigated in the second example? And if not, how can I make sure that the promise does not resolve before I have attached a callback?
A slightly more elaborate answer than yes/no would be much appreciated :)

The behavior you are describing does not occur, that can be seen through a simple example. Here we have a simple promise factory which returns a promise which resolves immediately.
'use strict';
var make = function() {
return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
resolve(2);
});
};
Then we create a new promise and assign it to a variable
var prom = make();
We can call .then on it as many times as we want. This is because promises are immutable, we don't change the original value by chaining methods on it.
prom.then(a => console.log(a));
// 2
prom.then(a => console.log(a));
// 2

Suppose I have a service with a function that returns a promise. I make a call to this function and store the promise locally. Then I define a callback function on the promise.
No, you are not attaching a callback. When you call the then method you are doing something called promise chaining. Each call to then returns a new promise object that will resolve to the value returned by the previous promise.
For example;
var promise1 = TestService.get();
var promise2 = promise1.then(function(value) {
console.log('service resolved: '+value);
return "Hello World";
});
var promise3 = promise2.then(function(value) {
console.log(value);
});
promise3.then(function(value) {
console.log(value);
});
The above example will output the following.
**some value from TestService**
Hello World
undefined
We don't know who originally resolve the value for the first promise. All we know is that the service returned a promise. From that moment on we can chain the promises by adding more calls to then.
In this case, we have a potentially risky situation. If the promise is resolved before we get to promise.then(..., the result is not outputted to the console (until the next digest cycle).
No, it does not matter when or what digest the promise is resolved. A promise can have it's then method called multiple times even after being resolved. It will continue to resolve to the value as long as it has not been rejected. The decision to resolve or reject a promise is outside the scope of the success or failure callbacks.
You can create a promise, resolve it to a value, wait several digests and add a handler to then and it will still work as expected.
Has the risk been mitigated in the second example? And if not, how can I make sure that the promise does not resolve before I have attached a callback?
Think of promises as containers. They are going to hold the value you expect, and you have to call then to get it. If for what ever reason the value is unavailable you can find out why by using the error callback. The when aspect of promises is purely an asynchronize issue, and the idea is for promises to hide those issues.

JavaScript is not multithreaded, your asynchronous AJAX call isn't actually made by the browser until your code returns.
var promise = TestService.get();
for (var i= 0;i<100000;i++){
console.log(i)
}
console.log('We have a promise!');
promise.then(function (result){
console.log('Here is the result:'+result);
});
Watch this with the network analyzer.

Related

Javascript: when new a Promise instance, where are the parameters(resolve,reject) from [duplicate]

I have begun learning javascript promises. But I just can't understand the concept of promises.
The thing that bothers me most is who is passing the Resolver and Reject function to a promise constructor ?
See this example of Promise:
function getImage(url){
return new Promise(function(resolve, reject){
var img = new Image()
img.onload = function(){
resolve(url)
}
img.onerror = function(){
reject(url)
}
img.src = url
})
}
Now who does pass resolve and reject methods, as my understanding of javascript says to me that this script will throw unknown variable errors as resolve and rejects are not defined?
getImage('doggy.jpg').then(function(successurl){
document.getElementById('doggyplayground').innerHTML = '<img src="' + successurl + '" />'
}).catch(function(errorurl){
console.log('Error loading ' + errorurl)
})
Now you see a method like the above, the only way these methods(resolve and reject) are passed are via then and catch as used in above method call to getImage.

The thing that bothers me most is who is passing the Resolver and Reject function to a promise constructor ?
Nobody.
The functions are passed by the promise constructor.
They are passed to the function which you pass as the first argument to the promise constructor.

The Promise constructor is initialized with a callback, and the constructor passes reject and resolve as parameters when the callback is called.
Here is a simple demo:
class PromiseDemo {
constructor(cb) {
cb(this.resolve.bind(this), this.reject.bind(this));
}
resolve(d) {
console.log('resolve', d);
}
reject(d) {
console.log('reject', d);
}
}
new PromiseDemo((resolve, reject) => {
Math.random() > 0.5 ? resolve('1') : reject('1');
});

I had the same problem in understanding Promises.You need to look at the process of promise creation carefully.
when you write
var promise= new Promise(function(resolve,reject){...})
you are actually invoking constructor of Promise class or creating an object of Promise class. Now Promise constructor requires a function callback.
Now resolve and reject are just function arguments and not any other values.
You can write anything in place of resolve or reject like resolveHandler or rejectHandler.
These resolve or reject are nothing but the function callback that Promise calls when Promise is executed.
Now resolve is called when Promise is executed successfully and reject is called when promise is executed with some error or unsuccessfully .
The argument with which resolve is called can be accessed inside then like this
getImage().then(function(valueSentInResolve){ console.log('')})
The argument with which reject is called can be accessed inside catch like this
getImage().then(function(valueSentInResolve)
{//..do something}
).catch(function(errorSentInReject){
console.log('error',errorSentInReject )
})
I hope that helps.Let me know if I said anything wrong.

I have been studying Promises all day, and had the same question. I finally figured it out.
When you make a Promise object, you give the Promise Constructor an executor, which can be any function, as long as it has this signature.
anyFunction(resolutionFunction, rejectionFunction){
// typically, some asynchronous operation.
}
So any function with 2 functions as the arguments can be used. The first function is what you call when it works, the second is what you call when it breaks. You can name those functions whatever you want as well.
The Promise Constructor takes the function you pass in and does a few things with it.
It takes those 2 function arguments and generates a corresponding pair of functions that are "connected" to the Promise object.
It runs the executor
It ignores any return value from your executor
Now in your executor function when the promise resolves you call the positionally first function and pass it one value. It will look something like:
resolutionFunction(value)
You may be wondering, where is resolutionFunction defined? Remember the Promise Constructor defined that function for us. So we can call resolutionFunction without having to define it ourselves. Behind the scenes, when we call that resolutionFunction generated by the Promise Constructor, it sets the state of the promise to fulfilled, calls the function inside the promiseObject.then function, and passes the value into the .then function so you can use it.
You would call the 2nd positional function if the promise failed and the same things would happen and you could deal with the failure.
This Mozilla Doc on the Promise Constructor was very helpful.
Here is a short examples that shows what I explained above.
function anyFunction(callThisFunctionWhenItWorks, callThisFunctionWhenItBreaks) {
let importantNumber = 10; //change to 11 if you want the promise to reject
if (importantNumber == 10) {
callThisFunctionWhenItWorks('Hooray, success, so we call resolved for the promise.');
} else {
callThisFunctionWhenItBreaks('Boo, rejected because important number is not equal to 10');
}
}
//make a new promise
const examplePromise = new Promise(anyFunction);
//use the promise
examplePromise.then(function(result) {
console.log(result);
}).catch(function (error) {
console.log(error);
})

The promise library creates and passes those functions, along with all the other metadata needed to track the promise and record completion, store state and progress, cancel it, etc.
The folks behind Bluebird have published some info on how the library works internally, and you can see more in the Bluebird source.

does this make sense? This explanation could be completely incorrect!!
We provide the logic which should run asynchronously. The logic should accept 2 functions, resolve and reject. The reference of these functions is provided by Promise. These functions should be called by our logic when we have the final value or error. The Promise created initially is in Pending state. Calling resolve and reject changes the state to Fulfilled or Rejected respectively.
executeFunction(res,rej) = {
do some op, say DB query.
if (success) res(value) //executeFunction uses the resolving functions to change state of the Promise. Calling res fulfills the promise with value
if (fail) rej(reason)//executeFunction uses the resolving functions to change state of the Promise. Calling rej rejects the promise with reason
}
Rather than calling executeFunction directly (which would make the call synchronous), we create a Promise will will run the executeFunction code in a separate thread (asynchronously) let p = Promise(executeFunction(res,rej));. We get back a reference of the Promise.
My guess is that internally in the Promise, the following happens
Promise(e(res,rej)) = {
// the Promise's constructor creates a new promise, initially in the pending state. It calls `e` (the executeFunction function) and provides references to the resolving functions to it that can be used to change its state.
state = pending;
e(_res,_rej); //starts my op. asynchronously (a new thread). Reference to resolving functions, _res, _rej is provided. _res and _rej are Promise's internal functions (see below)
//constructor doesn't return till the async thread finishes
}
_res (value){ //Promise's internal method
//probably sets the state of promise to Fulfilled and store the result of the Promise
state = fulfilled
resolvedValue = value;
}
_rej {//Promise's internal method
probably sets the state of promise to Rejected and store the result of the Promise
state = rejected
resolvedValue = error;
}
Creating the Promise starts the execution of the code asynchronously. Now we are interested in knowing what is the result of executeFunction (we don't care when executeFunction finishes). To do this, we call then of the Promise p. then takes two optional arguments and registers them as callbacks. I am not sure when and who calls these callbacks. I know that then returns another Promise but I am not able to understand how that works
then(executeFnIfPromiseResolved, executeFnIfPromiseRejected):Promise {
register executeFnIfPromiseResolved as callback
register executeFnIfPromiseRejected as callback
//NOT SURE WHO AND WHEN THE CALLBACKS ARE CALLED
//then needs to return Promise. What would be the executor function of that Promise?
}

Race condition issues with async functions Javascript [duplicate]

I would like to get a deeper understanding of how Promises work internally.
Therefore I have some sample code:
var p1 = new Promise(
function(resolve, reject) {
window.setTimeout(
function() {
resolve('res called')
}, 2000);
});
var p2 = new Promise(
function(resolve, reject) {
window.setTimeout(
function() {
resolve('res called')
}, 2000);
});
function chainPromises() {
return p1.then(function(val) {
console.log("p1");
return p2.then(function(val) {
console.log("p2");
return val;
});
});
}
chainPromises().then(function(val) {
console.log(val);
});
Here a link to execute this code.
As you would predict, first p1 is resolved, afterwards p2 and in the end the final then prints the resolv value.
But the API ref states the following:
"then" returns a new promise equivalent to the value you return from
onFulfilled/onRejected after being passed through Promise.resolve
So it would be interesting to know WHEN exactly the "then" function is executed?
Because the final "then" in the code is chained to the chainPromises(), I first thought that
it would execute after the function chainPromises() returns something (in this case another promise).
If this would have been the case the "val" of the final "then" function would be the returned promise.
But instead, the final "then" waits until all promises inside the first "then" which are returned have been resolved.
This absolutely makes sense because in this way, the "then" functions can be stacked, but
I do not really get how this is done, since the API spec. does not really cover what "then" returns and when the "then" functions is executed.
Or in other words, why does the final "then" function wait until all the Promises are resolved inside the chainPromises() function instead of just waiting for the first returned object as the API doc says.
I hope I could make clear what I mean.. :)

About Promise resolution
The thing you're witnessing here is called recursive thenable resolution. The promise resolution process in the Promises/A+ specification contains the following clause:
onFulfilled or onRejected returns a value x, run the Promise Resolution Procedure [[Resolve]](promise2, x)
The ES6 promise specification (promises unwrapping) contains a similar clause.
This mandates that when a resolve operation occurs: either in the promise constructor, by calling Promise.resolve or in your case in a then chain a promise implementation must recursively unwrap the returned value if it is a promise.
In practice
This means that if onFulfilled (the then) returns a value, try to "resolve" the promise value yourself thus recursively waiting for the entire chain.
This means the following:
promiseReturning().then(function(){
alert(1);
return foo(); // foo returns a promise
}).then(function(){
alert(2); // will only run after the ENTIRE chain of `foo` resolved
// if foo OR ANY PART OF THE CHAIN rejects and it is not handled this
// will not run
});
So for example:
promiseReturning().then(function(){
alert(1);
return Promise.resolve().then(function(){ throw Error(); });
}).then(function(){
alert("This will never run");
});
And that:
promiseReturning().then(function(){
alert(1);
return Promise.resolve().then(function(){ return delay(2000); });
}).then(function(){
alert("This will only run after 2000 ms");
});
Is it a good idea?
It's been the topic of much debate in the promises specification process a second chain method that does not exhibit this behavior was discussed but decided against (still available in Chrome, but will be removed soon). You can read about the whole debate in this esdiscuss thread. This behavior is for pragmatic reasons so you wouldn't have to manually do it.
In other languages
It's worth mentioning that other languages do not do this, neither futures in Scala or tasks in C# have this property. For example in C# you'd have to call Task.Unwrap on a task in order to wait for its chain to resolve.

Let's start with an easy perspective: "chainPromises" returns a promise, so you could look at it this way:
// Do all internal promises
var cp = chainPromises();
// After everything is finished you execute the final "then".
cp.then(function(val) {
console.log(val);
});
Generally speaking, when returning a promise from within a "then" clause, the "then" function of the encapsulating promise will be marked as finished only after the internal "then" has finished.
So, if "a" is a promise, and "b" is a promise:
// "a"'s "then" function will only be marked as finished after "b"'s "then" function has finished.
var c = a.then(function () {
return b.then(function () {
console.log("B!");
};
};
// c is a promise, since "then" always returns a promise.
c.then(function() {
console.log("Done!");
};
So the output will be:
B!
Done!
Notice btw, that if you don't "return" the internal promise, this will not be the case:
// "a"'s "then" function will only be marked as finished without waiting for "b"'s "then" to finish.
var c = a.then(function () {
// Notice we're just calling b.then, and don't "return" it.
b.then(function () {
console.log("B!");
};
};
// c is a promise, since "then" always returns a promise.
c.then(function() {
console.log("Done!");
};
Here we can't know what would be outputted first. It could be either "B!" or "Done!".

Please check the below example regarding how promises works:
The Promise object represents the eventual completion (or failure) of an asynchronous operation, and its resulting value.
console.log('person1: shoe ticket');
console.log('person2: shoe ticket');
const promiseGirlFriendBringingTickets = new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
setTimeout(() => {
resolve('ticket');
}, 3000);
});
promiseGirlFriendBringingTickets.then((t) => {
console.log(`person3: show ${t}`);
})
console.log('person4: shoe ticket');
console.log('person5: shoe ticket');

Promise then return promise object, not promise's resolved value. I forked your JsFiddle, and added some of mine try this.
promise.then is executed right after that promise object is resolved.

I do not know how this is done in actual promises libraries, but I was able to re-create this functionality in the following way:
1) each promise has a waitingPromises property;
2) then method returns a new promise, and the original promise's waitingPromises property points to the new promise.
In this way, the chain of .then()s creates a structure that is similar to a linked list or rather a tree (each promise can have several waiting promises). A promise can be resolved only after its 'parent' promise has been resolved. The .then method itself is executed immediately, but the corresponding promise that it creates is resolved only later.
I am not sure this is a good explanation and would love to learn about other possible approaches.

Normally code is synchronous - one statement executes like (fileopen) and there is a guarantee that the next statement will execute immediately afterwards like filewrite()
but in asynchronous operations like nodejs, you should assume that
you have no idea when the operation will complete.
You can't even assume that just because you send out one request first, and another request second, that they will return in that order
Callbacks are the standard way of handling asynchrnous code in JavaScript
but promises are the best way to handle asynchronous code.
This is because callbacks make error handling difficult, and lead to ugly nested code.
which user and programmer not readble easily so promises is the way

You can think of Promise as a wrapper on some background task. It takes in a function which needs to be executed in the background.
The most appropriate place to use a promise is where some code is dependent on some background processing and it needs to know the status of the background task which was executed. For that, the background task itself accepts two callback resolve and reject in order to convey its status to the code which is dependent on it. In layman terms, this code is the one behind it in the promise chain.
When a background task invokes resolve callback with some parameter. it's marking the background operation successful and passing the result of the background operation to the next then block which will be executed next. and if it calls reject, marking it as unsuccessful then the first catch block will be executed.
In your custom promise, you can pass an error obj to the reject callback so that next catch block is aware of the error happened in the background task.

Promise returning a promise [duplicate]

I want to fulfill a promise with some other promise. The point is that I really want to get access to the (still pending) second promise as soon as the first promise is fulfilled. Unfortunately, I only seem to be able to get the second promise's resolution value once both both promises are fulfilled.
Here's the use case that I have in mind:
var picker = pickFile();
picker.then( // Wait for the user to pick a file.
function(downloadProgress) {
// The user picked a file. The file may not be available just yet (e.g.,
// if it has to be downloaded over the network) but we can already ask
// the user some more questions while the file is being obtained in the
// background.
...do some more user interaction...
return downloadProgress;
}
).then( // Wait for the download (if any) to complete.
function(file) {
// Do something with the file.
}
)
The function pickFile displays a file picker where the user may pick a file either from their own hard drive or from a URL. It returns a promise picker that is fulfilled as soon as the user has picked a file. At this point, we may still have to download the selected file over the network. Therefore, I cannot fulfill picker with the selected file as resolution value. Instead, picker should be fulfilled with another promise, downloadProgress, which in turn will eventually be fulfilled with the selected file.
For completenes, here's a mock implementation of the pickFile function:
function pickFile() {
...display the file picker...
var resolveP1 = null;
var p1 = new Promise(
function(resolve, reject) {
resolveP1 = resolve;
}
);
// Mock code to pretend the user picked a file
window.setTimeout(function() {
var p2 = Promise.resolve('thefile');
resolveP1(p2); // <--- PROBLEM: I actually want to *fulfill* p1 with p2
}, 3000);
return p1;
}
The problem in the marked line is that I would like to fulfill the promise p1 with the new promise p2, but I only know how to resolve it. The difference between fulfilling and resolving is that resolving first checks if the supplied value p2 is again a promise. If it is, then fulfillment of p1 will be deferred until p2 is fulfilld, and then p1 will be fulfilled with p2's resolution value instead of p2 itself.
I could work around this issue by building a wrapper around p2, i.e. by replacing the line
resolveP1(p2); // <--- PROBLEM: I actually want to *fulfill* p1 with p2
from the second code example by
resolveP1({promise: p2});
Then, in the first code example, I'd have to replace the line
return downloadProgress;
by
return downloadProgress.promise;
But this seems like a bit of a hack when all I really want to do is just fulfill (instead of resolve) a promise.
I'd appreciate any suggestions.

There doesn't seem to be a solution apart from the workaround I already described in the question. For future reference, if you want to fulfill (rather than resolve) a promise p with a value val, where val is another promise, then just calling the promise resolution function for p with argument val won't work as expected. It would cause p to be "locked in" on the state of val, such that p will be fulfilled with val's resolution value once val is fulfilled (see spec).
Instead, wrap val in another object and resolve p with that object:
var resolveP; // Promise resolution function for p
var p = new Promise(
function(resolve, reject) {
resolveP = resolve;
}
);
function fulfillPwithPromise(val) { // Fulfills p with a promise val
resolveP({promise: val});
}
p.then(function(res) {
// Do something as soon as p is fulfilled...
return res.promise;
}).then(function(res) {
// Do something as soon as the second promise is fulfilled...
});
This solution works if you already know that val is a promise. If you cannot make any assumptions about val's type, then you seem to be out of luck. Either you have to always wrap promise resolution values in another object, or you can try to detect whether val has a field then of type "function" and wrap it conditionally.
That said, in some cases the default behavior of promise resolution may actually have the desired effect. So only use the workaround described above if you are sure that you want to fulfill instead of resolve the first promise with the second one.

Although different people use different terms, in common terminology, "fulfill" means to put a promise in the "success" state (as opposed to "reject")--the state that will trigger then then handlers hanging off it.
In other words, you cannot "fulfill" a promise with a promise. You can fulfill it with a value. (By the way, the term "resolve" is usually meant as either of fulfilling or rejecting.)
What you can do is return a promise from a .then handler and that will have the effect of essentially replacing the original promise with the returned promise.
Here is a simple example of doing that:
asyncTask1 . then(asyncTask2) . then(processData)
where asyncTask1 is a promise, and asyncTask2 is a function which returns a promise. So when asyncTask1 is fulfilled (done successfully), then asyncTask2 runs, and the promise returned by the .then is "taken over" by the promise asyncTask2 returns, so that when it finishes, the data can be processed.
I can do something similar by calling Promise.resolve with a promise as parameter. It's a bit of a misnomer, because I'm not resolving the promise in the technical sense. Instead, the new promise created is "inhabited" by the promise I passed in. It's also useless, because using the result is exactly the same as using the promise I passed in:
Promise.resolve(asyncTask2)
behaves exactly the same as
asyncTask2
(assuming asyncTask2 is already a promise; otherwise Promise.resolve has the effect of creating a promise which is immediately fulfilled with the passed in value.)
Just as you can pass a promise to Promise.resolve, you can pass a promise to the resolve function provided to you as a parameter of the promise constructor callback. If the parameter you pass to resolve is a non-promise, the promise immediately fulfills with that value. However, if the parameter you pass to resolve is another promise, that promise "takes over the body" of the promise you are constructing. To put it another way, the promise you are constructing starts to behave exactly as the the promise passed to resolve.
By "behave exactly" I mean, if the promise you pass in to resolve is already fulfilled, the promise you are constructing is instantly fulfilled with the same value. If the promise you pass in to resolve is already rejected, the promise you are constructing is instantly rejected with the same reason. If the promise you pass in to resolve is not resolved yet, then any then handlers you hang off the promise you are constructing will be invoked if and when the promise you pass to resolve is resolved.
Just as it is confusing that Promise.resolve may result in a promise which is not actually resolved, it is similarly confusing that calling the resolve function handed to you as a parameter to the promise constructor may not actually resolve the promise being constructed if you call it with an unresolved promise. Instead, as I've said a couple of times now, it has the effect of putting the promise being constructed in a state of total congruence with the promise passed to resolve.
Therefore, unless I am missing the point of your question, pickfile could be written as
function pickFile() {
return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
...display the file picker...
// Mock code to pretend the user picked a file
window.setTimeout(function() {
resolve('thefile');
});
}
I didn't really understand your question clearly, so this might not be what you want. Please clarify if you care to.

Found a similar solution in the process of moving away from Angular's $q to the native Promise feature. Promise.all could be an option (in cases of independent parallel async tasks) by passing around an appropriate object, or something decorated with the state, passing it off to whatever is ready when appropriate. In the Promise.all sample below note how it recovers in one of the promises--took me awhile to realize how to redirect the result of a chain. The result of the all is just the last promise's return. While this doesn't answer the question's title, using return Promise.reject(<an-object-including-a-promise>) (or resolve) gives a series and/or group of async tasks shared access and control along the way. In the case of picking, downloading then working with a file I'd take out the progress-event handling then do: pickFile.then(download,orFailGracefully) with downloadProgress handled within the download onResolve handler (download-progress doesn't appear to be an async task). Below are related experiments in the console.
var q = {
defer: function _defer(){
var deferred = { };
deferred.promise = new Promise(function(resolve, reject){
deferred.resolve = resolve;
deferred.reject = reject;
});
return deferred;
}
};
var communityThatCares = q.defer();
communityThatCares.promise.then(function(someGood){
console.log('someGood', someGood);
return someGood;
}, function(someBad){
console.warn('someBad', someBad);
return someBad;
});
(new Promise(function(resolve, reject){ communityThatCares.about = 'communityThatCares'; setTimeout(resolve,1000, communityThatCares); }))
.then(
function(e){
console.log(3,e); return e.resolve(e);
}, function(e){
console.warn(3, e); return e.reject(e);
});
var todo = {
find:'swan'
};
var greaterGood = [(
(new Promise(function(res,rej){ res(todo); })).then(function(e){ e.stuff = 'things'; return e; }),
(new Promise(function(res,reject){
reject(todo);
})).then(function(e){ return e; }
,function(e){
console.warn(1,e);
e.recover = 'uh oh';
return Promise.resolve(e);
}).then(function(e){ console.log(2,e); return e; }),
(new Promise(function(res,rej){ res(todo); })).then(function(e){ console.log(1,e); e.schedule = 'today'; return e; },function(e){ console.warn(1,e); return e; }).then(function(e){ console.log(2,e); return e; }))
];
var nkay = Promise.all( greaterGood )
.then(function(todo){
console.log('all',todo[0]); return todo;
}, function(todo){
console.warn('all',todo[0]); return todo;
});

When or who does pass resolve and reject functions to JS promises?

I have begun learning javascript promises. But I just can't understand the concept of promises.
The thing that bothers me most is who is passing the Resolver and Reject function to a promise constructor ?
See this example of Promise:
function getImage(url){
return new Promise(function(resolve, reject){
var img = new Image()
img.onload = function(){
resolve(url)
}
img.onerror = function(){
reject(url)
}
img.src = url
})
}
Now who does pass resolve and reject methods, as my understanding of javascript says to me that this script will throw unknown variable errors as resolve and rejects are not defined?
getImage('doggy.jpg').then(function(successurl){
document.getElementById('doggyplayground').innerHTML = '<img src="' + successurl + '" />'
}).catch(function(errorurl){
console.log('Error loading ' + errorurl)
})
Now you see a method like the above, the only way these methods(resolve and reject) are passed are via then and catch as used in above method call to getImage.

The thing that bothers me most is who is passing the Resolver and Reject function to a promise constructor ?
Nobody.
The functions are passed by the promise constructor.
They are passed to the function which you pass as the first argument to the promise constructor.

The Promise constructor is initialized with a callback, and the constructor passes reject and resolve as parameters when the callback is called.
Here is a simple demo:
class PromiseDemo {
constructor(cb) {
cb(this.resolve.bind(this), this.reject.bind(this));
}
resolve(d) {
console.log('resolve', d);
}
reject(d) {
console.log('reject', d);
}
}
new PromiseDemo((resolve, reject) => {
Math.random() > 0.5 ? resolve('1') : reject('1');
});

I had the same problem in understanding Promises.You need to look at the process of promise creation carefully.
when you write
var promise= new Promise(function(resolve,reject){...})
you are actually invoking constructor of Promise class or creating an object of Promise class. Now Promise constructor requires a function callback.
Now resolve and reject are just function arguments and not any other values.
You can write anything in place of resolve or reject like resolveHandler or rejectHandler.
These resolve or reject are nothing but the function callback that Promise calls when Promise is executed.
Now resolve is called when Promise is executed successfully and reject is called when promise is executed with some error or unsuccessfully .
The argument with which resolve is called can be accessed inside then like this
getImage().then(function(valueSentInResolve){ console.log('')})
The argument with which reject is called can be accessed inside catch like this
getImage().then(function(valueSentInResolve)
{//..do something}
).catch(function(errorSentInReject){
console.log('error',errorSentInReject )
})
I hope that helps.Let me know if I said anything wrong.

I have been studying Promises all day, and had the same question. I finally figured it out.
When you make a Promise object, you give the Promise Constructor an executor, which can be any function, as long as it has this signature.
anyFunction(resolutionFunction, rejectionFunction){
// typically, some asynchronous operation.
}
So any function with 2 functions as the arguments can be used. The first function is what you call when it works, the second is what you call when it breaks. You can name those functions whatever you want as well.
The Promise Constructor takes the function you pass in and does a few things with it.
It takes those 2 function arguments and generates a corresponding pair of functions that are "connected" to the Promise object.
It runs the executor
It ignores any return value from your executor
Now in your executor function when the promise resolves you call the positionally first function and pass it one value. It will look something like:
resolutionFunction(value)
You may be wondering, where is resolutionFunction defined? Remember the Promise Constructor defined that function for us. So we can call resolutionFunction without having to define it ourselves. Behind the scenes, when we call that resolutionFunction generated by the Promise Constructor, it sets the state of the promise to fulfilled, calls the function inside the promiseObject.then function, and passes the value into the .then function so you can use it.
You would call the 2nd positional function if the promise failed and the same things would happen and you could deal with the failure.
This Mozilla Doc on the Promise Constructor was very helpful.
Here is a short examples that shows what I explained above.
function anyFunction(callThisFunctionWhenItWorks, callThisFunctionWhenItBreaks) {
let importantNumber = 10; //change to 11 if you want the promise to reject
if (importantNumber == 10) {
callThisFunctionWhenItWorks('Hooray, success, so we call resolved for the promise.');
} else {
callThisFunctionWhenItBreaks('Boo, rejected because important number is not equal to 10');
}
}
//make a new promise
const examplePromise = new Promise(anyFunction);
//use the promise
examplePromise.then(function(result) {
console.log(result);
}).catch(function (error) {
console.log(error);
})

The promise library creates and passes those functions, along with all the other metadata needed to track the promise and record completion, store state and progress, cancel it, etc.
The folks behind Bluebird have published some info on how the library works internally, and you can see more in the Bluebird source.

does this make sense? This explanation could be completely incorrect!!
We provide the logic which should run asynchronously. The logic should accept 2 functions, resolve and reject. The reference of these functions is provided by Promise. These functions should be called by our logic when we have the final value or error. The Promise created initially is in Pending state. Calling resolve and reject changes the state to Fulfilled or Rejected respectively.
executeFunction(res,rej) = {
do some op, say DB query.
if (success) res(value) //executeFunction uses the resolving functions to change state of the Promise. Calling res fulfills the promise with value
if (fail) rej(reason)//executeFunction uses the resolving functions to change state of the Promise. Calling rej rejects the promise with reason
}
Rather than calling executeFunction directly (which would make the call synchronous), we create a Promise will will run the executeFunction code in a separate thread (asynchronously) let p = Promise(executeFunction(res,rej));. We get back a reference of the Promise.
My guess is that internally in the Promise, the following happens
Promise(e(res,rej)) = {
// the Promise's constructor creates a new promise, initially in the pending state. It calls `e` (the executeFunction function) and provides references to the resolving functions to it that can be used to change its state.
state = pending;
e(_res,_rej); //starts my op. asynchronously (a new thread). Reference to resolving functions, _res, _rej is provided. _res and _rej are Promise's internal functions (see below)
//constructor doesn't return till the async thread finishes
}
_res (value){ //Promise's internal method
//probably sets the state of promise to Fulfilled and store the result of the Promise
state = fulfilled
resolvedValue = value;
}
_rej {//Promise's internal method
probably sets the state of promise to Rejected and store the result of the Promise
state = rejected
resolvedValue = error;
}
Creating the Promise starts the execution of the code asynchronously. Now we are interested in knowing what is the result of executeFunction (we don't care when executeFunction finishes). To do this, we call then of the Promise p. then takes two optional arguments and registers them as callbacks. I am not sure when and who calls these callbacks. I know that then returns another Promise but I am not able to understand how that works
then(executeFnIfPromiseResolved, executeFnIfPromiseRejected):Promise {
register executeFnIfPromiseResolved as callback
register executeFnIfPromiseRejected as callback
//NOT SURE WHO AND WHEN THE CALLBACKS ARE CALLED
//then needs to return Promise. What would be the executor function of that Promise?
}

Fulfill (don't resolve) promise with another promise

I want to fulfill a promise with some other promise. The point is that I really want to get access to the (still pending) second promise as soon as the first promise is fulfilled. Unfortunately, I only seem to be able to get the second promise's resolution value once both both promises are fulfilled.
Here's the use case that I have in mind:
var picker = pickFile();
picker.then( // Wait for the user to pick a file.
function(downloadProgress) {
// The user picked a file. The file may not be available just yet (e.g.,
// if it has to be downloaded over the network) but we can already ask
// the user some more questions while the file is being obtained in the
// background.
...do some more user interaction...
return downloadProgress;
}
).then( // Wait for the download (if any) to complete.
function(file) {
// Do something with the file.
}
)
The function pickFile displays a file picker where the user may pick a file either from their own hard drive or from a URL. It returns a promise picker that is fulfilled as soon as the user has picked a file. At this point, we may still have to download the selected file over the network. Therefore, I cannot fulfill picker with the selected file as resolution value. Instead, picker should be fulfilled with another promise, downloadProgress, which in turn will eventually be fulfilled with the selected file.
For completenes, here's a mock implementation of the pickFile function:
function pickFile() {
...display the file picker...
var resolveP1 = null;
var p1 = new Promise(
function(resolve, reject) {
resolveP1 = resolve;
}
);
// Mock code to pretend the user picked a file
window.setTimeout(function() {
var p2 = Promise.resolve('thefile');
resolveP1(p2); // <--- PROBLEM: I actually want to *fulfill* p1 with p2
}, 3000);
return p1;
}
The problem in the marked line is that I would like to fulfill the promise p1 with the new promise p2, but I only know how to resolve it. The difference between fulfilling and resolving is that resolving first checks if the supplied value p2 is again a promise. If it is, then fulfillment of p1 will be deferred until p2 is fulfilld, and then p1 will be fulfilled with p2's resolution value instead of p2 itself.
I could work around this issue by building a wrapper around p2, i.e. by replacing the line
resolveP1(p2); // <--- PROBLEM: I actually want to *fulfill* p1 with p2
from the second code example by
resolveP1({promise: p2});
Then, in the first code example, I'd have to replace the line
return downloadProgress;
by
return downloadProgress.promise;
But this seems like a bit of a hack when all I really want to do is just fulfill (instead of resolve) a promise.
I'd appreciate any suggestions.

There doesn't seem to be a solution apart from the workaround I already described in the question. For future reference, if you want to fulfill (rather than resolve) a promise p with a value val, where val is another promise, then just calling the promise resolution function for p with argument val won't work as expected. It would cause p to be "locked in" on the state of val, such that p will be fulfilled with val's resolution value once val is fulfilled (see spec).
Instead, wrap val in another object and resolve p with that object:
var resolveP; // Promise resolution function for p
var p = new Promise(
function(resolve, reject) {
resolveP = resolve;
}
);
function fulfillPwithPromise(val) { // Fulfills p with a promise val
resolveP({promise: val});
}
p.then(function(res) {
// Do something as soon as p is fulfilled...
return res.promise;
}).then(function(res) {
// Do something as soon as the second promise is fulfilled...
});
This solution works if you already know that val is a promise. If you cannot make any assumptions about val's type, then you seem to be out of luck. Either you have to always wrap promise resolution values in another object, or you can try to detect whether val has a field then of type "function" and wrap it conditionally.
That said, in some cases the default behavior of promise resolution may actually have the desired effect. So only use the workaround described above if you are sure that you want to fulfill instead of resolve the first promise with the second one.

Although different people use different terms, in common terminology, "fulfill" means to put a promise in the "success" state (as opposed to "reject")--the state that will trigger then then handlers hanging off it.
In other words, you cannot "fulfill" a promise with a promise. You can fulfill it with a value. (By the way, the term "resolve" is usually meant as either of fulfilling or rejecting.)
What you can do is return a promise from a .then handler and that will have the effect of essentially replacing the original promise with the returned promise.
Here is a simple example of doing that:
asyncTask1 . then(asyncTask2) . then(processData)
where asyncTask1 is a promise, and asyncTask2 is a function which returns a promise. So when asyncTask1 is fulfilled (done successfully), then asyncTask2 runs, and the promise returned by the .then is "taken over" by the promise asyncTask2 returns, so that when it finishes, the data can be processed.
I can do something similar by calling Promise.resolve with a promise as parameter. It's a bit of a misnomer, because I'm not resolving the promise in the technical sense. Instead, the new promise created is "inhabited" by the promise I passed in. It's also useless, because using the result is exactly the same as using the promise I passed in:
Promise.resolve(asyncTask2)
behaves exactly the same as
asyncTask2
(assuming asyncTask2 is already a promise; otherwise Promise.resolve has the effect of creating a promise which is immediately fulfilled with the passed in value.)
Just as you can pass a promise to Promise.resolve, you can pass a promise to the resolve function provided to you as a parameter of the promise constructor callback. If the parameter you pass to resolve is a non-promise, the promise immediately fulfills with that value. However, if the parameter you pass to resolve is another promise, that promise "takes over the body" of the promise you are constructing. To put it another way, the promise you are constructing starts to behave exactly as the the promise passed to resolve.
By "behave exactly" I mean, if the promise you pass in to resolve is already fulfilled, the promise you are constructing is instantly fulfilled with the same value. If the promise you pass in to resolve is already rejected, the promise you are constructing is instantly rejected with the same reason. If the promise you pass in to resolve is not resolved yet, then any then handlers you hang off the promise you are constructing will be invoked if and when the promise you pass to resolve is resolved.
Just as it is confusing that Promise.resolve may result in a promise which is not actually resolved, it is similarly confusing that calling the resolve function handed to you as a parameter to the promise constructor may not actually resolve the promise being constructed if you call it with an unresolved promise. Instead, as I've said a couple of times now, it has the effect of putting the promise being constructed in a state of total congruence with the promise passed to resolve.
Therefore, unless I am missing the point of your question, pickfile could be written as
function pickFile() {
return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
...display the file picker...
// Mock code to pretend the user picked a file
window.setTimeout(function() {
resolve('thefile');
});
}
I didn't really understand your question clearly, so this might not be what you want. Please clarify if you care to.

Found a similar solution in the process of moving away from Angular's $q to the native Promise feature. Promise.all could be an option (in cases of independent parallel async tasks) by passing around an appropriate object, or something decorated with the state, passing it off to whatever is ready when appropriate. In the Promise.all sample below note how it recovers in one of the promises--took me awhile to realize how to redirect the result of a chain. The result of the all is just the last promise's return. While this doesn't answer the question's title, using return Promise.reject(<an-object-including-a-promise>) (or resolve) gives a series and/or group of async tasks shared access and control along the way. In the case of picking, downloading then working with a file I'd take out the progress-event handling then do: pickFile.then(download,orFailGracefully) with downloadProgress handled within the download onResolve handler (download-progress doesn't appear to be an async task). Below are related experiments in the console.
var q = {
defer: function _defer(){
var deferred = { };
deferred.promise = new Promise(function(resolve, reject){
deferred.resolve = resolve;
deferred.reject = reject;
});
return deferred;
}
};
var communityThatCares = q.defer();
communityThatCares.promise.then(function(someGood){
console.log('someGood', someGood);
return someGood;
}, function(someBad){
console.warn('someBad', someBad);
return someBad;
});
(new Promise(function(resolve, reject){ communityThatCares.about = 'communityThatCares'; setTimeout(resolve,1000, communityThatCares); }))
.then(
function(e){
console.log(3,e); return e.resolve(e);
}, function(e){
console.warn(3, e); return e.reject(e);
});
var todo = {
find:'swan'
};
var greaterGood = [(
(new Promise(function(res,rej){ res(todo); })).then(function(e){ e.stuff = 'things'; return e; }),
(new Promise(function(res,reject){
reject(todo);
})).then(function(e){ return e; }
,function(e){
console.warn(1,e);
e.recover = 'uh oh';
return Promise.resolve(e);
}).then(function(e){ console.log(2,e); return e; }),
(new Promise(function(res,rej){ res(todo); })).then(function(e){ console.log(1,e); e.schedule = 'today'; return e; },function(e){ console.warn(1,e); return e; }).then(function(e){ console.log(2,e); return e; }))
];
var nkay = Promise.all( greaterGood )
.then(function(todo){
console.log('all',todo[0]); return todo;
}, function(todo){
console.warn('all',todo[0]); return todo;
});

Develop Reference

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