Alexa responding before data is returned - node.js

Question

I'm new to promises, async/await, and Alexa/lambda so bear with me.
My function is returning prior to the data being returned. I had a similar issue where I was getting an error, but have since edited my function quite a bit and therefore asking a new question. I'm now no longer getting an error, but instead my data is being returned first, then the promise is executing.
I've tried re-writing the promise/function after reading many, many SO, google, and amazon developer forums. Nothing seems to be working for me.
const IntentRequest = {
canHandle(handlerInput) {
return handlerInput.requestEnvelope.request.type === 'IntentRequest';
},
async handle(handlerInput) {
const { requestEnvelope, serviceClientFactory, responseBuilder } = handlerInput;
let responseData, promise;
checkAuthenticationStatus(handlerInput,function(json){
console.log('waited!')
if(json.error) {
return handlerInput.responseBuilder.speak(messages.NO_ACCESS).withSimpleCard('Unauthorized Request', messages.NO_ACCESS).getResponse();
} else if(json.noerror && json.noerror.okay == 'true'){
console.log('starting to get intent data')
const url = new URL(json.noerror.okay.path);
promise = new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
console.log('start promise')
return httpsGetIntent(handlerInput, url).then((resultData) => {
console.log(resultData)
responseData = resultData;
resolve(responseData)
console.log('inside promise, no error, prior to return data')
})
}).then((result) => { console.log('result', result)})
return handlerInput.responseBuilder.speak('Test').getResponse();
}
});
console.log('response data', responseData)
let result = await promise;
return result;
},
};
Out of my many console.logs() added for debugging, they print as follows:
- 'response data'
- 'waited!'
- 'starting to get intent data'
- 'start promise'
- resultData
- 'inside promise, no error, prior to return data'

Answer 1

While it's not fully fleshed out (I need to address the error handling portion) I wanted to share my solution here in case anyone stumbled upon this post and needed some help.
I moved the promise outside the checkAuthentication function and returned the data when it was processed. I then chained the promise with .then() and passed it the data returned, and prompted Alexa to speak.
const IntentRequest = {
canHandle(handlerInput) {
return handlerInput.requestEnvelope.request.type === 'IntentRequest';
},
async handle(handlerInput) {
const { requestEnvelope, serviceClientFactory, responseBuilder } = handlerInput;
let responseData, promise;
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
checkAuthenticationStatus(handlerInput, async function(json) {
if (json.error) {
return handlerInput.responseBuilder.speak(messages.NO_ACCESS).withSimpleCard('Unauthorized Request', messages.NO_ACCESS).getResponse();
} else if (json.noerror && json.noerror.okay == 'true') {
const url = new URL(json.noerror.okay.path);
let resultD = await httpsGetIntent(handlerInput, url, function(resultData) {
if (resultData) {
return resolve(resultData);
} else {
return resolve(handlerInput.responseBuilder.speak('False Test').getResponse());
}
})
}
})
}).then((data) => {
return handlerInput.responseBuilder.speak(data.response.outputSpeech.text).getResponse();
});
},
};

Answer 2

Almost_Ashleigh, based on your own answer, some ideas in which I have :
made the assumption that httpsGetIntent() returns a Promsie that delivers resultData.
promisified checkAuthenticationStatus() by writing the adaptor checkAuthenticationStatusAsync().
consolidated the .speak() commands into final .then() and .catch() clauses.
allowed specific errors to be tailored by decorating with a .title property, which is used in the final .catch() as a cardTitle. Any undecorated errors will default to 'Sorry' (or whatever you want).
// in a suitable scope ...
function checkAuthenticationStatusAsync(handlerInput) {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) {
checkAuthenticationStatus(handlerInput, (json) => {
if (json.error || !json.noerror || json.noerror.okay !== 'true') {
let err = new Error(messages.NO_ACCESS); // or maybe a separate error message per error case?
err.title = 'Unauthorized Request';
reject(err);
} else {
resolve(json);
}
});
});
}
// ... and ...
const IntentRequest = {
canHandle(handlerInput) {
return handlerInput.requestEnvelope.request.type === 'IntentRequest';
},
handle(handlerInput) {
return checkAuthenticationStatusAsync(handlerInput)
.then((json) => httpsGetIntent(handlerInput, new URL(json.noerror.okay.path)))
.then((resultData) => {
if (resultData) {
// success path ends here
return handlerInput.responseBuilder.speak(resultData.response.outputSpeech.text).getResponse();
} else {
throw new Error('No result data returned'); // throws to the .catch() below
}
})
.catch(err => {
// all errors end up here.
return handlerInput.responseBuilder.speak(err.message).withSimpleCard(err.title || 'Sorry', err.message).getResponse();
throw err; // to keep handle's caller informed
});
},
};
Note, this is a way, not necessarily the way, to write the code. Please feel free to raid for ideas.

Answer 3

Your best friend is async/await. Please use something like this or like this to access APIs.