prfun

2.1.5 • Public • Published

prfun

NPM

Build Status dependency status dev dependency status

Helper functions for ES6 Promises.

The Promise implementation included in the ES6 "harmony" Javascript specification is missing some of the useful utility functions that are common in popular packages like bluebird, when, and q.

This package supplies them. It optionally loads a Promise implementation from core-js, if there is not already a Promise implementation present. The prfun package also requires an implementation of Object.setPrototypeOf; it will attempt to load this from core-js if not already present. Implementations loaded from core-js do not pollute the global namespace.

Portions of the API and test suite are borrowed from bluebird, when, and q.

Usage

Unlike many other utility packages for Promise, prfun does not pollute the global namespace. By default prfun creates a Promise subclass, using ES6 semantics. This means you use it like:

var Promise = require('prfun'); // subclasses global.Promise
// note that global.Promise !== Promise after this point

or

var SomeOtherPromise = require( /*something*/ );
var Promise = require('prfun/wrap')( SomeOtherPromise );
// Note that the same `Promise` object will always be
// returned if given the same `SomeOtherPromise` to wrap.

Note that the SomeOtherPromise implementation must support Promise subclassing using ES6 semantics. (The implementations in babybird, es6-shim, and core-js are known to do so.) We will call the subclass created by prfun a "prfun Promise".

According to the ES6 Promise spec, all Promise methods (including the new ones added by prfun) will return an instance of the subclass when invoked on an instance of the subclass. That is, if you are given a prfun Promise and you call then on it, the result will be another prfun Promise. So within your own code you can assume that all prfun helper methods will be present, and they will all return prfun Promises which also contain all the prfun helper methods.

If your code is given a promise from an outside API, and you can't guarantee that it is a prfun Promise, then you can use Promise.resolve in order to cast the outside promise to a prfun Promise. For example:

var Promise = require('prfun'); // this is a "prfun Promise"

function myApi(externalPromise) {
  return Promise.resolve(externalPromise).tap(function(value) {
    // we can call 'tap' after resolving the external promise
  }); // this result will also be a "prfun Promise"
}

In order to modify the global Promise object (instead of subclassing), use:

require('prfun/smash');
// global.Promise.reduce, global.Promise.tap, etc, now exist.

This is how prfun worked by default prior to version 2.0, but it it not recommended: stomping on global objects is never a good idea, and future changes to the Promise object in ES7 or incompatible methods added by your third-party Promise implementation or other libraries could break your code in mysterious ways.

API

Collections

Methods of Promise instances and core static methods of the Promise class to deal with collections of promises or mixed promises and values.

Promise.all(Array<dynamic>|Iterable values)Promise

This is an ES6 built-in. Note that, unlike many libraries, the ES6 method accepts as its argument only an array (or iterable), not a promise for an array (or iterable). Also, the ES6 method does not preserve sparsity in the passed array.

Given an array or iterable which contains promises (or a mix of promises and values) return a promise that is fulfilled when all the items in the array are fulfilled. The promise's fulfillment value is an array with fulfillment values at respective positions to the original iterable. If any promise in the iterable rejects, the returned promise is rejected with the rejection reason.


Promise#all()Promise

Convenience method for:

promise.then(function(value) {
    return Promise.all(value);
});

See Promise.all.


Promise.filter(Array<dynamic>|Promise values, Function callback [, Object thisArg])Promise

Filters an array-like, or a promise of an array-like, using the provided callback function.

Convenience method for:

Promise.resolve(values).filter(callback, thisArg);

See Promise#filter.


Promise#filter(Function callback [, Object thisArg])Promise

Call the given callback function once for each element in (a promise of) an array which contains a promises (or a mix of promises and values), and construct a new array of all the values for which the callback returns (a promise of) a true value. The callback function has the signature (item, index, array) where item is the resolved value of the promise in the input array at index. If any promise in the input array is rejected the returned promise is rejected as well.

If a thisArg parameter is provided, it will be passed to callback when invoked, for use as its this value. Otherwise, the value undefined will be passed for use as its this value.

Note that the callback is invoked on each element in the array as soon as possible; that is, as soon as the promise for each element is resolved the callback is invoked for that element, without waiting for other elements to be resolved.

The behavior of filter matches Array.prototype.filter as much as possible. Note that this means that non-array objects are often accepted without error, and any object without a length field returns a zero-length array. For example, Array.prototype.filter.call(123, Object.toString) returns []. Promise#filter rejects with a TypeError if Array.prototype.filter would throw a TypeError.

The original array is not modified.


Promise.join([dynamic value...])Promise

Like Promise.all but instead of having to pass an array, the array is generated from the passed variadic arguments.

So instead of:

Promise.all([a, b]).spread(function(aResult, bResult) {
 
});

You can do:

Promise.join(a, b).spread(function(aResult, bResult) {
 
});

Promise.map(Array<dynamic>|Promise values, Function mapper [, Object thisArg])Promise

Maps an array-like, or a promise of an array-like, using the provided mapper function.

Convenience method for:

Promise.resolve(values).map(mapper, thisArg);

See Promise#map.


Promise#map(Function mapper [, Object thisArg])Promise

Map (a promise of) an array which contains a promises (or a mix of promises and values) with the given mapper function with the signature (item, index, array) where item is the resolved value of a respective promise in the input array. If any promise in the input array is rejected the returned promise is rejected as well.

If the mapper function returns promises or thenables, the returned promise will wait for all the mapped results to be resolved as well, as if Promise.all were invoked on the result.

If a thisArg parameter is provided, it will be passed to mapper when invoked, for use as its this value. Otherwise, the value undefined will be passed for use as its this value.

Note that the mapper function is invoked on each element in the array as soon as possible; that is, as soon as the promise for each element is resolved mapper is invoked for that element, without waiting for other elements to be resolved.

The behavior of map matches Array.prototype.map as much as possible. Note that this means that non-array objects are often accepted without error, and any object without a length field returns a zero-length array. For example, Array.prototype.map.call(123, Object.toString) returns []. Promise#map rejects with a TypeError if Array.prototype.map would throw a TypeError.

The original array is not modified.


Promise.props(Object|Promise object)Promise

Like Promise.all but for object properties instead of array items. Returns a promise that is fulfilled when all the properties of the object are fulfilled. The promise's fulfillment value is an object with fulfillment values at respective keys to the original object. If any promise in the object rejects, the returned promise is rejected with the rejection reason.

If object is a Promise or "thenable" --- that is, if it has a property named then which is a callable function --- then it will be treated as a promise for the object, rather than for its properties. All other objects are treated for their own enumerable properties, as returned by Object.keys.

Promise.props({
    pictures: getPictures(),
    comments: getComments(),
    tweets: getTweets()
}).then(function(result){
    console.log(result.tweets, result.pictures, result.comments);
});

Note that if you have no use for the result object other than retrieving the properties, it is more convenient to use Promise.all and Promise#spread:

Promise.all([getPictures(), getComments(), getTweets()])
.spread(function(pictures, comments, tweets) {
    console.log(pictures, comments, tweets);
});

The original object is not modified.


Promise#props()Promise

Convenience method for:

promise.then(function(value) {
    return Promise.props(value);
});

See Promise.props.


Promise.race(Array<dynamic>|Iterable values)Promise

This is an ES6 built-in. Note that, unlike many libraries, the ES6 method accepts as its argument only an array (or iterable), not a promise for an array (or iterable). The ES6 method also returns a promise that never resolves if you promise a zero-length array; user beware!

Given an array or iterable which contains promises (or a mix of promises and values) return a promise that is fulfilled or rejected as soon as a promise in the array is fulfilled or rejected with the respective rejection reason or fulfillment value.


Promise#race()Promise

Convenience method for:

promise.then(function(value) {
    return Promise.race(value);
});

See Promise.race.


Promise.reduce(Array<dynamic>|Promise values, Function reducer [, dynamic initialValue])Promise

Reduce an array-like, or a promise of an array-like, left-to-right using the provided reducer function.

Convenience method for:

Promise.resolve(values).reduce(reducer /*, initialValue*/);

See Promise#reduce.


Promise#reduce(Function reducer [, dynamic initialValue])Promise

Reduce an array, or a promise of an array, which contains a promises (or a mix of promises and values) left-to-right with the given reducer function with the signature (previousValue, currentValue, index, array) where currentValue is the resolved value of a respective promise in the input array, and previousValue is the value returned by the previous invocation of the reducer. If the reducer returns a promise or thenable, it will be resolved and previousValue will be the resolved value. The initialValue may also be a promise or thenable. If any promise is rejected (in the input array, an initialValue, or a promise returned by resolved), returned promise is rejected as well.

Promises are resolved in order: first the initialValue (if any), then the first item in the array, then the returned value from the resolver (if it is a promise), then the next item in the array, then the next returned value from resolver, etc.

For example: Read given files sequentially while summing their contents as an integer. Each file contains just the text 10.

var readFileAsync = Promise.promisify(fs.readFile, false, fs);
Promise.reduce(["file1.txt", "file2.txt", "file3.txt"], function(total, fileName) {
    return readFileAsync(fileName, "utf8").then(function(contents) {
        return total + parseInt(contents, 10);
    });
}, 0).then(function(total) {
    //Total is 30
});

The behavior of reduce matches Array.prototype.reduce as much as possible. Note that this means that non-array objects are often accepted without error, and any object without a length field is treated as a zero-length array. For example, Array.prototype.reduce.call(123, Math.pow, 42) returns 42. Promise#reduce rejects with a TypeError if Array.prototype.reduce would throw a TypeError, for example if you pass a zero-length array without an initialValue.

The original array is not modified.


Promise.reduceRight(Array<dynamic>|Promise values, Function reducer [, dynamic initialValue])Promise

Reduce an array-like, or a promise of an array-like, right-to-left using the provided reducer function.

Convenience method for:

Promise.resolve(values).reduceRight(reducer /*, initialValue*/);

See Promise#reduceRight.


Promise#reduceRight(Function reducer [, dynamic initialValue])Promise

Reduce an array, or a promise of an array, which contains a promises (or a mix of promises and values) right-to-left with the given reducer function with the signature (previousValue, currentValue, index, array) where currentValue is the resolved value of a respective promise in the input array, and previousValue is the value returned by the previous invocation of the reducer. If the reducer returns a promise or thenable, it will be resolved and previousValue will be the resolved value. The initialValue may also be a promise or thenable. If any promise is rejected (in the input array, an initialValue, or a promise returned by resolved), returned promise is rejected as well.

Promises are resolved in order: first the initialValue (if any), then the last item in the array, then the returned value from the resolver (if it is a promise), then the next-to-last item in the array, then the next returned value from resolver, etc.

The behavior of reduceRight matches Array.prototype.reduceRight as much as possible. Note that this means that non-array objects are often accepted without error, and any object without a length field is treated as a zero-length array. For example, Array.prototype.reduceRight.call(123, Math.pow, 42) returns 42. Promise#reduceRight rejects with a TypeError if Array.prototype.reduceRight would throw a TypeError, for example if you pass a zero-length array without an initialValue.

The original array is not modified.


Promise#spread([Function fulfilledHandler] [, Function rejectedHandler ])Promise

Like calling Promise#then, but the fulfillment value or rejection reason is assumed to be an array, which is flattened to the formal parameters of the handlers.

Promise.all([task1, task2, task3]).spread(function(result1, result2, result3){
 
});

Normally when using Promise#then the code would be like:

Promise.all([task1, task2, task3]).then(function(results){
    var result1 = results[0];
    var result2 = results[1];
    var result3 = results[2];
});

This is useful when the results array contains items that are not conceptually items of the same list.


Utility

Shorthands for common operations.

Promise.bind(dynamic thisArg) -> Promise

Sugar for Promise.resolve(undefined).bind(thisArg);. See Promise#bind.


Promise#bind(dynamic thisArg) -> Promise

Create a promise that follows this promise, but is bound to the given thisArg value. A bound promise will call its handlers with this set to the bound value. Additionally promises derived from a bound promise will also be bound promises with the same thisArg binding as the original promise.


Without arrow functions that provide lexical this, the correspondence between async and sync code breaks down when writing object-oriented code. The Promise#bind method alleviates this.

Consider:

MyClass.prototype.method = function() {
    try {
        var contents = fs.readFileSync(this.file);
        var url = urlParse(contents);
        var result = this.httpGetSync(url);
        var refined = this.refine(result);
        return this.writeRefinedSync(refined);
    }
    catch (e) {
        this.error(e.stack);
    }
};

The above has a direct translation:

MyClass.prototype.method = function() {
    return fs.readFileAsync(this.file).bind(this)
    .then(function(contents) {
        var url = urlParse(contents);
        return this.httpGetAsync(url);
    }).then(function(result){
        var refined = this.refine(result);
        return this.writeRefinedAsync(refined);
    }).catch(function(e){
        this.error(e.stack);
    });
};

Promise#bind also has a useful side purpose --- promise handlers don't need to share a function to use shared state:

somethingAsync().bind({})
.then(function (aValue, bValue) {
    this.aValue = aValue;
    this.bValue = bValue;
    return somethingElseAsync(aValue, bValue);
}).then(function (cValue) {
    return this.aValue + this.bValue + cValue;
});

The above without Promise#bind could be achieved with:

var scope = {};
somethingAsync()
.then(function (aValue, bValue) {
    scope.aValue = aValue;
    scope.bValue = bValue;
    return somethingElseAsync(aValue, bValue);
}).then(function (cValue) {
    return scope.aValue + scope.bValue + cValue;
});

However, there are many differences when you look closer:

  • Requires a statement so cannot be used in an expression context.
  • If not there already, an additional wrapper function is required to avoid leaking or sharing scope.
  • The handler functions are now closures, thus less efficient and not reusable.

Note that bind is only propagated with promise transformation. If you create new promise chains inside a handler, those chains are not bound to the "outer" this:

something().bind(var1).then(function(){
    //`this` is var1 here
    return Promise.all(getStuff()).then(function(results){
        //`this` is undefined here
        //refine results here etc
    });
}).then(function(){
    //`this` is var1 here
});

If you don't want to return a bound promise to the consumers of a promise, you can rebind the chain at the end:

MyClass.prototype.method = function() {
    return fs.readFileAsync(this.file).bind(this)
    .then(function(contents) {
        var url = urlParse(contents);
        return this.httpGetAsync(url);
    }).then(function(result){
        var refined = this.refine(result);
        return this.writeRefinedAsync(refined);
    }).catch(function(e){
        this.error(e.stack);
    }).bind(); // Unbind the promise.
};

Rebinding can also be abused to do something gratuitous like this:

Promise.resolve("my-element")
    .bind(document)
    .then(document.getElementById)
    .bind(console)
    .then(console.log);

The above does console.log(document.getElementById("my-element"));.


Promise#call(String propertyName [, Promise|dynamic arg...])Promise

This is a convenience method for doing:

promise.then(function(obj){
    return obj[propertyName].call(obj, arg...);
});

If any of the arg... are Promises, they will be resolved before the method is invoked.


Promise#get(String propertyName)Promise

This is a convenience method for doing:

promise.then(function(obj){
    return obj[propertyName];
});

Promise#return(Promise|dynamic value)Promise

Convenience method for:

promise.then(function() {
   return value;
});

in the case where value doesn't change its value.

That means value is bound at the time of calling Promise#return so this will not work as expected:

function getData() {
    var data;
 
    return query().then(function(result) {
        data = result;
    }).return(data);
}

because data is undefined at the time .return is called.


Promise#tap(Function handler)Promise

Convenience method for:

promise.then(function(value) {
   return Promise.resolve(handler(value)).return(value);
});

That is, it waits for the promise, then invokes the handler with the promised value. It waits for any promise returned by the handler, then returns the original value.

Common use case is to add logging to an existing promise chain:

doSomething()
    .then(...)
    .then(...)
    .tap(console.log)
    .then(...)
    .then(...)

Promise#then0([Function onFulfilled [, Function onRejected]])undefined

This is identical to Promise#then except that it does not return a value. Some Promise implementations (for example, babybird) export a then0 implementation which is substantially faster than calling Promise#then. If such an implementation is present, its implementation will be used. Otherwise prfun will provide a shim implementation that just calls Promise#then and discards the result.

This allows you to use then0 freely in your own code whenever you don't care about the result, and prfun will use the most efficient implementation available.


Promise#throw(Promise|dynamic reason)Promise

Convenience method for:

promise.then(function() {
   throw reason;
});

...except that reason is first resolved, if it is a Promise or thenable.

Same limitations apply as with Promise#return.


Promise.defer()PromiseResolver

Create a promise with undecided fate and return a PromiseResolver to control it.

The use of Promise.defer is discouraged---it is much more awkward and error-prone than using new Promise. It is provided only for compatibility with older libraries like q, when, etc.

A PromiseResolver contains three fields: promise, resolve, and reject. It also contains two additional helpers, which are implemented as getters: resolver and callback. The resolver property returns an object with only resolve and reject fields, as in the when package. The callback property returns a node-style callback function with signature (err, result) which will invoke reject and resolve as appropriate. This is like the callback property in bluebird or the result of makeNodeResolver in q.


Promise#done()undefined

Terminate a chain of promises, ensuring that any unhandled rejections are rethrown so as to trigger the top-level unhandled exception handler (which will typically result in a message on console).

The use of Promise#done is discouraged---it is hoped that future promise implementations will provide special development tools to track orphaned promises. This method is provided for compatibility with older libraries, and as a make-do until better debugging tools are integrated into JavaScript engines.


Try/caught/finally

Promise.try(Function fn [, dynamic ctx [, dynamic args...]] )Promise

Start the chain of promises with Promise.try. Any synchronous exceptions will be turned into rejections on the returned promise.

function getUserById(id) {
    return Promise.try(function(){
        if (typeof id !== "number") {
            throw new Error("id must be a number");
        }
        return db.getUserById(id);
    });
}

Now if someone uses this function, they will catch all errors in their Promise .catch handlers instead of having to handle both synchronous and asynchronous exception flows.

If provided, ctx becomes the this value for the function call. If it is a promise, it is first resolved. Any args provided are resolved (if they are promises) and passed as arguments to the function call.


Promise#caught([Function ErrorClass|Function predicate...], Function handler)Promise

This extends .catch to work more like catch-clauses in languages like Java or C#. Instead of manually checking instanceof or .name === "SomeError", you may specify a number of error constructors which are eligible for this catch handler. The catch handler that is first met that has eligible constructors specified, is the one that will be called.

Example:

somePromise.then(function(){
    return a.b.c.d();
}).caught(TypeError, function(e){
    //If a is defined, will end up here because
    //it is a type error to reference property of undefined
}).caught(ReferenceError, function(e){
    //Will end up here if a wasn't defined at all
}).caught(function(e){
    //Generic catch-the rest, error wasn't TypeError nor
    //ReferenceError
});

You may also add multiple filters for a catch handler:

somePromise.then(function(){
    return a.b.c.d();
}).caught(TypeError, ReferenceError, function(e){
    //Will end up here on programmer error
}).caught(NetworkError, TimeoutError, function(e){
    //Will end up here on expected everyday network errors
}).catch(function(e){
    //Catch any unexpected errors
});

For a parameter to be considered a type of error that you want to filter, you need the constructor to have its .prototype property be instanceof Error.

Such a constructor can be minimally created like so:

function MyCustomError() {}
MyCustomError.prototype = Object.create(Error.prototype);

Using it:

Promise.resolve().then(function(){
    throw new MyCustomError();
}).caught(MyCustomError, function(e){
    //will end up here now
});

However, you can obtain better stack traces and string output with:

function MyCustomError(message) {
    this.message = message;
    this.name = "MyCustomError";
    if (Error.captureStackTrace) // v8 environments
        Error.captureStackTrace(this, MyCustomError);
}
MyCustomError.prototype = Object.create(Error.prototype);
MyCustomError.prototype.constructor = MyCustomError;

Using CoffeeScript's class for the same:

class MyCustomError extends Error
  constructor: (@message) ->
    @name = "MyCustomError"
    Error.captureStackTrace?(thisMyCustomError)

This method also supports predicate-based filters. If you pass a predicate function instead of an error constructor, the predicate will receive the error as an argument. The return result of the predicate will be used determine whether the error handler should be called.

Predicates should allow for very fine grained control over caught errors: pattern matching, error-type sets with set operations and many other techniques can be implemented on top of them.

Example of using a predicate-based filter:

var request = Promise.promisify(require("request"), ['response', 'body']);
 
function clientError(e) {
    return e.code >= 400 && e.code < 500;
}
 
request("http://www.google.com").then(function(result) {
    console.log(result.body);
}).caught(clientError, function(e){
   //A client error like 400 Bad Request happened
});

Promise#finally(Function handler)Promise

Pass a handler that will be called regardless of this promise's fate. Returns a new promise chained from this promise, which will become resolved with the same fulfillment value or rejection reason as this promise. However, if handler returns a promise, the resolution of the returned promise will be delayed until the promise returned from handler is finished. If handler throws an exception or returns a rejected promise, the returned promise will reject in the same way. (This matches the JavaScript semantics for exceptions thrown inside finally clauses.)

Consider the example:

function anyway() {
    $("#ajax-loader-animation").hide();
}
 
function ajaxGetAsync(url) {
    return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
        var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest;
        xhr.addEventListener("error", reject);
        xhr.addEventListener("load", resolve);
        xhr.open("GET", url);
        xhr.send(null);
    }).then(anyway, anyway);
}

This example doesn't work as intended because the then handler actually swallows the exception and returns undefined for any further chainers.

The situation can be fixed with Promise#finally:

function ajaxGetAsync(url) {
    return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
        var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest;
        xhr.addEventListener("error", reject);
        xhr.addEventListener("load", resolve);
        xhr.open("GET", url);
        xhr.send(null);
    }).finally(function(){
        $("#ajax-loader-animation").hide();
    });
}

Now the animation is hidden but an exception or the actual return value will automatically skip the finally and propagate to further chainers. This is more in line with the synchronous finally keyword.

Promise#finally works like Q's finally method, unless callback returns a rejected promise.

Note that the parallel with synchronous finally is not exact:

// as expected:
(function() { try { return 1; } finally { throw "2"; } })(); // throws "2"
Promise.resolve(1).finally(function() { throw "2"; }); // rejects with "2"
 
// but:
(function() { try { return 1; } finally { return 2; } })(); // returns 2
Promise.resolve(1).finally(function() { return 2; }); // resolves to '1'
 
// compare:
(function() { try { return 1; } finally { 2; } })(); // returns 1

This asymmetry is because the Promise API can't distinguish the return statement from an expression evaluating to a value.


Method wrappers and helpers

Functions for writing promise-returning methods.

Promise.guard(Function|Number condition, Function fn)Function

Limit the concurrency of a function fn. Creates a new function whose concurrency is limited by condition. This can be useful with operations such as Promise.map, Promise.all, etc that allow tasks to execute in "parallel", to limit the number which can be in-flight simultanously.

The condition argument is a concurrency limiting condition, such as Promise.guard.n. If condition is a number, it will be treated as if it were Promise.guard.n(condition).

Example:

// Using Promise.guard with Promise.map to limit concurrency
// of the mapFunc
 
var guardedAsyncOperation, mapped;
 
// Allow only 1 inflight execution of guarded
guardedAsyncOperation = Promise.guard(1, asyncOperation);
 
mapped = Promise.map(array, guardedAsyncOperation);
mapped.then(function(results) {
    // Handle results as usual
});

Example:

// Using Promise.guard with Promise.all to limit concurrency
// across *all tasks*
 
var guardTask, tasks, taskResults;
 
tasks = [/* Array of async functions to execute as tasks */];
 
// Use bind() to create a guard that can be applied to any function
// Only 2 tasks may execute simultaneously.
// Note that all guarded tasks share the same condition instance
// (`Promise.guard.n(2)`) -- if we had passed `2` instead they
// would each have their own guard, which wouldn't do what we want.
guardTask = Promise.guard.bind(Promise, Promise.guard.n(2));
 
// Use guardTask to guard all the tasks.
tasks = tasks.map(guardTask);
 
// Execute the tasks with concurrency/"parallelism" limited to 2
taskResults = Promise.all(tasks);
taskResults.then(function(results) {
    // Handle results as usual
});
Promise.guard.n(Number number)Function

Creates a condition that allows at most number of simultaneous executions inflight.

var condition = Promise.guard.n(number);

Promise.method(Function fn)Function

Returns a new function that wraps the given function fn. The new function will always return a promise that is fulfilled with the original function's return value or rejected with thrown exceptions from the original function. It will also unwrap any arguments (including this) which are promises, converting them to their fulfilled values.

This method is convenient when a function can sometimes return synchronously or throw synchronously.

Example without using Promise.method:

MyClass.prototype.method = function(input) {
    if (!this.isValid(input)) {
        return Promise.reject(new TypeError("input is not valid"));
    }
 
    if (this.cache(input)) {
        return Promise.resolve(this.someCachedValue);
    }
 
    return db.queryAsync(input).bind(this).then(function(value) {
        this.someCachedValue = value;
        return value;
    });
};

Using Promise.method, there is no need to manually wrap direct return or throw values into a promise:

MyClass.prototype.method = Promise.method(function(input) {
    if (!this.isValid(input)) {
        throw new TypeError("input is not valid");
    }
 
    if (this.cachedFor(input)) {
        return this.someCachedValue;
    }
 
    return db.queryAsync(input).bind(this).then(function(value) {
        this.someCachedValue = value;
        return value;
    });
});

See also Q.promised, when.lift.


Promise#nodify([Function callback])Promise

Register a node-style callback on this promise. When this promise is is either fulfilled or rejected, the node callback will be called back with the node.js convention, where error reason is the first argument and success value is the sec ond argument. The error argument will be null in case of success.

Returns back this promise instead of creating a new one. If the callback argument is not a function, this method does not do anything.

This can be used to create APIs that both accept node-style callbacks and return promises:

function getDataFor(input, callback) {
    return dataFromDataBase(input).nodify(callback);
}

The above function can then make everyone happy.

Promises:

getDataFor("me").then(function(dataForMe) {
    console.log(dataForMe);
});

Normal callbacks:

getDataFor("me", function(err, dataForMe) {
    if( err ) {
        console.error( err );
    } else {
        console.log(dataForMe);
    }
});

Promise.promisify(Function nodeFunction [, dynamic pattern [, dynamic receiver]])Function

Returns a function that will wrap the given nodeFunction. Instead of taking a callback, the returned function will return a promise whose fate is decided by the callback behavior of the given node function. The node function should conform to node.js convention of accepting a callback as last argument and calling that callback with error as the first argument and success value(s) in the second and following arguments.

If the pattern is true, the fulfillment value will be an array containing the callback arguments.

If the pattern is not present or falsy, the fulfillment value will be the second value passed to the callback. (This is useful in the common case where only a single value is provided to the callback.)

If the pattern is an array of names, the fulfillment value will be an object with the callback arguments assigned to named fields in the order given by pattern.

If you pass a receiver, the nodeFunction will be called as a method on the receiver (that is, this will be set to receiver when nodeFunction is invoked).

Example of promisifying the asynchronous readFile of node.js fs-module:

var fs = require('fs');
var readFile = Promise.promisify(fs.readFile, false, fs);
 
readFile("myfile.js", "utf8").then(function(contents){
    return eval(contents);
}).then(function(result){
    console.log("The result of evaluating myfile.js", result);
}).caught(SyntaxError, function(e){
    console.log("File had syntax error", e);
//Catch any other error
}).catch(function(e){
    console.log("Error reading file", e);
});

Tip

Use Promise#spread with APIs that have multiple success values:

var request = Promise.promisify(require('request'), true);
request("http://www.google.com").spread(function(response, body) {
    console.log(body);
}).catch(function(err) {
    console.error(err);
});

The above uses the request library which has a callback signature of multiple success values.

Since prfun version 1.0.0.


Timers

Methods to delay and time out promises.

Promise.delay([dynamic value,] int ms)Promise

Returns a promise that will be fulfilled with value (or undefined) after given ms milliseconds. If value is a promise, the delay will start counting down when it is fulfilled and the returned promise will be fulfilled with the fulfillment value of the value promise.

Promise.delay(500).then(function(){
    console.log("500 ms passed");
    return "Hello world";
}).delay(500).then(function(helloWorldString) {
    console.log(helloWorldString);
    console.log("another 500 ms passed") ;
});

Promise#delay(int ms)Promise

Convenience method for:

Promise.delay(this, ms);

See Promise.delay.


Promise#timeout(int ms [, String message])Promise

Returns a promise that will be fulfilled with this promise's fulfillment value or rejection reason. However, if this promise is not fulfilled or rejected within ms milliseconds, the returned promise is rejected with a Promise.TimeoutError instance.

You may specify a custom error message with the message parameter.

The example function fetchContent tries to fetch the contents of a web page with a 50ms timeout and sleeping 100ms between each retry. If there is no response after 5 retries, then the returned promise is rejected with a ServerError (made up error type).

function fetchContent(retries) {
    if (!retries) retries = 0;
    var jqXHR = $.get("http://www.slowpage.com");
    //Cast the jQuery promise into a bluebird promise
    return Promise.resolve(jqXHR)
        .timeout(50)
        .caught(Promise.TimeoutError, function() {
            if (retries < 5) {
                return Promise.delay(100).then(function(){
                    return fetchContent(retries+1);
                });
            } else {
                throw new ServerError("not responding after 5 retries");
            }
        });
}

Generators

Using ECMAScript6 generators feature to implement better syntax for promises.

Experimental: Requires an environment that supports ES6 generators and the yield keyword. Node >= 0.11.2 with the --harmony-generators command-line flag will work.

Promise.async(GeneratorFunction generatorFunction [, int cbArg])Function

Takes a function that can use yield to await the resolution of promises while control is transferred back to the JS event loop. You can write code that looks and acts like synchronous code, even using synchronous try, catch and finally. Returns a function which returns a Promise.

If the optional cbArg is present, then Promise.nodify is invoked on the result with the given (optional) argument as a parameter.

// Use Promise.async to create a function that acts as a coroutine
var getRecentTodosForUser = Promise.async(function*(todosFilter, userId) {
    var todos;
    try {
        todos = yield getTodosForUser(userId);
        showTodos(todos.filter(todosFilter));
    } catch(e) {
        showError(e);
    }
});
 
function getTodosForUser(userId) {
    // returns a promise for an array of the user's todos
}
 
// Get (a promise for) the todos for user 123, and filter them
// using the `isRecentTodo` filter.
var filteredTodos = getRecentTodosForUser(isRecentTodo, 123);

In addition to try, catch, and finally, return also works as expected. In this revised example, yield allows us to return a result and move error handling out to the caller.

// Use Promise.async to create a function that acts as a coroutine
var getRecentTodosForUser = Promise.async(function*(todosFilter, userId) {
    var todos = yield getTodosForUser(userId);
    return todos.filter(todosFilter);
});
 
function getTodosForUser(userId) {
    // returns a promise for an array of the user's todos
}
 
// Get (a promise for) the todos for user 123, and filter them
// using the `isRecentTodo` filter.
var filteredTodos = getRecentTodosForUser(isRecentTodo, 123);
 
filteredTodos.then(showTodos, showError);

You can also use this function to implement coroutines:

function PingPong() { }
 
PingPong.prototype.ping = Promise.async(function* (val) {
    console.log("Ping?", val)
    yield Promise.delay(500)
    this.pong(val+1)
});
 
PingPong.prototype.pong = Promise.async(function* (val) {
    console.log("Pong!", val)
    yield Promise.delay(500);
    this.ping(val+1)
});
 
var a = new PingPong();
a.ping(0);

Running the example with node version at least 0.11.2:

$ node --harmony test.js
Ping? 0
Pong! 1
Ping? 2
Pong! 3
Ping? 4
...

Caution

Note the difference between func1 and func2 in the following:

var thrower = Promise.method(function(msg) { throw new Error(msg); });
 
var func1 = Promise.async(function *() {
    try {
        return thrower("hey");
    } catch (e) {
        console.log("This line is never reached.");
    }
});
 
var func2 = Promise.async(function *() {
    try {
        return (yield thrower("ho"));
    } catch (e) {
        console.log("Exception is caught here!", e);
    }
});

When func1 returns a Promise, we leave the scope of the try block. By the time the returned Promise rejects with an error, we can no longer catch it.

If you want to ensure that rejected Promises get a chance to be caught, be sure to yield them (which resolves the Promise completely) before returning, as in func2.

Tip

You can use Promise.join to wait for multiple promises at once.

You can combine it with ES6 destructuring for some neat syntax:

var getData = Promise.async(function* (urlA, urlB) {
    [resultA, resultB] = yield Promise.join(http.getAsync(urlA), http.getAsync(urlB));
    //use resultA
    //use resultB
});

You might wonder why not just do this?

var getData = Promise.async(function* (urlA, urlB) {
    var resultA = yield http.getAsync(urlA);
    var resultB = yield http.getAsync(urlB);
});

The problem with the above is that the requests are not done in parallel. It will completely wait for request A to complete before even starting request B. In the example with Promise.join both requests fire off at the same time in parallel.

See also Q.async.

Legacy callbacks

For compatibility with legacy code which uses callbacks, you can use the optional cbArg, as follows:

var getDataFor = Promise.async(function *(input) {
  return dataFromDataBase(input);
}, 1 /* arg #1 is optional callback */);
 
/* Calling this using node 'callback' syntax */
getDataFor(input, function(err, dataForMe) {
    if (err) {
        console.error( err );
    } else {
        console.log(dataForMe);
    }
});

License

Copyright (c) 2014-2018 C. Scott Ananian

Portions are Copyright (c) 2014 Petka Antonov

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

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