PATCH Request not passing Body

[laurentades]

Hi

I am using the ClientRequest to create a request to a REST API
The body goes through with:
httpRequest.write(from: httpBody)

When using httpMethod PATCH, the body string is not passed across
When using httpMethod PUT or POST, the body string goes through...

[ianpartridge]

Hmm it looks like we do set up the curl handle to upload on PATCH: see https://github.com/IBM-Swift/Kitura-net/blob/master/Sources/KituraNet/ClientRequest.swift#L419

Can you provide some example code showing the problem?

[laurentades]

See code below

No issue when
httpMethod = "POST"
or
httpMethod = "PUT"

However when
httpMethod = "PATCH"
The body does not come through

I have to confess that being very new to all this my code is very made up from posts all around GitHub, StackOverflow and other blogs... I would not be fussed that you find something blatantly wrong in there.... :-S

Thanks

`
import SwiftyJSON
import KituraNet
func httpCall(httpUri: String, httpMethod: String, httpBody: String, queryDict: [String:String], httpHeaders: [String:String]) -> [String:Any] {

	var returnDict = [String:Any]()
	var queryString: String = ""
		var i: Int = 0
		for (key, value) in queryDict{
			i+=1
			queryString = queryString + key + "=" + value
			if i != queryDict.count {
				queryString = queryString + "&"
			}
		}
	let httpQueryEncoded = queryString.addingPercentEncoding(withAllowedCharacters: CharacterSet.urlQueryAllowed)

	var httpRequestOptions:[ClientRequest.Options] = [
		.schema(""),
		.method(httpMethod),
		.hostname(httpUri + "?" + httpQueryEncoded!),
		.headers(httpHeaders)
	]

	var httpStatus: Int = 0
	var httpResp: String = ""

	let httpRequest = HTTP.request(httpRequestOptions) { response in
		do {
			httpResp = try response!.readString()!
			print("httpResp: \(httpResp)")
			httpStatus = try response!.status

			if let jsonDictionary = JSON.parse(string: httpResp).dictionaryObject {
				returnDict = jsonDictionary 
				print("jsonDictionary: \(jsonDictionary)")
			} else {
				returnDict = ["error": "Unknown data format returned"]
			}
		} catch {
			httpResp = "error: http request returned an error"
			//returnDict["seqHalt"] = "true"
		}
	}

	httpRequest.write(from: httpBody)

	httpRequest.end()

	return returnDict
}`

[DunnCoding]

Hi @laurentades :)

I've been looking into this issue for you, thanks for providing your example code!
I was wondering if you could also share the code where you call this function?

Basically I'm interested to know what parameters you're passing through to your httpCall(...) function :)

Thanks!

[laurentades]

Hi @ddunn2
Sorry for long awaited reply.

The full code is below:

`/*
*/

import SwiftyJSON
import KituraNet

func httpCall(httpUri: String, httpMethod: String, httpBody: String, queryDict: [String:String], httpHeaders: [String:String]) -> [String:Any] {

var returnDict = [String:Any]()

var queryString: String = ""
	var i: Int = 0
	for (key, value) in queryDict{
		i+=1
		queryString = queryString + key + "=" + value
		if i != queryDict.count {
			queryString = queryString + "&"
		}
	}
print("httpUri: \(httpUri)")
print("queryString: \(queryString)")
print("httpHeaders: \(httpHeaders)")
print("httpBody: \(httpBody)")

let httpQueryEncoded = queryString.addingPercentEncoding(withAllowedCharacters: CharacterSet.urlQueryAllowed)

var httpRequestOptions:[ClientRequest.Options] = [
	.schema(""),
	.method(httpMethod),
	.hostname(httpUri + "?" + httpQueryEncoded!),
	.headers(httpHeaders)
]

var httpStatus: Int = 0
var httpResp: String = ""

let httpRequest = HTTP.request(httpRequestOptions) { response in
	do {
		httpResp = try response!.readString()!
		print("httpResp: \(httpResp)")
		httpStatus = try response!.status

		if let jsonDictionary = JSON.parse(string: httpResp).dictionaryObject {
			returnDict = jsonDictionary // we got back JSON
			print("jsonDictionary: \(jsonDictionary)")
		} else {
			returnDict = ["error": "Unknown data format returned"]
		}

	} catch {
		httpResp = "error: http request returned an error"
		//returnDict["seqHalt"] = "true"
	}
}

httpRequest.write(from: httpBody)

httpRequest.end()

return returnDict

}

func main(args: [String:Any]) -> [String:Any] {

var returnDict = [String:Any]()

let seqHalt: String? = args["seqHalt"] as! String
let passThruData: [String:Any]? = args["passThruData"] as! [String:Any]

if seqHalt == "false" {
	
	var httpResponse = [String:Any]()
	    
    let httpUri: String? = args["httpUri"] as! String // String
    let httpMethod: String? = args["httpMethod"] as! String // String
    let httpBody: String? = args["httpBody"] as!  String // Dictionary
    var httpHeaders: [String:String]? = args["httpHeaders"] as! [String:String]   //Dictionary
    var queryDict: [String:String]? = args["queryDict"] as! [String:String]
    let pagingMode: String? = args["pagingMode"] as! String // String
    let pageSize: String? = args["pageSize"] as! String // String
    let jsonCombinePathString: String? = args["jsonCombinePathString"] as! String // String
    
    let jsonCombinePath = jsonCombinePathString!.components(separatedBy: ",")
    
	if pagingMode! == "none" {
		
		returnDict = httpCall(httpUri: httpUri!, httpMethod: httpMethod!, httpBody: httpBody!, queryDict: queryDict!, httpHeaders: httpHeaders!)
		
	} else {
		
		var loopHalt: String = "false"
		var loopCount: Int = 0
		
		var dataArray = [[String:Any]]()
		
		repeat {
			loopCount += 1
			
			switch pagingMode! {

				case "recordRange":
					queryDict!["fromIndex"] = String((loopCount - 1) * (Int(pageSize!)!) + 1)
					queryDict!["toIndex"] = String(loopCount * Int(pageSize!)!)
					
					httpResponse = httpCall(httpUri: httpUri!, httpMethod: httpMethod!, httpBody: httpBody!, queryDict: queryDict!, httpHeaders: queryDict!)
			
					//print("httpResponse: \(httpResponse)")
                    var httpResponseJson = JSON(httpResponse)
                    let response = httpResponseJson["response"].dictionaryValue
					let responseError = response["error"]
					let responseNoData = response["nodata"]
					let responseResult = response["result"]

					if responseError != nil {
						loopHalt = "true"

					} else if responseNoData != nil {
						loopHalt = "true"

					} else {
					    dataArray = jsonCombine(baseArray: dataArray, addData: httpResponse, jsonCombinePathString: jsonCombinePathString!)
					    
					}
		
				case "pageIndex":
					print("pagingMode: \(pagingMode!)")
				case "offset":
					print("pagingMode: \(pagingMode!)")
				default:
					print("pagingMode: \(pagingMode!)")
			}
		
		} while loopHalt == "false"
		
	}
	
    
}else{
    returnDict["seqHalt"] = "true"
}

returnDict["passThruData"] = passThruData

return returnDict
}`

[laurentades]

Hi,
Quick update.
Looks lie it is actually the target service acting up with the PATCH request rather than OpenWhisk struggling.
Will confirm further on.

[laurentades]

Hi,
Eventually this is not something happening on the target API side: trying the patch method via Postman works just fine with the same parameters..
Any idea ?

[DunnCoding]

Hi @laurentades
Thanks for providing the code and the updates!
I did some testing with this and also confirmed the patch method seems to be working when I setup my own project and passed through some custom parameters.

I'm going to attempt to recreate the problem you're running into using the code you've provided, once I have more information I'll update here as well.

[DunnCoding]

@laurentades What parameters are you passing to your func main(args: [String:Any]) -> [String:Any] {...} function?

[laurentades]

Hi, the parameters passed to the main func is basically a json set of values which are extracted and passed to variables pretty much just after the beginning of the function:

httpUri: Base target API url
httpMethod: HTTP method (GET,POST,PUT,PATCH...)
httpBody: request body as a string
httpHeaders: Dictionary formatted set of values later-on processed into a request header
queryDict: Dictionary formatted set of values later-on processed into a request query string
pagingMode : text value used for specific API functionality (irrelevant here)
pageSize : numeric value used for specific API functionality (irrelevant here)
jsonCombinePathString : text value used for specific API functionality (irrelevant here)

Hope that helps.... :-)
Thanks !

[DunnCoding]

Thanks for that! :)
Do you have the values you're passing in? Mainly I want to know the values you're passing into httpBody, httpHeaders and queryDict, this will allow me to recreate your exact issue :)

[laurentades]

ah yes sure:
httpHeaders: ["Authorization": "Bearer keyDbQyg9ApRFyffG", "Content-type": "application/json; charset=utf-8", "Accept": "application/json"]

httpBody: {"fields":{"targetGP":0,"channelDiscount":0,"importUplift":0,"brandId":"1804391000001949436","brandName":"Generic Local"},"typecast":true}

In this case queryDict is empty

[DunnCoding]

Thanks for providing that information!

So I've put together a little test scenario, and just want to confirm we're on the same page.

I created a simple Kitura server using the kitura init command, added all necessary packages and then I edited the postInit() function to look like this:

func postInit() throws {
        // Capabilities
        initializeMetrics(app: self)

        // Endpoints
        initializeHealthRoutes(app: self)
        router.all(middleware: BodyParser())
        router.patch("/") { request, response, next in
            print(request.body)
            response.send("OK")
            next()
        }
    }

I then created a project that includes all the code you've provided and made the necessary call, the code looks like this:

import KituraNet
import SwiftyJSON
import Foundation

func httpCall(httpUri: String, httpMethod: String, httpBody: String, queryDict: [String:String], httpHeaders: [String:String]) -> [String:Any] {
    
    var returnDict = [String:Any]()
    
    var queryString: String = ""
    var i: Int = 0
    for (key, value) in queryDict{
        i+=1
        queryString = queryString + key + "=" + value
        if i != queryDict.count {
            queryString = queryString + "&"
        }
    }
    print("httpUri: \(httpUri)")
    print("queryString: \(queryString)")
    print("httpHeaders: \(httpHeaders)")
    print("httpBody: \(httpBody)")
    
    let httpQueryEncoded = queryString.addingPercentEncoding(withAllowedCharacters: CharacterSet.urlQueryAllowed)
    
    var httpRequestOptions:[ClientRequest.Options] = [
        .schema(""),
        .method(httpMethod),
        .hostname(httpUri + "?" + httpQueryEncoded!),
        .headers(httpHeaders)
    ]
    
    var httpStatus: Int = 0
    var httpResp: String = ""
    
    let httpRequest = HTTP.request(httpRequestOptions) { response in
        do {
            httpResp = try response!.readString()!
            print("httpResp: \(httpResp)")
            httpStatus = try response!.status
            
            if let jsonDictionary = JSON.parse(string: httpResp).dictionaryObject {
                returnDict = jsonDictionary // we got back JSON
                print("jsonDictionary: \(jsonDictionary)")
            } else {
                returnDict = ["error": "Unknown data format returned"]
            }
            
        } catch {
            httpResp = "error: http request returned an error"
            //returnDict["seqHalt"] = "true"
        }
    }
    
    httpRequest.write(from: httpBody)
    
    httpRequest.end()
    
    return returnDict
}


func main(args: [String:Any]) -> [String:Any] {
    
    var returnDict = [String:Any]()
    
    let seqHalt: String? = args["seqHalt"] as! String
    let passThruData: [String:Any]? = args["passThruData"] as! [String:Any]
    
    if seqHalt == "false" {
        
        var httpResponse = [String:Any]()
        
        let httpUri: String? = args["httpUri"] as! String // String
        let httpMethod: String? = args["httpMethod"] as! String // String
        let httpBody: String? = args["httpBody"] as!  String // Dictionary
        var httpHeaders: [String:String]? = args["httpHeaders"] as! [String:String]   //Dictionary
        var queryDict: [String:String]? = args["queryDict"] as! [String:String]
        let pagingMode: String? = args["pagingMode"] as! String // String
        let pageSize: String? = args["pageSize"] as! String // String
        let jsonCombinePathString: String? = args["jsonCombinePathString"] as! String // String
        
        let jsonCombinePath = jsonCombinePathString!.components(separatedBy: ",")
        
        if pagingMode! == "none" {
            
            returnDict = httpCall(httpUri: httpUri!, httpMethod: httpMethod!, httpBody: httpBody!, queryDict: queryDict!, httpHeaders: httpHeaders!)
            
        } else {
            
            var loopHalt: String = "false"
            var loopCount: Int = 0
            
            var dataArray = [[String:Any]]()
            
            repeat {
                loopCount += 1
                
                switch pagingMode! {
                    
                case "recordRange":
                    queryDict!["fromIndex"] = String((loopCount - 1) * (Int(pageSize!)!) + 1)
                    queryDict!["toIndex"] = String(loopCount * Int(pageSize!)!)
                    
                    httpResponse = httpCall(httpUri: httpUri!, httpMethod: httpMethod!, httpBody: httpBody!, queryDict: queryDict!, httpHeaders: queryDict!)
                    
                    //print("httpResponse: \(httpResponse)")
                    var httpResponseJson = JSON(httpResponse)
                    let response = httpResponseJson["response"].dictionaryValue
                    let responseError = response["error"]
                    let responseNoData = response["nodata"]
                    let responseResult = response["result"]
                    
                    if responseError != nil {
                        loopHalt = "true"
                        
                    } else if responseNoData != nil {
                        loopHalt = "true"
                        
                    } else {
//    I commented this line out as I assume jsonCombine is a custom function you've created
//                        dataArray = jsonCombine(baseArray: dataArray, addData: httpResponse, jsonCombinePathString: jsonCombinePathString!)
                        
                    }
                    
                case "pageIndex":
                    print("pagingMode: \(pagingMode!)")
                case "offset":
                    print("pagingMode: \(pagingMode!)")
                default:
                    print("pagingMode: \(pagingMode!)")
                }
                
            } while loopHalt == "false"
            
        }
        
        
    }else{
        returnDict["seqHalt"] = "true"
    }
    returnDict["passThruData"] = passThruData
    
    return returnDict
}


let result = main(args: ["httpUri": "http://localhost:8080",
            "httpMethod": "PATCH",
            "httpBody": "{\"fields\":{\"targetGP\":0,\"channelDiscount\":0,\"importUplift\":0,\"brandId\":\"1804391000001949436\",\"brandName\":\"Generic Local\"},\"typecast\":true}",
            "queryDict": [:],
            "httpHeaders": ["Authorization": "Bearer keyDbQyg9ApRFyffG", "Content-type": "application/json; charset=utf-8", "Accept": "application/json"],
            "seqHalt": "false",
            "pagingMode": "none",
            "passThruData": ["": ""],
            "pageSize": "",
            "jsonCombinePathString": ""
            ])

print(result)

When I start up the server and run the code, I get this output on the server side:

Optional(Kitura.ParsedBody.json(["fields": {
    brandId = 1804391000001949436;
    brandName = "Generic Local";
    channelDiscount = 0;
    importUplift = 0;
    targetGP = 0;
}, "typecast": 1]))

To me this suggests the body is being passed through? Is this the issue you're referring to? Or have I made a mistake in my recreation?

[laurentades]

Hi,
What you are doing seems right. However that does not match what i am experiencing. As i wante to make sure the target API is no the issue, I use a generic request bin service to check data stream.

Here is that comes into this bin for the PUT request:

http://requestbin.fullcontact.com
PUT /11njq5e1  application/json; charset=utf-8
 132 bytes 7s ago  
From 158.175.125.86, 52.46.38.68
FORM/POST PARAMETERS
None
HEADERS
Cloudfront-Is-Tablet-Viewer: false

Connect-Time: 0

Host: requestbin.fullcontact.com

Total-Route-Time: 0

Content-Length: 132

Authorization: Bearer keyDbQyg9ApRFyffG

Cloudfront-Forwarded-Proto: http

X-Amz-Cf-Id: NYikN7fDMNoxRt9K6Ru7VU_mxWY5Eav1IdY1IuOIcoFCELbQxMq21Q==

Cloudfront-Viewer-Country: US

Cloudfront-Is-Smarttv-Viewer: false

Cloudfront-Is-Mobile-Viewer: false

Cloudfront-Is-Desktop-Viewer: true

X-Request-Id: d6ca222d-b816-41ba-b58c-2eb72fb9abbe

Via: 1.1 b8c7ca6d200a4b87d5b25c2d6f760752.cloudfront.net (CloudFront), 1.1 vegur

Accept: application/json

Connection: close

Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8

RAW BODY
{"fields":{"importUplift":0,"channelDiscount":0,"targetGP":-12,"brandName":"Adobe","brandId":"1804391000000697017"},"typecast":true}

and the PATCH request:

http://requestbin.fullcontact.com
PATCH /11njq5e1  application/json; charset=utf-8
 0 bytes 1m ago  
From 158.175.125.86, 52.46.38.43
FORM/POST PARAMETERS
None
HEADERS
Cloudfront-Is-Tablet-Viewer: false

Connect-Time: 0

Host: requestbin.fullcontact.com

Total-Route-Time: 0

Authorization: Bearer keyDbQyg9ApRFyffG

Cloudfront-Forwarded-Proto: http

Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8

X-Amz-Cf-Id: XrxWO0jz5l_bAYzbsqz7rI4eCctYxmxMYBZ2vqReC7tvrah46XNo_Q==

Cloudfront-Is-Smarttv-Viewer: false

Cloudfront-Is-Mobile-Viewer: false

Cloudfront-Is-Desktop-Viewer: true

Content-Length: 0

Via: 1.1 fff10bd55076b11530aa8b26ee2c0b65.cloudfront.net (CloudFront), 1.1 vegur

Accept: application/json

X-Request-Id: 698511af-8546-4593-98dd-419893da5813

Cloudfront-Viewer-Country: US

Connection: close

RAW BODY
None

That is consistent with what i am experiencing in my test environment to my target API.

Does that help ?

[DunnCoding]

Hi,
Apologies for the delay. Thanks for providing that information it's very helpful!
I'll review what you've provided and see if I can find the cause of the issue.

[DunnCoding]

Hey!
Can you provide the code for your router.patch(...) method on your server?

Thanks :)

[laurentades]

errr... no idea what this is :-)
I am just using KituraNet as a 'Import' in IBM Bluemix cloud functions. What I have shared so far is basically all i have written for this function...
Hope that's not a show-stopper...!
Thanks