Re: [SCXML] Execution order of onexit and cancelInvoke

The definition is what the group intended.   The idea was that the 
invoked process is  independent of the invoking process, and you 
shouldn't assume any synchronization among actions in the two states.  
Cancelling the invoked process as the first on-exit handler would imply 
a degree of synchronization that we wished to avoid.  For example, you 
cannot make any assumptions about how long it will take the invoked 
process to terminate, so it would not be safe to assume that the invoked 
process had terminated when the first (or even the last) on-exit handler 
executed.

The problem with your example is that it assumes such a synchronization. 
It would be much safer to have the invoked process open and close the 
file by itself.

- Jim


On 9/9/2017 8:48 AM, panic wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I'd like to know if it is intended, and if so why, that first all onexit
> handlers are executed and then the invoked sessions are cancelled, when
> exiting a state.
>
> The SCXML spec says:
>> https://www.w3.org/TR/scxml/
>> 6.4.2 Children
>> ...
>> If the invoking session takes a transition out of the state containing the <invoke> before it receives the 'done.invoke.id' event, the SCXML Processor MUST automatically cancel the invoked component and stop its processing. The cancel operation MUST act as if it were the final <onexit> handler in the invoking state.
> and
>
>> procedure exitStates(enabledTransitions)
>> ...
>> Again for each state s in the list, first execute any onexit handlers, then cancel any ongoing invocations, and finally remove s from the current configuration.
>> ...
>>      for s in statesToExit:
>>          for content in s.onexit.sort(documentOrder):
>>              executeContent(content)
>>          for inv in s.invoke:
>>              cancelInvoke(inv)
>>          configuration.delete(s)
> This seems unintuitive and error prone to me. Consider the following
> example:
> A state S consists of an onentry behaviour, invoke, and onexit behaviour.
> o onentry: a file is opened and the file descriptor is passed on
>             the invoked session
> o invoke:  chunks of data are written to the file in a loop
>             before each chunk, the "thread" checks if the invoked
>             session should be terminated or can continue running
> o onexit:  the file descriptor is closed
>
> When entering the state, all onentry handlers are executed to completion
> and (when there are no empty outgoing transitions), the new session is
> invoked. When exiting, first the onexit handler is executed and then the
> invoked "thread" is notified to terminate/cancel. However, it might
> already fail before this because the write to file is executed on an
> invalid (already closed) file descriptor.
>
> Is this intended beavior? Shouldn't onentry/onexit "wrap" the invoked
> session and onexit be only executed when the invoked session
> terminated/the thread was joined?
>
>
> Looking at the similar but different specification for UML state charts,
> this is the case:
>
> UML 2.2 spec (2009):
>> http://www.omg.org/cgi-bin/doc.cgi?formal/2009-02-02.pdf
>> doActivity: Behavior[0..1]
>> An optional behavior that is executed while being in the state. The
>> execution starts when this state is entered, and stops either by
>> itself or when the state is exited whichever comes first.
>> exit: Behavior[0..1]
>> An optional behavior that is executed whenever this state is exited
>> regardless of which transition was taken out of the state. If defined,
>> exit actions are always executed to completion only after all internal
>> activities and transition actions have completed execution.
> and UML 2.5 is even more explicit:
>
> UML 2.5 spec (2015):
>> http://www.omg.org/cgi-bin/doc?formal/15-03-01.pdf
>> 14.2.3.4.6  Exiting a State
>> When exiting a State, regardless of whether it is simple or composite,
>> the final step involved in the exit, after all other Behaviors
>> associated with the exit are completed, is the execution of
>> the exit Behavior of that State. If the State has a doActivity
>> Behavior that is still executing when the State is exited, that
>> Behavior is aborted before the exit Behavior commences execution.
> Isn't this a more intuitive and expected behavior?
>
> Thanks for any insights,
>
>    panic
>
>

Received on Monday, 11 September 2017 15:12:05 UTC