How to invoke openwhisk action within openwhisk platform on bluemix? - ibm-cloud

Question

I have created two actions on OpenWhisk on Bluemix. Both independently work fine when I can call them from outside the OpenWhisk platform. But I want to call action1 from within action2, and am using the following syntax:
var openwhisk = require('openwhisk');
function main(args){
const name = 'action2';
const blocking = true;
const params = { param1: 'sthing'};
var ow = openwhisk();
ow.actions.invoke({name, blocking, params})
.then(result => {
console.log('result: ', result);
return result; // ?
}).catch(err => {
console.error('failed to invoke actions', err);
});
}
But I get an empty result and no console messages. Some help would be great.
Update1:
When adding as suggested the return option, to return the Promise of OpenWhisk, as follows:
return ow.actions.invoke({name, blocking, params})
.then(result => {
console.log('result: ', result);
return result;
}).catch(err => {
console.error('failed to invoke actions', err);
throw err;
});
the response value of action2 is not as expected but contains:
{ "isFulfilled": false, "isRejected": false }
where I expect the return message of action2 (which reads a Google Sheets API) and parses the result:
{
"duration": 139,
"name": "getEventCfps",
"subject": "me#email.com",
...
"response": {
"result": {
"message": [
{
"location": "Atlanta, GA",
"url": "https://werise.tech/",
"event": "We RISE Women in Tech Conference",
"cfp-deadline": "3/31/2017",
...
}
]
},
"success": true,
"status": "success"
},
...
}
So I am expecting I am not parsing the '.then(result' variable in action1 correctly? cause when I test action2 separately, from outside OpenWhisk via Postman or API Connect, or directly by 'Run this action' in OpenWhisk/Bluemix it returns the correct values.
Update2:
Alright solved. I was calling the ow.actions.invoke to action2 in a function that was called within the action1, this nesting of returns, caused the issue. When I moved the invoke code directly in the main function, all resolved as expected. Double trouble when nesting promises and returns. Mea culpa. Thanks everyone

Answer 1

You need to return a Promise in your function try this
var openwhisk = require('openwhisk');
function main(args){
const name = '/whisk.system/utils/echo';
const blocking = true;
const params = { param1: 'sthing'};
var ow = openwhisk();
return ow.actions.invoke({name, blocking, params})
.then(result => {
console.log('result: ', result);
return result;
}).catch(err => {
console.error('failed to invoke actions', err);
throw err;
});
}

Answer 2

If you just want to invoke the action:
var openwhisk = require('openwhisk');
function main(args) {
var ow = openwhisk();
const name = args.action;
const blocking = false
const result = false
const params = args;
ow.actions.invoke({
name,
blocking,
result,
params
});
return {
statusCode: 200,
body: 'Action ' + name + ' invoked successfully'
};
}
If you want to wait for the result of the invoked action:
var openwhisk = require('openwhisk');
function main(args) {
var ow = openwhisk();
const name = args.action;
const blocking = false
const result = false
const params = args;
return ow.actions.invoke({
name,
blocking,
result,
params
}).then(function (res) {
return {
statusCode: 200,
body: res
};
});
}