Advice on Creating Synchronous Methods

help
1

Hey guys!

I am a bit new to using Meteor and am looking for advice on appropriate ways to write synchronous methods on the server. If I say something that is incorrect at any point, please do not hesitate to correct me. Here is a short example to help get the conversation going. Say I have a method in Meteor.methods that needs to have a synchronous flow:

Meteor.methods({
    someMethod: function() {
        computeTwoPlusTwo(); // Prints 4 to the console
        callForInfoSomeRestAPI(someVar, function(result, err) {
            if (err) throw err;
            console.log(result);
        });
        computeTwoPlusTwo();
    }
});

I would like the output of my console to be:

4
The result of callForInfoSomeRestAPI
4

What would be the best way to guarantee this result?

From my understanding, methods on the server are synchronous (or run in sequence) because they run in a fiber. But in my example above, the callback of callForInfoSomeRestAPI would be executed only when it receives a response meaning the output I would like could be out of order. The internet says I can solve this with Meteor.wrapAsync. If I wrap callForInfoSomeRestAPI with this method, it would block until the callback has been executed.

Additionally, when is it appropriate to run code in a new fiber? I have found myself querying the database on new fibers in order to get some of my server code working.

Thanks so much!

1 Like
2

For the example you’ve shown, I would wrap the async call:

Meteor.methods({
  someMethod: function() {
    const wrappedRestCall = Meteor.wrapAsync(callForInfoSomeRestAPI);
    computeTwoPlusTwo(); // Prints 4 to the console
    let result;
    try {
      result = wrappedRestCall(someVar);
      console.log(result);
    } catch (err) {
      throw err;
    }
    computeTwoPlusTwo();
  }
});
1 Like