Rxjava User-Retry observable with .cache operator? - reactive-programming

Question

i've an observable that I create with the following code.
Observable.create(new Observable.OnSubscribe<ReturnType>() {
#Override
public void call(Subscriber<? super ReturnType> subscriber) {
try {
if (!subscriber.isUnsubscribed()) {
subscriber.onNext(performRequest());
}
subscriber.onCompleted();
} catch (Exception e) {
subscriber.onError(e);
}
}
});
performRequest() will perform a long running task as you might expect.
Now, since i might be launching the same Observable twice or more in a very short amount of time, I decided to write such transformer:
protected Observable.Transformer<ReturnType, ReturnType> attachToRunningTaskIfAvailable() {
return origObservable -> {
synchronized (mapOfRunningTasks) {
// If not in maps
if ( ! mapOfRunningTasks.containsKey(getCacheKey()) ) {
Timber.d("Cache miss for %s", getCacheKey());
mapOfRunningTasks.put(
getCacheKey(),
origObservable
.doOnTerminate(() -> {
Timber.d("Removed from tasks %s", getCacheKey());
synchronized (mapOfRunningTasks) {
mapOfRunningTasks.remove(getCacheKey());
}
})
.cache()
);
} else {
Timber.d("Cache Hit for %s", getCacheKey());
}
return mapOfRunningTasks.get(getCacheKey());
}
};
}
Which basically puts the original .cache observable in a HashMap<String, Observable>.
This basically disallows multiple requests with the same getCacheKey() (Example login) to call performRequest() in parallel. Instead, if a second login request arrives while another is in progress, the second request observable gets "discarded" and the already-running will be used instead. => All the calls to onNext are going to be cached and sent to both subscribers actually hitting my backend only once.
Now, suppouse this code:
// Observable loginTask
public void doLogin(Observable<UserInfo> loginTask) {
loginTask.subscribe(
(userInfo) -> {},
(throwable) -> {
if (userWantsToRetry()) {
doLogin(loinTask);
}
}
);
}
Where loginTask was composed with the previous transformer. Well, when an error occurs (might be connectivity) and the userWantsToRetry() then i'll basically re-call the method with the same observable. Unfortunately that has been cached and I'll receive the same error without hitting performRequest() again since the sequence gets replayed.
Is there a way I could have both the "same requests grouping" behavior that the transformer provides me AND the retry button?

Answer 1

Your question has a lot going on and it's hard to put it into direct terms. I can make a couple recommendations though. Firstly your Observable.create can be simplified by using an Observable.defer(Func0<Observable<T>>). This will run the func every time a new subscriber is subscribed and catch and channel any exceptions to the subscriber's onError.
Observable.defer(() -> {
return Observable.just(performRequest());
});
Next, you can use observable.repeatWhen(Func1<Observable<Void>, Observable<?>>) to decide when you want to retry. Repeat operators will re-subscribe to the observable after an onComplete event. This particular overload will send an event to a subject when an onComplete event is received. The function you provide will receive this subject. Your function should call something like takeWhile(predicate) and onComplete when you do not want to retry again.
Observable.just(1,2,3).flatMap((Integer num) -> {
final AtomicInteger tryCount = new AtomicInteger(0);
return Observable.just(num)
.repeatWhen((Observable<? extends Void> notifications) ->
notifications.takeWhile((x) -> num == 2 && tryCount.incrementAndGet() != 3));
})
.subscribe(System.out::println);
Output:
1
2
2
2
3
The above example shows that retries are aloud when the event is not 2 and up to a max of 22 retries. If you switch to a repeatWhen then the flatMap would contain your decision as to use a cached observable or the realWork observable. Hope this helps!