[ColdBox 3.8.1] Issue with MethodInvocation arguments

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1

I am working with some AOP components and I am having issues working with arguments. What I get from calling getArgs() appears to be a special Railo datatype (“Scope Arguments”) which seems to be a sort of composite key structure/map/array (I am not very familiar with the Java datatypes).

When I call a method with a single argument that is being advised and dump the arguments I get:

1|1|bar

When I call the same method but use a named argument I get:

foo>1|bar 1 |2|bar

This is causing me a bit of consternation. I can’t just use structKeyExists(invocation.getArgs(), “foo”), I have to somehow account for the method also being called without named arguments. And since the same argument shows up as two values within the “array” I can’t rely on the order be the same every time.

Is this an issue with Railo? Does anyone have a workaround?

2

> I have to somehow account for the method also being called without named arguments

Does the method being advised declare the “foo” argument or does it accept unknown args?

> I can’t rely on the order be the same every time

I’m curious what value you get if you access arguments[1]

It certainly doesn’t seem like the argument should be duplicated in any scenario. Can you confirm in the named argument scenario, you only passed in a single argument. AOP doesn’t “do” anything to the arguments. it just captures the entire structure/array and then passes it straight back when you call getArgs(). What version of Railo are you on?

Thanks!

~Brad

ColdBox Platform Evangelist
Ortus Solutions, Corp

E-mail: brad@coldbox.org
ColdBox Platform: http://www.coldbox.org
Blog: http://www.codersrevolution.com

3

I just created a quick ColdBox 3.8 site using CommandBox to test (Railo 4.2.1).

coldbox create app myApp --installColdBox
start

I activated AOP in config/WireBox.cfc:

listeners = [
{ class=“coldbox.system.aop.Mixer”, name=“”, properties={} }
]

And mapped the method logger advice:

mapAspect( ‘MethodLogger’ ).to( ‘coldbox.system.aop.aspects.MethodLogger’ );

bindAspect(classes=match().mappings(‘test’),methods=match().any(),aspects=“MethodLogger”);

I put this at the top of the method logger:

writeDump( arguments.invocation.getArgs() );abort;

My /model/Test.cfc was just this at first:

component {
function test( ) { }
}

Then I called it two different ways:

getModel( ‘test’ ).test( ‘foo’ );

Scope Arguments
1 1
string foo

getModel( ‘test’ ).test( foo=‘bar’ );

Scope Arguments
foo 1
string bar

Then I updated the test method to this:

function test( foo ) {}

And ran the same two tests:

getModel( ‘test’ ).test( ‘foo’ );

Scope Arguments
1 1
string foo

getModel( ‘test’ ).test( foo=‘bar’ );

Scope Arguments
foo 1
string bar

Everything there seems correct and consistent with how arguments work in CF. Perhaps you are on an old version of Railo?

Thanks!

~Brad

ColdBox Platform Evangelist
Ortus Solutions, Corp

E-mail: brad@coldbox.org
ColdBox Platform: http://www.coldbox.org
Blog: http://www.codersrevolution.com

4

Hey Brad,

Yes, the method does declare its arguments. I was able to recreate your results, so as far as the numeric key being reliable things look good. I am still frustrated with the fact that I can’t just refer to the arguments by name all of the time like I could in ColdSpring. After a closer look at what is going on, where I run into issues is when I try to manipulate the values of the arguments. For example, if I try to change the value of the first argument args[1] = prefix & args[1] that is when I end up with the double value.

So I start off with:

function foo(bar) {
}

foo(‘test’); or foo(bar=‘test’);

When I dump the arguments in the advisor I get:

bar | 1 | test

But then I try to change the value. Since I can’t rely on the argument name being available I have to use the index so:

var args = invocation.getArgs();
args[1] = ‘baz’ & args[1];

This works fine for unnamed arguments but if I call the method with named arguments and then dump after the manipulation I get:

bar | 1 | test
1 | 2 | baztest

Essentially it looks like Railo doesn’t like that I am trying to manipulate the values using the index rather than the key. But if I can’t rely on the key being there then I can’t use the key.

If I use the key to manipulate the value when the method is called with named arguments everything works ok too.

foo(bar=‘test’);
…
var args = invocation.getArgs();
args.key = ‘baz’ & args.key;
…
bar | 1 | baztest

But this will of course cause an error if the method is called without named arguments.

So I can come up with a solution that either works for named arguments or works for unnamed arguments but not for both.

This is on Railo 4.1.2.005

5

Essentially Railo is allowing me to read from the Scope Arguments struct using an index but it gets confused when I try to write to the struct using the index. It assumes that the index I am using to write is actually a key.

6

Have you posted on the Railo list/raised a ticket yet? This sounds like it could be a bug. The issue is probably the nebulous behavior of guessing whether arguments[1] is the item indexed at one OR a key named “1”.

I’m not sure why the argument names aren’t being kept if they’re declared. It totally works in a simple test case:

function func1(){

func2( argumentCollection=arguments );
}

function func2( param1, param2 ){
writeDump(arguments); abort;

}

func1( ‘value1’, ‘value2’ );

In the mean time, this undocumented method on the arguments object will let you set a specific item by index:

arguments.setE(1, ‘test’);

That sets the first argument to ‘test’ regardless of name. You can see these methods by dumping getMetaData(arguments)

Thanks!

~Brad

ColdBox Platform Evangelist
Ortus Solutions, Corp

E-mail: brad@coldbox.org
ColdBox Platform: http://www.coldbox.org
Blog: http://www.codersrevolution.com

7

Thanks Brad. No I have not opened a ticket with the Railo team yet.

8

I’m having this same issue. It’s definitely a Railo bug, as my code is now producing errors where it didn’t before, I suspect after and update. I’m getting errors such as “key [paid] doesn’t exist in argument scope. existing keys are [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]”.

AJ - did you raise a ticket for this?

Tom.