Completely lost with promise async/await - node.js

Question

I'm trying to develop a relative simple test on NodeJS 11.6.x. I'm not really a developer, but sometimes try to do some coding.
My objective is to create a SQLite database and repeat some steps every time a run the code:
1. Drop a table if it exists
2. Create a table
3. Insert N lines
4. Count how many lines is in the database
5. Close the database
I tried first with a basic approach using callback, but couldn't figure out a way to make the step 3 (insert N lines) and looking for a solution, the promise async/await 'pattern' sounded the way to accomplish everything.
But, after refactoring the code, the step 1 (drop table) isn't running and I still not being able to execute step 3 (insert N lines) and have no idea what is happening. I also tried to use a promise package with no luck.
Could someone please have a look and help on this and if possible, explain and or give some advice?
Thanks in advance
Edited: Well, I'not used to post here at SO and don't know the 'right' way to update things here. I beleave I should had left the first code as reference, buy I don't have anymore.
Now I think I'm almoust there. All steps are executing in order. Just the step 3 (insert N lines) that I'm not able to make it work. Or it inserts and stops not going to the next '.then' or it just insert 1 line and I'm cannot visualize what is happening.
In the code, I commented in two lines with 'BUG 1:' and 'BUG 2:'.
If I both are commented, I get what is happening, it inserts only 1 line and don't continue the promise chain
If I comment BUG 1 and let BUG 2 active, it inserts just one line and continues. I think I understand why
If I comment BUG 2 and let BUG 1 active, it inserts all lines but don't continue and again, I think I understand why
If I uncomment both (the way I think should work. Don't work, and return an aditional error "Segmentation fault"
Bellow the code:
const sqlite3 = require('sqlite3')
let db = new sqlite3.Database('./test.db');
waitTime = 1
process.stdout.write('Starting...\n')
var test = new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
process.stdout.write('Drop Table... ');
db.run(`DROP TABLE IF EXISTS test`, (err) => {
if (err) {
process.stdout.write(`Dropping Error ${err.message}\n`)
reject()
} else {
setTimeout(() => {
process.stdout.write(`Dropped!\n`)
resolve()
}, waitTime)
}
})
})
test.then(() => {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
process.stdout.write('Create Table... ')
db.run(`CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS test (data TEXT)`, (err) => {
if (err) {
process.stdout.write(`Creating Error ${err.message}\n`)
reject()
} else {
setTimeout(() => {
process.stdout.write(`Created!\n`)
resolve()
}, waitTime)
}
})
})
}).then(() => {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
process.stdout.write('Insert Line... ')
lines = 10
let loop = (async () => {
for (let i = 0; i < lines; i++) {
await new Promise(resolve =>
db.run(`INSERT INTO test (data) VALUES ('a')`, (err) => {
if (err) {
process.stdout.write(`Inserting Error ${err.message}\n`)
throw (err)
} else {
setTimeout(() => {
// process.stdout.write(`Line ${i} Inserted!\n`)
process.stdout.write(`, ${i+1}`)
resolve() // BUG 1: if this line is commented, comment it, it will insert only 1 line
}, waitTime)
}
})
)
}
})()
process.stdout.write(`, IDone\n`)
resolve() // BUG 2: If this line is commented, the promise chain stops here
})
}).then(() => {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
process.stdout.write('Count Line(s)... ')
db.all(`SELECT COUNT(*) AS totalLines FROM test`, [], (err, rows) => {
if (err) {
process.stdout.write(`Count Error ${err.message}\n`)
reject()
} else {
setTimeout(() => {
process.stdout.write(` ${rows[0].totalLines} Count!\n`)
resolve()
}, waitTime)
}
})
})
}).then(() => {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
process.stdout.write('Select Line(s)... ')
db.all('SELECT data FROM test', [], (err, rows) => {
if (err) {
process.stdout.write(`Select Error ${err.message}\n`)
reject()
} else {
rows.forEach((row) => {
console.log(row.data);
})
setTimeout(() => {
process.stdout.write(`${rows[0].totalLines} Select!\n`)
resolve()
}, waitTime)
}
})
})
}).then(() => {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
process.stdout.write('Close DB... ')
db.close((err) => {
if (err) {
process.stdout.write(`Closing Error ${err.message}\n`)
reject()
} else {
setTimeout(() => {
process.stdout.write(`Closed!\n`)
resolve()
}, waitTime)
}
})
})
}).then(() => {
console.log('Finished')
})
After the great explanation from #CertainPerformance (Thanks a lot), I was able to get it running. I believe it is now "the right" way to do it. May be there are some better ways, but for now, it is ok for me, bellow the final code:
const sqlite3 = require('sqlite3')
let db = new sqlite3.Database('./test.db');
lines = 10
process.stdout.write('Starting... ')
var test = new Promise((resolve, reject) => { process.stdout.write(`Promise Created...!\n`)
resolve()
})
test.then(() => { process.stdout.write('Drop Table... ')
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
db.run(`DROP TABLE IF EXISTS test`, (err) => {
if (err) {
reject(err)
} else { process.stdout.write(`Dropped!\n`)
resolve() }
})
})
}).then(() => { process.stdout.write('Create Table... ')
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
db.run(`CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS test (data TEXT)`, (err) => {
if (err) {
reject(err)
} else {
process.stdout.write(`Created!\n`)
resolve() }
})
})
}).then(() => { process.stdout.write('Insert Line... ')
let insertLoop = (async () => {
for (let i = 0; i < lines; i++) {
await new Promise(resolve =>
db.run(`INSERT INTO test (data) VALUES ('a')`, (err) => {
if (err) {
reject(err)
} else { ( i == 0 ) ? process.stdout.write(`${i + 1}`) : process.stdout.write(`, ${i + 1}`)
resolve() }
})
)
}
process.stdout.write(`, Inserted!\n`)
})()
return insertLoop
}).then(() => { process.stdout.write('Count Line(s)... ')
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
db.all(`SELECT COUNT(*) AS totalLines FROM test`, [], (err, rows) => {
if (err) {
reject(err)
} else { process.stdout.write(` ${rows[0].totalLines} Counted!\n`)
resolve()
}
})
})
}).then(() => { process.stdout.write('Close DB... ')
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
db.close((err) => {
if (err) {
reject(err)
} else { process.stdout.write(`Closed!\n`)
resolve()
}
})
})
}).then(() => {
console.log('Finished')
}).catch((err) => {
process.stdout.write(`The process did not finish successfully: ${err}`)
})

Answer 1

There are two main issues. First, in the second .then, you declare loop as an async function that is immediately invoked: this means that loop will resolve to a Promise. The trimmed code looks like:
}).then(() => {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
let loop = (async () => {
// do some asynchronus stuff
})()
resolve() // BUG 2
})
}).then(() => {
Declaring a Promise alone will not cause the current thread to wait for it. The above code doesn't work as expected for the same reason that this code prints after immediately:
console.log('start');
const prom = new Promise((resolve) => {
setTimeout(resolve, 500);
});
console.log('after');
You must call .then on a Promise (or await the Promise) in order to schedule additional operations after the Promise completes. Or, if you're currently inside a .then, you can return the Promise, which will mean that the next .then will run as soon as the returned Promise resolves:
}).then(() => {
let loop = (async () => {
// do some asynchronus stuff
})();
return loop;
}).then(() => {
// this block will run once `loop` resolves
Note the lack of a new Promise((resolve... constructor above - inside a .then, just returning the next Promise is often the preferred way to go, since it means a lot less code and avoids an antipattern.
The other issue with the current code is that errors will not be caught. For example, if your
db.run(`INSERT INTO test (data) VALUES ('a')`, (err) => {
if (err) {
process.stdout.write(`Inserting Error ${err.message}\n`)
throw (err)
// else call resolve()
throws an error, the Promise that's currently being awaited at that point will never resolve, nor will it reject - it will remain pending and unfulfilled forever. You should pass reject as the second argument to the Promise constructor, and call it when there's an error (instead of throw), for example:
await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
db.run(`INSERT INTO test (data) VALUES ('a')`, (err) => {
if (err) {
process.stdout.write(`Inserting Error ${err.message}\n`)
reject(err)
} else {
// ...
This way, the awaited Promise will get rejected, which means that the whole loop will reject, and if the loop is returned, it'll allow a .catch to catch the error, for example:
var test = new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
// ...
});
test.then(() => {
return new Promise(...
// ...
})
.then(() => {
return new Promise(...
// ..
})
.then(() => {
return new Promise(...
// ..
})
.catch((err) => {
process.stdout.write(`The process did not finish successfully:`, err)
// handle errors
});
Note that, unless each db. function call needs to execute serially, it would be better to make all the requests at once, and resolve once each request has finished - this can significantly reduce the time required for the script to run. Create an array of Promises for each asynchronous call, then call Promise.all on that array to get a Promise that resolves when all of those Promises are done (or, rejects as soon as one of those Promises rejects). For example, for the second .then:
}).then(() => {
process.stdout.write('Insert Line... ')
const proms = Array.from(
{ length: lines },
(_, i) => new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
db.run(`INSERT INTO test (data) VALUES ('a')`, (err) => {
if (err) {
process.stdout.write(`Inserting Error ${err.message}\n`)
reject(err)
} else {
setTimeout(() => {
// process.stdout.write(`Line ${i} Inserted!\n`)
process.stdout.write(`, ${i+1}`)
resolve()
}, waitTime);
}
});
})
);
return Promise.all(proms);
}).then(() => {
Nothing else in your code looks to deal with asynchronous loops, luckily.
You may also consider a utility function like Promisify which will turn callback-based functions to Promises without all the extra new Promise(... boilerplate every time there's an asynchronous call.

Answer 2

Further improvements can be made by promisifying db into reusable functions, and leveraging the full power of async/await instead of mixing it with then:
const sqlite3 = require('sqlite3')
let db = new sqlite3.Database('./test.db');
function runDbAsync(sql) {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
db.run(sql, (err) => {
if (err) reject(err);
else resolve();
});
});
}
function getDbAsync(sql, val) {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
db.all(`SELECT COUNT(*) AS totalLines FROM test`, [], (err, rows) => {
if (err) reject(err);
else resolve(rows);
});
});
}
function closeDbAsync() {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
db.close((err) => {
if (err) reject(err);
else resolve();
});
});
}
function write(text) {
process.stdout.write(text);
}
function writeLn(text) {
write(text + "\n");
}
async function main() {
const lines = 10
writeLn('Starting... ')
write('Drop Table... ');
await runDbAsync(`DROP TABLE IF EXISTS test`);
writeLn(`Dropped!`);
write('Create Table... ');
await runDbAsync(`CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS test (data TEXT)`);
writeLn(`Created!`);
write('Insert Line... ');
for (let i = 0; i < lines; i++) {
await runDbAsync(`INSERT INTO test (data) VALUES ('a')`);
write( i == 0 `${i + 1}` : `, ${i + 1}`);
}
writeLn(`, Inserted!`);
write('Count Line(s)... ')
const rows = getDbAsync(`SELECT COUNT(*) AS totalLines FROM test`, []);
writeLn(` ${rows[0].totalLines} Counted!`)
write('Close DB... ');
await closeDbAsync();
writeLn(`Closed!`);
}
main().then(() => {
console.log('Finished')
}, err => {
writeLn(`The process did not finish successfully: ${err}`)
});