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AF Event Frame Static Attributes Cached

on Nov 29, 2018
Latest reply on Mar 14, 2019 by fmocke

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Hi Everyone,

I'm having an issue with static attributes for an event frame not getting the most recent values. Here is what I am doing:

This is the test code:

            List < AFSearchToken > tokenList = new List<AFSearchToken>();
            var name = "T001 - 2018-05-23 21:20:19.000";
            tokenList.Add(new AFSearchToken(AFSearchFilter.Name, AFSearchOperator.Equal, name));
            var search = new AFEventFrameSearch(afDb, "optional name", tokenList);
            var data = search.FindEventFrames(pageSize: 1, startIndex: 0, fullLoad: true);
            foreach (var e in data)
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"{e.Name}");


                foreach (var attribute in e.Attributes)
                {
                    var value = attribute.GetValue();
                        Console.WriteLine($"{attribute.Name} - {value.ToString()}");
                }
            }

I repeat this query (without closing my connection) and get back the same values, even after I make a change to an attribute using PSE. If I restart the application I get the new values, if I do a afDb.Refresh(), I get the new values. Is this the intended behavior?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Lonnie

Mike Zboray

Nov 30, 2018 7:51 PM

Correct Answer

This is what I get for not testing it first. This seems to be the intended behavior. "Configuration Item" affects the editing semantics (requires checkin to edit), but NOT the retrieval semantics. You must refresh in order to get the latest values for static attributes. You should try using AFDatabase.Refresh first. If that's not working for you then you might consider one of the more complicated/expensive ideas I mentioned above.

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Mike Zboray

Nov 30, 2018 5:33 PM

Yes this is how AFElement works as well, however there's one wrinkle. You must refresh the object (Element or EventFrame) to get the latest static attribute values only for attributes where IsConfigurationItem is true (or "Configuration Item" in the UI). By default all static attributes are configuration items. Perhaps a simple refresh (of the event frame or the database) will suffice but sometimes that is too slow. You have two options then. One is to use FindChangedItems to poll for changes and use AFChangeInfo.Refresh to bulk refresh objects. Another is to simply dump the entire cache using new PISystem(true). Note that you need that true parameter force initialization of a new cache or the default cache will be reused and have all the same stale objects. The latter approach can be expensive since your client then needs to reestablish a connection to the server.

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Lonnie Bowling

@ Mike Zboray on Nov 30, 2018 6:53 PM

Hi Mike,

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. Here is how my event frame template is setup:

As you can see the attribute is not set as a configuration item. I know how that works, so made sure that it was not checked (it is not set by default). So back to my original question. Why would this not work? I really don't have the option of dumping the entire cache. I can try to do the find changes items you suggest, but it seem to me that I should pick up the new values if the static field is not set as a configuration item, what do you think?

I don't think I have ran into this before, because I always made changes from the same application that was then reading the values (so the changes were updated in the cache). In this situation, I have a long running application that is reading values, but those values may be updated externally.

Lonnie

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Mike Zboray

@ Lonnie Bowling on Nov 30, 2018 7:51 PM

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Lonnie Bowling

@ Mike Zboray on Nov 30, 2018 8:58 PM

Thanks, I thought I was going crazy there! I will keep with the AFDatabase.Refresh and see how that goes. I'm sure there is a good internal reason for this behavior, but is does pose a hurtle. It is subtle, but significant, I wish it would return changed values if the config item is not check. Anyway, thanks for helping me!

Lonnie

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fmocke @ Lonnie Bowling on Mar 14, 2019 1:07 PM

Hi Lonnie. Thanks for the assistance. FullLoad made a huge difference. Time was reduced from 60 seconds to 10 seconds.

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5 Replies

Mike Zboray Nov 30, 2018 5:33 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Yes this is how AFElement works as well, however there's one wrinkle. You must refresh the object (Element or EventFrame) to get the latest static attribute values only for attributes where IsConfigurationItem is true (or "Configuration Item" in the UI). By default all static attributes are configuration items. Perhaps a simple refresh (of the event frame or the database) will suffice but sometimes that is too slow. You have two options then. One is to use FindChangedItems to poll for changes and use AFChangeInfo.Refresh to bulk refresh objects. Another is to simply dump the entire cache using new PISystem(true). Note that you need that true parameter force initialization of a new cache or the default cache will be reused and have all the same stale objects. The latter approach can be expensive since your client then needs to reestablish a connection to the server.
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- Lonnie Bowling @ Mike Zboray on Nov 30, 2018 6:53 PM
  Mark Correct
  Correct Answer
  Hi Mike,
  
  Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. Here is how my event frame template is setup:
  
  As you can see the attribute is not set as a configuration item. I know how that works, so made sure that it was not checked (it is not set by default). So back to my original question. Why would this not work? I really don't have the option of dumping the entire cache. I can try to do the find changes items you suggest, but it seem to me that I should pick up the new values if the static field is not set as a configuration item, what do you think?
  
  I don't think I have ran into this before, because I always made changes from the same application that was then reading the values (so the changes were updated in the cache). In this situation, I have a long running application that is reading values, but those values may be updated externally.
  
  Lonnie
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  - Mike Zboray @ Lonnie Bowling on Nov 30, 2018 7:51 PM
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    Correct Answer
    This is what I get for not testing it first. This seems to be the intended behavior. "Configuration Item" affects the editing semantics (requires checkin to edit), but NOT the retrieval semantics. You must refresh in order to get the latest values for static attributes. You should try using AFDatabase.Refresh first. If that's not working for you then you might consider one of the more complicated/expensive ideas I mentioned above.
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    - Lonnie Bowling @ Mike Zboray on Nov 30, 2018 8:58 PM
      Mark Correct
      Correct Answer
      Thanks, I thought I was going crazy there! I will keep with the AFDatabase.Refresh and see how that goes. I'm sure there is a good internal reason for this behavior, but is does pose a hurtle. It is subtle, but significant, I wish it would return changed values if the config item is not check. Anyway, thanks for helping me!
      
      Lonnie
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      - fmocke @ Lonnie Bowling on Mar 14, 2019 1:07 PM
        Mark Correct
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        Hi Lonnie. Thanks for the assistance. FullLoad made a huge difference. Time was reduced from 60 seconds to 10 seconds.
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AF Event Frame Static Attributes Cached

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