jsr372-experts@javaserverfaces-spec-public.java.net

[jsr372-experts] Re: [jsr372-experts mirror] Re: Re: Re: problems with jsf.push.init(...) specification and token generation

From: Bauke Scholtz <balusc_at_gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2016 16:25:54 +0100

Hi,

As per
https://java.net/projects/mojarra/sources/git/revision/acb658925ed54206f0844f7eb88d5035218e22b3
the WebsocketHandler has been turned into UIWebsocket implementing
ClientBehaviorHolder. Now f:ajax is supported as per below javadoc update:

 * <h3 id="ui"><a href="#ui">Ajax support</a></h3>
 * <p>
 * In case you'd like to perform complex UI updates depending on the
received push message, then you can nest
 * <code>&lt;f:ajax&gt;</code> inside <code>&lt;f:websocket&gt;</code>.
Here's an example:
 * <pre>
 * &lt;h:panelGroup id="foo"&gt;
 * ... (some complex UI here) ...
 * &lt;/h:panelGroup&gt;
 *
 * &lt;h:form&gt;
 * &lt;f:websocket channel="someChannel" scope="view"&gt;
 * &lt;f:ajax event="someEvent" listener="#{bean.pushed}"
render=":foo" /&gt;
 * &lt;/f:websocket&gt;
 * &lt;/h:form&gt;
 * </pre>
 * <p>
 * Here, the push message simply represents the ajax event name. You can
use any custom event name.
 * <pre>
 * someChannel.send("someEvent");
 * </pre>

And, jsf.push.init/open/close now take client ID instead of channel name.

One thing that's still open is having a ViewHandler#getWebsocketURL(). I
will work on that later this week.

Cheers, B

On Fri, Oct 28, 2016 at 5:54 AM, Leonardo Uribe <leonardo.uribe_at_irian.at>
wrote:

> Hi
>
> Good to know that. Thanks!
>
> regards,
>
> Leonardo Uribe
>
>
> 2016-10-27 3:07 GMT-05:00 Bauke Scholtz <balusc_at_gmail.com>:
>
>> I have reopened https://java.net/jira/browse/JAVASERVERFACES_SPEC_
>> PUBLIC-1396
>>
>> Cheers, B
>>
>> On Fri, Oct 21, 2016 at 4:08 AM, Leonardo Uribe <leonardo.uribe_at_irian.at>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi
>>>
>>> I just wanted to mention the declaration of jsf.push.init(...) that
>>> works better in my personal opinion, based on the previous
>>> discussions:
>>>
>>> jsf.push.init(clientId, url, onopen, onmessage, onclose,
>>> behaviorScripts, connected);
>>>
>>> Example:
>>>
>>> <div>
>>> <h:outputText id="currentTime" value="#{clockBean.currentTime}"/>
>>> </div>
>>>
>>> <f:websocket channel="clock" scope="application"
>>> onopen="socketOpen"
>>> onclose="socketClose">
>>> <f:ajax event="showCurrentTime"
>>> execute="currentTime"
>>> render="currentTime"/>
>>> </f:websocket>
>>>
>>> Generates this script:
>>>
>>> <script type="text/javascript"><!--
>>> jsf.push.init('mainForm:j_id_p',
>>> '/test-webapp-cdi/javax.faces.
>>> push/clock?e82c26b5ccc2a5651571de6818cbfab0',
>>> socketOpen,
>>> null,
>>> socketClose,
>>> {showCurrentTime:[function(event){
>>> jsf.ajax.request('mainForm:j_i
>>> d_p',event,{execute:'mainForm:currentTime
>>> ',render:'mainForm:currentTime ','javax.faces.behavior.event'
>>> :'showCurrentTime'})}
>>> ]},true);
>>> //--></script>
>>>
>>> Only if the port is set in the global web config param, the url will
>>> include it full.
>>>
>>> The only thing to mention is the channel name and the channel token are
>>> derived from the URL, which means the URL should always end in that way
>>> if it is overriden (portlet case usually overrides everything).
>>> The other option is pass both as parameters of jsf.push.init(...), but
>>> maybe
>>> that's not necessary, better to keep it simple.
>>>
>>> regards,
>>>
>>> Leonardo Uribe
>>>
>>>
>>> 2016-10-18 15:33 GMT-05:00 Leonardo Uribe <leonardo.uribe_at_irian.at>:
>>>
>>>> Hi
>>>>
>>>> BS>> As to clustering, do server and WS specific specifics really have
>>>> to end up in JSF specification too?
>>>>
>>>> No, instead we do what we can with what we have. This is not something
>>>> that we can fix from here.
>>>>
>>>> But we could ask websocket api EG about this for clarification.
>>>>
>>>> BS>> As to auto-reconnect (not auto-connect), yes I agree that some
>>>> API-provided configuration settings
>>>> BS>> would be useful. Mojarra's implementation does 25 attempts with an
>>>> incremental interval
>>>> BS>> of 500ms, starting with 0ms. I only wonder what parts should be
>>>> configureable by API. The
>>>> BS>> amount of reconnect attempts? If zero or negative, then it's
>>>> considered as disabled.
>>>>
>>>> I was thinking about use a exponential backoff algorithm. But the
>>>> problem here is it depends of what
>>>> the developer wants. If he/she wants real time, the reconnection could
>>>> be different. The key point is
>>>> this could be a candidate parameter to be decided at deployment stage.
>>>> If this is a config parameter,
>>>> you can override it in web.xml without change the code. But if this is
>>>> not considered relevant for
>>>> the spec, we can just let this as an implementation detail.
>>>>
>>>> This is a design decision. My only intention here is to mention it.
>>>>
>>>> regards,
>>>>
>>>> Leonardo Uribe
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 2016-10-15 1:19 GMT-05:00 Bauke Scholtz <balusc_at_gmail.com>:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>> As to clustering, do server and WS specific specifics really have to
>>>>> end up in JSF specification too?
>>>>>
>>>>> As to auto-reconnect (not auto-connect), yes I agree that some
>>>>> API-provided configuration settings would be useful. Mojarra's
>>>>> implementation does 25 attempts with an incremental interval of 500ms,
>>>>> starting with 0ms. I only wonder what parts should be configureable by API.
>>>>> The amount of reconnect attempts? If zero or negative, then it's considered
>>>>> as disabled.
>>>>>
>>>>> Cheers, B
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, Oct 14, 2016 at 8:06 PM, Leonardo Uribe <
>>>>> leonardo.uribe_at_irian.at> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi
>>>>>>
>>>>>> BS>> As to clustering, see writeObject() and readObject() methods of
>>>>>> OmniFaces
>>>>>> BS>> o:socket SocketChannelManager class (on which Mojarra's
>>>>>> f:websocket
>>>>>> BS>> WebsocketChannelManager class is largely based).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Please note I'm writing an implementation of f:websocket from
>>>>>> scratch, so I'm
>>>>>> trying do not see omnifaces code. I have checked the methods and
>>>>>> anyway it
>>>>>> doesn't solve the problem related to Session migration, because this
>>>>>> code is
>>>>>> not detecting when the Session instance has been migrated. But it
>>>>>> supports the
>>>>>> point that the token is not application scope, because you need to
>>>>>> move
>>>>>> the related data using a session scope bean. But as I said, this is
>>>>>> implementation specific, doesn't change the spec.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> BS>> As to dropping "connected", I don't understand why you consider
>>>>>> it an
>>>>>> BS>> application wide setting instead of a socket specific setting.
>>>>>> How do you
>>>>>> BS>> want to let the client have control over manually opening a
>>>>>> specific
>>>>>> BS>> socket via jsf.push.open("channel") during e.g. an onclick event
>>>>>> only?
>>>>>> BS>> See also javax.faces.push.Push javadoc and o:socket showcase.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My mistake here, I just read this in the javadoc:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "... You can use the optional connected attribute to control whether
>>>>>> to
>>>>>> auto-connect the web socket or not. ..."
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But I was thinking about how the websockets connects in case of a
>>>>>> disconnection between the client and the server.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In other words, what I wanted to say is the way how the client
>>>>>> attempts to
>>>>>> reconnect to the server is something that you would like to control
>>>>>> using a
>>>>>> web config param. How many attemps, the timeout and so on. Maybe pass
>>>>>> these config as an array in jsf.push.init(...) is a good idea.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Please note I haven't implemented this attribute on my code yet, so
>>>>>> I'm
>>>>>> reporting on the mailing list what I'm seeing. I have not checked the
>>>>>> showcase, because I do not want to bias my own judgment. The idea is
>>>>>> the documentation in the spec should be good enough to give an idea
>>>>>> about how it works. That's the way we ensure spec's quality. So, I
>>>>>> have
>>>>>> not digested every single line, but I'm on the way.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> regards,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Leonardo Uribe
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 2016-10-14 2:39 GMT-05:00 Bauke Scholtz <balusc_at_gmail.com>:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> As to clustering, see writeObject() and readObject() methods of
>>>>>>> OmniFaces o:socket SocketChannelManager class (on which Mojarra's
>>>>>>> f:websocket WebsocketChannelManager class is largely based).
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> As to dropping "connected", I don't understand why you consider it
>>>>>>> an application wide setting instead of a socket specific setting. How do
>>>>>>> you want to let the client have control over manually opening a specific
>>>>>>> socket via jsf.push.open("channel") during e.g. an onclick event only? See
>>>>>>> also javax.faces.push.Push javadoc and o:socket showcase.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Cheers, B
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Fri, Oct 14, 2016 at 4:19 AM, Leonardo Uribe <
>>>>>>> leonardo.uribe_at_irian.at> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Hi
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> BS>> I do agree that the full url should be generated by the server
>>>>>>>> BS>> and passed to the client. I will look into it.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Ok, thanks. I just want to add that the "port" attribute is
>>>>>>>> something that
>>>>>>>> should be set using a global web config param, because this is
>>>>>>>> common
>>>>>>>> for all the application and depends on the deployment configuration.
>>>>>>>> Please also consider if "connect" can be a global web config param
>>>>>>>> instead
>>>>>>>> an attribute too.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> BS>> The "token" is application scoped not session scoped.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The logic behind this is something I have been thinking for a long
>>>>>>>> time.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Before start, I want to be clear that the suggested proposal is
>>>>>>>> provide
>>>>>>>> a point in the spec to allow customize the token generation by
>>>>>>>> security
>>>>>>>> purposes. The way how a token is used is considered an
>>>>>>>> implementation
>>>>>>>> specific concern, but in order to enrich the understanding of this
>>>>>>>> component I'll put my thoughts about this here.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> There is a precedent that suggest an application scope token is not
>>>>>>>> a good
>>>>>>>> idea. See:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> - https://java.net/jira/browse/JAVASERVERFACES_SPEC_PUBLIC-694
>>>>>>>> Current Flash specification breaks clustering
>>>>>>>> - https://java.net/jira/browse/JAVASERVERFACES-1449
>>>>>>>> Modify flash to support clustering
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The description says: "... Currently the flash implementation is
>>>>>>>> entirely
>>>>>>>> stored in the Application scope. This makes it unclusterable. Make
>>>>>>>> it so
>>>>>>>> data stored in the flash is cluster friendly. ..."
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Now, as you already know, f:websocket requires to register an
>>>>>>>> Endpoint
>>>>>>>> and in that place there is no HttpSession (there is on handshake),
>>>>>>>> so from that point the only valid CDI beans are application scoped.
>>>>>>>> So, the active websocket Session instances should be registered in
>>>>>>>> an
>>>>>>>> application scoped bean.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> There are two points to keep in mind:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> - Clustering relies on session replication, and application scope
>>>>>>>> is not
>>>>>>>> replicated among nodes.
>>>>>>>> - Application scope means a potential for memory leaks, if the map
>>>>>>>> does not
>>>>>>>> have proper cleanup measures.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> If you make the token application scope, that means multiple views
>>>>>>>> share the
>>>>>>>> same token, but it also means there is no way to keep track of each
>>>>>>>> connection in the application scope bean. So, at the end you will
>>>>>>>> end up with
>>>>>>>> stale session instances, and that's not good.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> If the websocket lifetime is shorter than the view lifetime, it is
>>>>>>>> only
>>>>>>>> natural that the token should be view scope. That means, for each
>>>>>>>> combination
>>>>>>>> of channel, scope and user it should be one channel token per view.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The channel token is generated on render response time, so the way
>>>>>>>> to do it
>>>>>>>> is generate the token and store it in a view scope bean. If
>>>>>>>> @PreDestroy is
>>>>>>>> properly implemented for view scope beans, we can rely on that to
>>>>>>>> destroy in
>>>>>>>> a ordered way the token and the associated websocket Session
>>>>>>>> instances from
>>>>>>>> the application scope bean. If the session is destroyed,
>>>>>>>> @PreDestroy will
>>>>>>>> be called anyway, so with this we can avoid the memory leak.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> If you see the problem from a "cluster" point of view, if the token
>>>>>>>> is
>>>>>>>> application scope and the session is migrated to another node, the
>>>>>>>> token will
>>>>>>>> not be registered in the application scope of the target node, so
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> connection will not be accepted. Please note there is no CDI
>>>>>>>> session scope
>>>>>>>> in Endpoint.onOpen, but there is on the handshake request, so the
>>>>>>>> solution
>>>>>>>> is to register the valid tokens on session scope, so they can be
>>>>>>>> validated
>>>>>>>> later in that point. It could be variants to avoid store the tokens
>>>>>>>> on
>>>>>>>> session scope, but the problem is this feature is "CDI centric", so
>>>>>>>> it is
>>>>>>>> hard to initialize a FacesContext instance on the Endpoint. It can
>>>>>>>> be done,
>>>>>>>> but we need more "plumbing" to do it. In that case, we need a method
>>>>>>>> on ViewHandler to validate the websocket token (remember
>>>>>>>> ResponseStateManager is tied to RenderKit, and here there is view
>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>> no renderkit reference).
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Websocket spec says this about clustering:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> "... Websocket implementations that are part of a distributed
>>>>>>>> container may
>>>>>>>> need to migrate websocket sessions from one node to another in the
>>>>>>>> case of a
>>>>>>>> failover. ..."
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> This blows up any storage of Session into an application scope
>>>>>>>> bean, because
>>>>>>>> it says the session can be moved between nodes, so in that case,
>>>>>>>> the migrated
>>>>>>>> Session will not be registered into the application scope bean. But
>>>>>>>> this
>>>>>>>> can be accepted, because probably in that case the websocket
>>>>>>>> connection
>>>>>>>> could be reopened, and the problem silently dissapear. This could
>>>>>>>> be a
>>>>>>>> potential websocket spec pitfall, where the spec says that the
>>>>>>>> websocket
>>>>>>>> sessions can be moved between nodes, but does not provide a way to
>>>>>>>> identify
>>>>>>>> when this has happened and take proper actions (like register the
>>>>>>>> Session in
>>>>>>>> the application scope bean).
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> In conclusion, the important thing about the websocket token is
>>>>>>>> that it helps
>>>>>>>> to identify the connection and its associated properties. If two
>>>>>>>> f:websocket
>>>>>>>> declarations share the same channel, user and scope, both should
>>>>>>>> have the
>>>>>>>> same token "at least" at view level. I think both implementations
>>>>>>>> can agree
>>>>>>>> on that assumption.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> No, thinking on jsf.push.init(...) I would like to propose this
>>>>>>>> structure for
>>>>>>>> the EG consideration:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> jsf.push.init(clientId, url, onopen, onmessage, onclose,
>>>>>>>> behaviorScripts);
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> removing "port" and "connected" (use web config parameters for
>>>>>>>> that).
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The clientId helps to identify from which tag these properties
>>>>>>>> belong, and
>>>>>>>> make possible to reuse the same websocket connection among
>>>>>>>> f:websocket
>>>>>>>> declarations. I'll explain this in another email, this is a work in
>>>>>>>> progress,
>>>>>>>> but for now I'm sure we could agree with this function declaration.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> regards,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Leonardo Uribe
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 2016-10-13 2:10 GMT-05:00 Bauke Scholtz <balusc_at_gmail.com>:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> The "token" is application scoped not session scoped. I do agree
>>>>>>>>> that the full url should be generated by the server and passed to the
>>>>>>>>> client. I will look into it.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Cheers ,B
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On Tue, Oct 4, 2016, 05:36 Leonardo Uribe <leonardo.uribe_at_irian.at>
>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Hi
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Following a more exhaustive review of f:websockets, I have found
>>>>>>>>>> some
>>>>>>>>>> inconsistencies related to the way how a connection is specified.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Please note there is no mention of jsf.push.init(...) in the
>>>>>>>>>> javascript documentation, but the package jsf.push is there.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Here is an example:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> <script type="text/javascript">
>>>>>>>>>> jsf.push.init(8080,'clock?1e4ac202-2b21-434f-8431-de5d5e4d37fe',
>>>>>>>>>> socketOpen,socketListener,socketClose,true);</script>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> If you use "jsf" javascript package, every method there should be
>>>>>>>>>> specified
>>>>>>>>>> without exceptions. I know this feature is a "work in progress"
>>>>>>>>>> but I just
>>>>>>>>>> wanted to notice this fact.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Other thing to notice is there is a session token used to
>>>>>>>>>> identify the
>>>>>>>>>> connection. This is something related to state management, so I
>>>>>>>>>> was expecting
>>>>>>>>>> a method inside ResponseStateManager, in the same way there is a
>>>>>>>>>> method
>>>>>>>>>> there called:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> public String getCryptographicallyStrongTokenFromSession(FacesContext
>>>>>>>>>> context)
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> to handle protected views. Something like:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> public String getCryptographicallyStrongToke
>>>>>>>>>> nForWebsocketSession(FacesContext context)
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> It is only the token generation what we need here, not the
>>>>>>>>>> websocket
>>>>>>>>>> session handling.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> At last, there is a problem with passing params to assemble the
>>>>>>>>>> url used
>>>>>>>>>> for the connection in the client. It has been a long standing
>>>>>>>>>> policy in JSF
>>>>>>>>>> to generate urls on the server and pass them to the client. But
>>>>>>>>>> in the
>>>>>>>>>> javascript documentation a new variable was added called:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> jsf.contextpath
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> with description "... The result of calling
>>>>>>>>>> ExternalContext.getRequestContextPath(). ..."
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> It looks like something recently added, so I guess it should be
>>>>>>>>>> something
>>>>>>>>>> related to jsf.push.init(...) script.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> The problem here is there is no way for the server to override
>>>>>>>>>> this path,
>>>>>>>>>> and in cases like portlets for example, it is necessary to
>>>>>>>>>> provide a way
>>>>>>>>>> to override this part properly. So the url used to connect must
>>>>>>>>>> be built
>>>>>>>>>> fully on the server and use the known ViewHandler -
>>>>>>>>>> ExternalContext
>>>>>>>>>> pattern. Additionally, embed this variable in the js file breaks
>>>>>>>>>> any
>>>>>>>>>> caching strategy. If the content is dynamic, embed it as an
>>>>>>>>>> inline script,
>>>>>>>>>> but in this case it is better to avoid that.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> regards,
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Leonardo Uribe
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>