GWT JSONParser.parseStrict - gwt

I have been using JSONParser's parse method without many issues.
Recently, I decided to pay attention to a deprecation notice that I had been seeing. It recommended that I use either parseStrict or parseLenient.
So, I decided to try out parseStrict.
I declared a json string...
String jsonstr = "{value : [12,34],[56,78]]}";
...I confirmed that it worked with good old parse...
JSONValue jsv = JSONParser.parse(jsonstr);
...and an alert window tells me value of jsv was this:
{"value" : [12,34],[56,78]]}
Then I used parseStrict on the same string:
JSONValue jsv = JSONParser.parseStrict(jsonstr);
But my GWT app crashed with an exception!
What are the requirements in using parseStrict (vs parse)? Wny did it trip on such a simple little json string?
Uncaught exception escaped
com.google.gwt.event.shared.UmbrellaException: One or more exceptions caught, see full set in UmbrellaException#getCauses
at com.google.gwt.event.shared.HandlerManager.fireEvent(HandlerManager.java:129)
......
at com.google.gwt.json.client.JSONParser.evaluate(JSONParser.java)
at com.google.gwt.json.client.JSONParser.parse(JSONParser.java:218)
at com.google.gwt.json.client.JSONParser.parseStrict(JSONParser.java:87)

In the strictest sense, the JSON you've provided just isn't strictly correct.
JSON key values should be surrounded by double quotes as described in the JSON spec, so your example JSON should be as follows:
String jsonstr = "{\"value\" : [[12,34],[56,78]]}";
Also, it appears that your braces ([]) don't match up (which I have also corrected).
In summary, it could be either the missing matching brace, or the lack of double quotes. To find out, you can wrap the offending code in a try / catch block and do as the stack trace suggests. Namely, call the getCauses method on the exception:
try {
JSONValue jsv = JSONParser.parseStrict(jsonstr);
} catch (UmbrellaException e) {
Set causes = e.getCauses();
//actually find out what the problem was
}
Note: JSONParser.parse just uses eval under the hood so be careful when using it!

Related

FilterOperator bug in using quotes, same code different behavior across systems/time

this.getView().getModel().read("/QualificationProficiencySet", {
filters: [new sap.ui.model.Filter({
path: "Qobjid",
operator: sap.ui.model.FilterOperator.EQ,
value1: nQObjid
})],
success: function(data) {
that._profData = data.results;
that._oQuickView.setModel(new sap.ui.model.json.JSONModel(that._profData), "proficiencyModel");
// delay because addDependent will do a async rerendering and the actionSheet will immediately close without it.
jQuery.sap.delayedCall(200, that, function() {
that._oQuickView.openBy(oLink);
});
},
error: function(evt) {}
});
nQObjidis of type string - always.
Yesterday on our development system I saw the error
"Invalid parametertype used at function 'eq' (Position: 8)"
I noticed that the filter was appended in the URL without single quotes around the value of nQObjid. Strange because at the moment it's added as the value of the filter operator it's clearly a string. I couldn't find any related issues, but I put a (dirty) workaround in place by doing value1: "'"+nQObjid+"'".
This worked, until today, same system, didn't change the code, but suddenly the quotes are part of the value inside the gateway. So I remove the "'"again and tested, works. Then I transport the solution to production to find out that I now have the same problem on production with "Invalid parametertype used at function 'eq'.. Another user on production does not have this issue, so I'm a bit lost.
Similar issue: new SAPUI5 updat to 1.42 has odata bug "Invalid Parameters...
This may not solve your problem but it's too long for a comment, that's why I am posting it here:
When doing a read request, the framework is making a call to a helper class: V2 ODataModel.js Line #4231
aUrlParams = ODataUtils._createUrlParamsArray(mUrlParams);
The helper class then calls a private method: ODataUtils.js Line #72
return "$filter=" + this._createFilterParams(aFilters, oMetadata, oEntityType);
This private method is doing a bunch of stuff, most importantly calling another private method which is actually building the strings ODataUtils.js Line #128
sFilterParam = that._createFilterSegment(oFilter.sPath, oMetadata, oEntityType, oFilterSegment.operator, oFilterSegment.value1, oFilterSegment.value2, sFilterParam);
One of the first thing this method does is formatting your value, and I guess here is where your problem occurs: ODataUtils.js Line #393
oValue1 = this.formatValue(oValue1, sType);
The formatValue function takes your value and its Edm.Type and depending on that type does different stuff. If your objectId is a string, then it should put single quotes at the beginning and the end: ODataUtils.js Line #468
sValue = "'" + String(vValue).replace(/'/g, "''") + "'";
If the type is undefined or some weird value that UI5 doesn't know, then your value is simply cast to a String (which is probably what happens in your case).
Why is the type undefined or weird? That's where you come in... you have to do a little debugging to find out what the actual values are. If the UI5 code is unreadable you can put sap-ui-debug=true as an URL parameter:
my.sap.system.com:8000/sap/bc/ui5_ui5/sap/ztest/index.html?sap-ui-debug=true
If it's a timing issue (metadata has not been loaded for whatever reasons) then wrapping your code in a Promise might help:
var oModel = this.getView().getModel();
oModel.metadataLoaded().then(function() {
oModel.read("/QualificationProficiencySet", {
// ...
});
}

Rest Jersey NullPointException, unable to return list of users [duplicate]

This question's answers are a community effort. Edit existing answers to improve this post. It is not currently accepting new answers or interactions.
What are Null Pointer Exceptions (java.lang.NullPointerException) and what causes them?
What methods/tools can be used to determine the cause so that you stop the exception from causing the program to terminate prematurely?
There are two overarching types of variables in Java:
Primitives: variables that contain data. If you want to manipulate the data in a primitive variable you can manipulate that variable directly. By convention primitive types start with a lowercase letter. For example variables of type int or char are primitives.
References: variables that contain the memory address of an Object i.e. variables that refer to an Object. If you want to manipulate the Object that a reference variable refers to you must dereference it. Dereferencing usually entails using . to access a method or field, or using [ to index an array. By convention reference types are usually denoted with a type that starts in uppercase. For example variables of type Object are references.
Consider the following code where you declare a variable of primitive type int and don't initialize it:
int x;
int y = x + x;
These two lines will crash the program because no value is specified for x and we are trying to use x's value to specify y. All primitives have to be initialized to a usable value before they are manipulated.
Now here is where things get interesting. Reference variables can be set to null which means "I am referencing nothing". You can get a null value in a reference variable if you explicitly set it that way, or a reference variable is uninitialized and the compiler does not catch it (Java will automatically set the variable to null).
If a reference variable is set to null either explicitly by you or through Java automatically, and you attempt to dereference it you get a NullPointerException.
The NullPointerException (NPE) typically occurs when you declare a variable but did not create an object and assign it to the variable before trying to use the contents of the variable. So you have a reference to something that does not actually exist.
Take the following code:
Integer num;
num = new Integer(10);
The first line declares a variable named num, but it does not actually contain a reference value yet. Since you have not yet said what to point to, Java sets it to null.
In the second line, the new keyword is used to instantiate (or create) an object of type Integer, and the reference variable num is assigned to that Integer object.
If you attempt to dereference num before creating the object you get a NullPointerException. In the most trivial cases, the compiler will catch the problem and let you know that "num may not have been initialized," but sometimes you may write code that does not directly create the object.
For instance, you may have a method as follows:
public void doSomething(SomeObject obj) {
// Do something to obj, assumes obj is not null
obj.myMethod();
}
In which case, you are not creating the object obj, but rather assuming that it was created before the doSomething() method was called. Note, it is possible to call the method like this:
doSomething(null);
In which case, obj is null, and the statement obj.myMethod() will throw a NullPointerException.
If the method is intended to do something to the passed-in object as the above method does, it is appropriate to throw the NullPointerException because it's a programmer error and the programmer will need that information for debugging purposes.
In addition to NullPointerExceptions thrown as a result of the method's logic, you can also check the method arguments for null values and throw NPEs explicitly by adding something like the following near the beginning of a method:
// Throws an NPE with a custom error message if obj is null
Objects.requireNonNull(obj, "obj must not be null");
Note that it's helpful to say in your error message clearly which object cannot be null. The advantage of validating this is that 1) you can return your own clearer error messages and 2) for the rest of the method you know that unless obj is reassigned, it is not null and can be dereferenced safely.
Alternatively, there may be cases where the purpose of the method is not solely to operate on the passed in object, and therefore a null parameter may be acceptable. In this case, you would need to check for a null parameter and behave differently. You should also explain this in the documentation. For example, doSomething() could be written as:
/**
* #param obj An optional foo for ____. May be null, in which case
* the result will be ____.
*/
public void doSomething(SomeObject obj) {
if(obj == null) {
// Do something
} else {
// Do something else
}
}
Finally, How to pinpoint the exception & cause using Stack Trace
What methods/tools can be used to determine the cause so that you stop
the exception from causing the program to terminate prematurely?
Sonar with find bugs can detect NPE.
Can sonar catch null pointer exceptions caused by JVM Dynamically
Now Java 14 has added a new language feature to show the root cause of NullPointerException. This language feature has been part of SAP commercial JVM since 2006.
In Java 14, the following is a sample NullPointerException Exception message:
in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "java.util.List.size()" because "list" is null
List of situations that cause a NullPointerException to occur
Here are all the situations in which a NullPointerException occurs, that are directly* mentioned by the Java Language Specification:
Accessing (i.e. getting or setting) an instance field of a null reference. (static fields don't count!)
Calling an instance method of a null reference. (static methods don't count!)
throw null;
Accessing elements of a null array.
Synchronising on null - synchronized (someNullReference) { ... }
Any integer/floating point operator can throw a NullPointerException if one of its operands is a boxed null reference
An unboxing conversion throws a NullPointerException if the boxed value is null.
Calling super on a null reference throws a NullPointerException. If you are confused, this is talking about qualified superclass constructor invocations:
class Outer {
class Inner {}
}
class ChildOfInner extends Outer.Inner {
ChildOfInner(Outer o) {
o.super(); // if o is null, NPE gets thrown
}
}
Using a for (element : iterable) loop to loop through a null collection/array.
switch (foo) { ... } (whether its an expression or statement) can throw a NullPointerException when foo is null.
foo.new SomeInnerClass() throws a NullPointerException when foo is null.
Method references of the form name1::name2 or primaryExpression::name throws a NullPointerException when evaluated when name1 or primaryExpression evaluates to null.
a note from the JLS here says that, someInstance.someStaticMethod() doesn't throw an NPE, because someStaticMethod is static, but someInstance::someStaticMethod still throw an NPE!
* Note that the JLS probably also says a lot about NPEs indirectly.
NullPointerExceptions are exceptions that occur when you try to use a reference that points to no location in memory (null) as though it were referencing an object. Calling a method on a null reference or trying to access a field of a null reference will trigger a NullPointerException. These are the most common, but other ways are listed on the NullPointerException javadoc page.
Probably the quickest example code I could come up with to illustrate a NullPointerException would be:
public class Example {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Object obj = null;
obj.hashCode();
}
}
On the first line inside main, I'm explicitly setting the Object reference obj equal to null. This means I have a reference, but it isn't pointing to any object. After that, I try to treat the reference as though it points to an object by calling a method on it. This results in a NullPointerException because there is no code to execute in the location that the reference is pointing.
(This is a technicality, but I think it bears mentioning: A reference that points to null isn't the same as a C pointer that points to an invalid memory location. A null pointer is literally not pointing anywhere, which is subtly different than pointing to a location that happens to be invalid.)
What is a NullPointerException?
A good place to start is the JavaDocs. They have this covered:
Thrown when an application attempts to use null in a case where an
object is required. These include:
Calling the instance method of a null object.
Accessing or modifying the field of a null object.
Taking the length of null as if it were an array.
Accessing or modifying the slots of null as if it were an array.
Throwing null as if it were a Throwable value.
Applications should throw instances of this class to indicate other
illegal uses of the null object.
It is also the case that if you attempt to use a null reference with synchronized, that will also throw this exception, per the JLS:
SynchronizedStatement:
synchronized ( Expression ) Block
Otherwise, if the value of the Expression is null, a NullPointerException is thrown.
How do I fix it?
So you have a NullPointerException. How do you fix it? Let's take a simple example which throws a NullPointerException:
public class Printer {
private String name;
public void setName(String name) {
this.name = name;
}
public void print() {
printString(name);
}
private void printString(String s) {
System.out.println(s + " (" + s.length() + ")");
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Printer printer = new Printer();
printer.print();
}
}
Identify the null values
The first step is identifying exactly which values are causing the exception. For this, we need to do some debugging. It's important to learn to read a stacktrace. This will show you where the exception was thrown:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
at Printer.printString(Printer.java:13)
at Printer.print(Printer.java:9)
at Printer.main(Printer.java:19)
Here, we see that the exception is thrown on line 13 (in the printString method). Look at the line and check which values are null by
adding logging statements or using a debugger. We find out that s is null, and calling the length method on it throws the exception. We can see that the program stops throwing the exception when s.length() is removed from the method.
Trace where these values come from
Next check where this value comes from. By following the callers of the method, we see that s is passed in with printString(name) in the print() method, and this.name is null.
Trace where these values should be set
Where is this.name set? In the setName(String) method. With some more debugging, we can see that this method isn't called at all. If the method was called, make sure to check the order that these methods are called, and the set method isn't called after the print method.
This is enough to give us a solution: add a call to printer.setName() before calling printer.print().
Other fixes
The variable can have a default value (and setName can prevent it being set to null):
private String name = "";
Either the print or printString method can check for null, for example:
printString((name == null) ? "" : name);
Or you can design the class so that name always has a non-null value:
public class Printer {
private final String name;
public Printer(String name) {
this.name = Objects.requireNonNull(name);
}
public void print() {
printString(name);
}
private void printString(String s) {
System.out.println(s + " (" + s.length() + ")");
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Printer printer = new Printer("123");
printer.print();
}
}
See also:
Avoiding “!= null” statements in Java?
I still can't find the problem
If you tried to debug the problem and still don't have a solution, you can post a question for more help, but make sure to include what you've tried so far. At a minimum, include the stacktrace in the question, and mark the important line numbers in the code. Also, try simplifying the code first (see SSCCE).
Question: What causes a NullPointerException (NPE)?
As you should know, Java types are divided into primitive types (boolean, int, etc.) and reference types. Reference types in Java allow you to use the special value null which is the Java way of saying "no object".
A NullPointerException is thrown at runtime whenever your program attempts to use a null as if it was a real reference. For example, if you write this:
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String foo = null;
int length = foo.length(); // HERE
}
}
the statement labeled "HERE" is going to attempt to run the length() method on a null reference, and this will throw a NullPointerException.
There are many ways that you could use a null value that will result in a NullPointerException. In fact, the only things that you can do with a null without causing an NPE are:
assign it to a reference variable or read it from a reference variable,
assign it to an array element or read it from an array element (provided that array reference itself is non-null!),
pass it as a parameter or return it as a result, or
test it using the == or != operators, or instanceof.
Question: How do I read the NPE stacktrace?
Suppose that I compile and run the program above:
$ javac Test.java
$ java Test
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
at Test.main(Test.java:4)
$
First observation: the compilation succeeds! The problem in the program is NOT a compilation error. It is a runtime error. (Some IDEs may warn your program will always throw an exception ... but the standard javac compiler doesn't.)
Second observation: when I run the program, it outputs two lines of "gobbledy-gook". WRONG!! That's not gobbledy-gook. It is a stacktrace ... and it provides vital information that will help you track down the error in your code if you take the time to read it carefully.
So let's look at what it says:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
The first line of the stack trace tells you a number of things:
It tells you the name of the Java thread in which the exception was thrown. For a simple program with one thread (like this one), it will be "main". Let's move on ...
It tells you the full name of the exception that was thrown; i.e. java.lang.NullPointerException.
If the exception has an associated error message, that will be output after the exception name. NullPointerException is unusual in this respect, because it rarely has an error message.
The second line is the most important one in diagnosing an NPE.
at Test.main(Test.java:4)
This tells us a number of things:
"at Test.main" says that we were in the main method of the Test class.
"Test.java:4" gives the source filename of the class, AND it tells us that the statement where this occurred is in line 4 of the file.
If you count the lines in the file above, line 4 is the one that I labeled with the "HERE" comment.
Note that in a more complicated example, there will be lots of lines in the NPE stack trace. But you can be sure that the second line (the first "at" line) will tell you where the NPE was thrown1.
In short, the stack trace will tell us unambiguously which statement of the program has thrown the NPE.
See also: What is a stack trace, and how can I use it to debug my application errors?
1 - Not quite true. There are things called nested exceptions...
Question: How do I track down the cause of the NPE exception in my code?
This is the hard part. The short answer is to apply logical inference to the evidence provided by the stack trace, the source code, and the relevant API documentation.
Let's illustrate with the simple example (above) first. We start by looking at the line that the stack trace has told us is where the NPE happened:
int length = foo.length(); // HERE
How can that throw an NPE?
In fact, there is only one way: it can only happen if foo has the value null. We then try to run the length() method on null and... BANG!
But (I hear you say) what if the NPE was thrown inside the length() method call?
Well, if that happened, the stack trace would look different. The first "at" line would say that the exception was thrown in some line in the java.lang.String class and line 4 of Test.java would be the second "at" line.
So where did that null come from? In this case, it is obvious, and it is obvious what we need to do to fix it. (Assign a non-null value to foo.)
OK, so let's try a slightly more tricky example. This will require some logical deduction.
public class Test {
private static String[] foo = new String[2];
private static int test(String[] bar, int pos) {
return bar[pos].length();
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
int length = test(foo, 1);
}
}
$ javac Test.java
$ java Test
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
at Test.test(Test.java:6)
at Test.main(Test.java:10)
$
So now we have two "at" lines. The first one is for this line:
return args[pos].length();
and the second one is for this line:
int length = test(foo, 1);
Looking at the first line, how could that throw an NPE? There are two ways:
If the value of bar is null then bar[pos] will throw an NPE.
If the value of bar[pos] is null then calling length() on it will throw an NPE.
Next, we need to figure out which of those scenarios explains what is actually happening. We will start by exploring the first one:
Where does bar come from? It is a parameter to the test method call, and if we look at how test was called, we can see that it comes from the foo static variable. In addition, we can see clearly that we initialized foo to a non-null value. That is sufficient to tentatively dismiss this explanation. (In theory, something else could change foo to null ... but that is not happening here.)
So what about our second scenario? Well, we can see that pos is 1, so that means that foo[1] must be null. Is this possible?
Indeed it is! And that is the problem. When we initialize like this:
private static String[] foo = new String[2];
we allocate a String[] with two elements that are initialized to null. After that, we have not changed the contents of foo ... so foo[1] will still be null.
What about on Android?
On Android, tracking down the immediate cause of an NPE is a bit simpler. The exception message will typically tell you the (compile time) type of the null reference you are using and the method you were attempting to call when the NPE was thrown. This simplifies the process of pinpointing the immediate cause.
But on the flipside, Android has some common platform-specific causes for NPEs. A very common is when getViewById unexpectedly returns a null. My advice would be to search for Q&As about the cause of the unexpected null return value.
It's like you are trying to access an object which is null. Consider below example:
TypeA objA;
At this time you have just declared this object but not initialized or instantiated. And whenever you try to access any property or method in it, it will throw NullPointerException which makes sense.
See this below example as well:
String a = null;
System.out.println(a.toString()); // NullPointerException will be thrown
A null pointer exception is thrown when an application attempts to use null in a case where an object is required. These include:
Calling the instance method of a null object.
Accessing or modifying the field of a null object.
Taking the length of null as if it were an array.
Accessing or modifying the slots of null as if it were an array.
Throwing null as if it were a Throwable value.
Applications should throw instances of this class to indicate other illegal uses of the null object.
Reference: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/lang/NullPointerException.html
A null pointer is one that points to nowhere. When you dereference a pointer p, you say "give me the data at the location stored in "p". When p is a null pointer, the location stored in p is nowhere, you're saying "give me the data at the location 'nowhere'". Obviously, it can't do this, so it throws a null pointer exception.
In general, it's because something hasn't been initialized properly.
A lot of explanations are already present to explain how it happens and how to fix it, but you should also follow best practices to avoid NullPointerExceptions at all.
See also:
A good list of best practices
I would add, very important, make a good use of the final modifier.
Using the "final" modifier whenever applicable in Java
Summary:
Use the final modifier to enforce good initialization.
Avoid returning null in methods, for example returning empty collections when applicable.
Use annotations #NotNull and #Nullable
Fail fast and use asserts to avoid propagation of null objects through the whole application when they shouldn't be null.
Use equals with a known object first: if("knownObject".equals(unknownObject)
Prefer valueOf() over toString().
Use null safe StringUtils methods StringUtils.isEmpty(null).
Use Java 8 Optional as return value in methods, Optional class provide a solution for representing optional values instead of null references.
A null pointer exception is an indicator that you are using an object without initializing it.
For example, below is a student class which will use it in our code.
public class Student {
private int id;
public int getId() {
return this.id;
}
public setId(int newId) {
this.id = newId;
}
}
The below code gives you a null pointer exception.
public class School {
Student student;
public School() {
try {
student.getId();
}
catch(Exception e) {
System.out.println("Null pointer exception");
}
}
}
Because you are using student, but you forgot to initialize it like in the
correct code shown below:
public class School {
Student student;
public School() {
try {
student = new Student();
student.setId(12);
student.getId();
}
catch(Exception e) {
System.out.println("Null pointer exception");
}
}
}
In Java, everything (excluding primitive types) is in the form of a class.
If you want to use any object then you have two phases:
Declare
Initialization
Example:
Declaration: Object object;
Initialization: object = new Object();
Same for the array concept:
Declaration: Item item[] = new Item[5];
Initialization: item[0] = new Item();
If you are not giving the initialization section then the NullPointerException arise.
In Java all the variables you declare are actually "references" to the objects (or primitives) and not the objects themselves.
When you attempt to execute one object method, the reference asks the living object to execute that method. But if the reference is referencing NULL (nothing, zero, void, nada) then there is no way the method gets executed. Then the runtime let you know this by throwing a NullPointerException.
Your reference is "pointing" to null, thus "Null -> Pointer".
The object lives in the VM memory space and the only way to access it is using this references. Take this example:
public class Some {
private int id;
public int getId(){
return this.id;
}
public setId( int newId ) {
this.id = newId;
}
}
And on another place in your code:
Some reference = new Some(); // Point to a new object of type Some()
Some otherReference = null; // Initiallly this points to NULL
reference.setId( 1 ); // Execute setId method, now private var id is 1
System.out.println( reference.getId() ); // Prints 1 to the console
otherReference = reference // Now they both point to the only object.
reference = null; // "reference" now point to null.
// But "otherReference" still point to the "real" object so this print 1 too...
System.out.println( otherReference.getId() );
// Guess what will happen
System.out.println( reference.getId() ); // :S Throws NullPointerException because "reference" is pointing to NULL remember...
This an important thing to know - when there are no more references to an object (in the example above when reference and otherReference both point to null) then the object is "unreachable". There is no way we can work with it, so this object is ready to be garbage collected, and at some point, the VM will free the memory used by this object and will allocate another.
Another occurrence of a NullPointerException occurs when one declares an object array, then immediately tries to dereference elements inside of it.
String[] phrases = new String[10];
String keyPhrase = "Bird";
for(String phrase : phrases) {
System.out.println(phrase.equals(keyPhrase));
}
This particular NPE can be avoided if the comparison order is reversed; namely, use .equals on a guaranteed non-null object.
All elements inside of an array are initialized to their common initial value; for any type of object array, that means that all elements are null.
You must initialize the elements in the array before accessing or dereferencing them.
String[] phrases = new String[] {"The bird", "A bird", "My bird", "Bird"};
String keyPhrase = "Bird";
for(String phrase : phrases) {
System.out.println(phrase.equals(keyPhrase));
}

Parsing a String to Option[LocalDateTime]

I wrote a TimeFormatter to parse a String to an Option[LocalDateTime].
The API notes that either exception could be thrown.
private def convertToDateTime(date: String): Option[LocalDateTime] =
try {
Some( timeFormatter.parseLocalDateTime(date) )
}
catch { // DateTimeFormatter#parseLocalDateTime API throws these possible exceptions
case e # (_: IllegalArgumentException | _: UnsupportedOperationException) =>
log.error(s"Could not convert $date to LocalDateTime", e); None
}
Joshua Bloch notes:
Item 39: Use exceptions only for exceptional conditions.
I thought of using a regular expression to catch an error. But, I'm not sure if my reg-ex will always match jodatime's way of parsing the String to a LocalDateTime. I can trust that the API will throw those exceptions, but I'd rather not rely upon internals of the method call with a reg-ex.
From a functional point of view, I'd rather not use exceptions.
How can I write this function without exceptions?
There is nothing wrong with your code : you are not using exceptions to model non-exceptional conditions. You are handling conversion errors and turning them into a value to be returned which is perfectly acceptable.
Jodatime is using exceptions to signal invalid input (maybe not so exceptional) or the unavailability of a part of its API (completely exceptional), this is common practice in the Java world.
To actually parse dates without exceptions entirely you would need to find or reimplement a date handling library which is quite a huge endeavour.
A silent alternative to your method:
private def convertToDateTime(date: String): Option[LocalDateTime] =
Try(timeFormatter.parseLocalDateTime(date)).toOption
I have experimented with Joda-Time and found this half solution avoiding runtime exceptions even in case of wrong input:
String input = "2015-02-a29 15:24:33";
DateTimeFormatter dtf = DateTimeFormat.forPattern("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss");
DateTimeParser parser = dtf.getParser();
Chronology chronology = ISOChronology.getInstanceUTC();
DateTimeParserBucket bucket =
new DateTimeParserBucket(0L, chronology, Locale.getDefault(), 2000, 2000);
int result = parser.parseInto(bucket, input, 0);
System.out.println(result);
if (result < 0) {
System.out.println("Parsing failed at position: " + ~result);
} else {
System.out.println(new LocalDateTime(bucket.computeMillis(), chronology));
}
The output is for the given input:
-9
Parsing failed at position: 8
This is in agreement with the javadoc. However, the bad news is that this solution is not perfect. If you use the input 2015-02-29 15:24:33 (an invalid date in non-leap-year) then you get an exception because Joda-Time does not recognize in the method parseInto(...) that the parsed day-of-month is out of range and unfortunately sees it too late, namely in the method computeMillis(). The output is here:
19 // should have been negative - probably a bug!!!
Exception in thread "main" org.joda.time.IllegalFieldValueException: Value 29 for dayOfMonth must be in the range [1,28]
at org.joda.time.field.FieldUtils.verifyValueBounds(FieldUtils.java:217)
at org.joda.time.field.PreciseDurationDateTimeField.set(PreciseDurationDateTimeField.java:78)
at org.joda.time.format.DateTimeParserBucket$SavedField.set(DateTimeParserBucket.java:483)
at org.joda.time.format.DateTimeParserBucket.computeMillis(DateTimeParserBucket.java:365)
at org.joda.time.format.DateTimeParserBucket.computeMillis(DateTimeParserBucket.java:318)
at JodaPeriod.main(JodaPeriod.java:31)
Of course, for the valid input 2015-02-28 15:24:33 all is fine, and the output is
19
2015-02-28T15:24:33.000
I agree with Joshua Bloch that catching exceptions should only be used in exceptional situations. In my company architects say: Don't use exceptions for programming logic. Sometimes it is good for performance to avoid exceptions when ever possible in use-cases like processing a lot of possibly wrong data. A good API should therefore support similar solutions.
Note that other date-and-time-libraries have this option, too. For example java.text.SimpleDateFormat using an instance of class ParsePosition (there the API is even much simpler and smoothly works - although not thread-safe).
You could use the Exception api in scala.control to transform exceptions:
Your function would look something like this:
import scala.util.control.Exception._
private def convertToDateTime(date: String): Option[LocalDateTime] =
catching(classOf[Exception]) opt timeFormatter.parseLocalDateTime(date)

Xcode 6 beta 2 debugger not showing variable contents after call to String.componentsSeparatedByString

For some reason LLDB is not showing me the contents of variables while I am stepping through my Swift code. The actual execution works fine, but no matter what I try I can't see the contents of my strings!
Here's what I see in the variable list:
At this point type contains "name" and value contains "Logan". But you wouldn't be able to tell that looking here. If I use the "quick look" button, it says the value is "(None)".
And I get this kind of gibberish when I try to po a String from the console:
(lldb) po space
error: <REPL>:1:1: error: non-nominal type '$__lldb_context' cannot be extended
extension $__lldb_context {
^
<REPL>:11:5: error: 'Space.Type' does not have a member named '$__lldb_wrapped_expr_0'
$__lldb_injected_self.$__lldb_wrapped_expr_0(
^
However this varies. Sometimes I'll get something like:
class name = __NSAtom
or
Printing description of [0]:
(String) [0] = {
core = {
_baseAddress = Builtin.RawPointer = 0x00000001004016f0
_countAndFlags = -4611686018427387894
_owner = Some {
Some = (instance_type = Builtin.RawPointer = 0x0000000100401820 -> 0x00007fff7b3d5390 (void *)0x00007fff7b3d5340: __NSCFString)
}
}
}
or
Printing description of declaration:
(String) declaration = <DW_OP_piece for offset 8: top of stack is not a piece>
...but never the actual contents of the string!
Update:
I've noticed the problem only seems to start occurring once a call to componentsSeparatedByString() is made in the function. (This happens right at the top so as I was stepping I didn't notice that the debugger actually does show the value until this point.) So something weird is going on with that function. I've updated the question title to reflect this new information.
Interestingly, it seems once the string has been "corrupted" by this call, you can't view it anywhere else, even when passed to a different function. And any regular string variables are not viewable either. Definitely a bug, but I wonder if there's a workaround. It's getting really hard to debug my program!
When I've been encountering this, I've used either NSLog("\(myThing)") in the compiled code I want to debug, or have been calling expression NSLog("\(myThing)") while in the debugger's REPL
(note that you do not want to do NSLog("(someVariable)") as the expanded string could contain % format sequences - use NSLog("%#", "(someVariable)") or NSLog("%#", someVariable) instead)
I'd like to add an update: this problem still occurs in the latest versions of Xcode, both 6.2 release and 6.3 beta.
The problem is part of componentsSeparatedByString, and if you replace that with split everything works fine. I had four instances of this, and as soon as I changed them my app stopped crashing with a Zombie release of NSString, and all my variable names started working. I changed things like this...
let bits = value!.componentsSeparatedByString(" ")
with...
let bits = split(value!, { $0 == " "}, maxSplit: Int.max, allowEmptySlices: false)
I don't think split is nearly as readable, but at least it works!

GSON JsonObject "Unsupported Operation Exception: null" getAsString

Running a Play! app with Scala. I'm doing a request where the response is expected to be a JSON string. When checking the debugger, the JsonElement returns OK with all information as expected. However, the problem is when I try to actually run methods on that JsonElement.
val json = WS.url("http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?callback=?&sensor=true&address=%s", startAddress+","+startCity+","+startProvince).get.getJson
val geocoder = json.getAsString
The only error I get back is Unsupported Operation Exception: null and I've tried this on getAsString and getAsJsonObject and getAsJsonPrimitive
Any idea why it's failing on all methods? Thanks.
I had a similar problem and I had to change jsonObject.getAsString() to jsonObject.toString();
Maybe your JsonElement is a JsonNull
What you could do is to first check that it isn't by using json.isJsonNull
Otherwise, try to get its String representation with json.toString
In my case I just needed to get the element as an empty string if it is null, so I wrote a function like this:
private String getNullAsEmptyString(JsonElement jsonElement) {
return jsonElement.isJsonNull() ? "" : jsonElement.getAsString();
}
So instead of
val geocoder = json.getAsString
You can just use this
val geocoder = getNullAsEmptyString(json);
It returns "" if the element is null and the actual string if it is not
To add to #Henry's answer. In the spirit of Kotlins "OrNull" Adding an extension function:
fun JsonElement.asStringOrNull(): String? {
return if (isJsonNull) null else asString
}
The class JsonElement will throw Unsupported Operation Exception for any getAs<Type> method, because it's an abstract class and makes sense that it is implemented in this way.
For some reason the class JsonObject, does not implement the getAs<Type> methods, so any call to one of these methods will throw an exception.
Calling the toString method on a JsonElement object, may solve your issue in certain circumstances, but isn't probably what you want because it returns the json representation as String (e.g. \"value\") in some cases.
I found out that also a JsonPrimitive class exists and it does implement the getAs<Type> methods. So probably the correct way to proceed is something like this:
String input = "{\"key1\":\"value1\",\"key2\":\"value2\"}";
JsonParser parser = new JsonParser();
JsonElement jsonTree = parser.parse(input);
if(jsonTree != null && jsonTree.isJsonObject()) {
JsonObject jsonObject = jsonTree.getAsJsonObject();
value = jsonObject.get("key1").getAsJsonPrimitive().getAsString()
}
PS. I removed all the nullability mgmt part. If you are coding in Java you probably want to manage this in a better way.
see GitHub source code for JsonElement:
https://github.com/google/gson/blob/master/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonElement.java#L178