Openwhisk: "wsk activation list" should show more information about activations

Created on 25 Feb 2016 · 34Comments · Source: apache/openwhisk

If I'm looking at a recent activation to debug it and I don't know its ID, it would be useful to have its start/end time, its status (success, running, failed).

Currently other than confirming there are activations, it is not very useful:

$ wsk activation list
activations
123fb4243552491b94b6fcf6a94be745             vision-analysis                         
21526c4dd7564090a9095941fa1d546b             vision-analysis                         
0fa2dd0bb55f4df3ba68a571da1a6d34             vision-analysis                         
3b33904f79f448beb0c913856363a088             vision-analysis                         
e2e22077ad3945b48b612436fe0bb334             vision-analysis                         
48581ba45fac4119a5970250e3f0b0d7             vision-analysis                         
dec75b9e241942e6a9ddd0fc9b8dd68b             vision-analysis                         
3a0e3cbf45734ce1b13220414d6c10af             vision-analysis

cli enhancement help wanted starter

Source

l2fprod

All 34 comments

I have discussed the issue with @rabbah. He proposed more general solution.

activation entity records can be divided into two parts: small constant size and unbounded size. logs, result object are examples of the latter. The other fields of an activation are finite and bounded
Default activation list should get and show a bounded part of each activation. activation list with a flag (include_docs) should get everything that belongs to activation.

I will do the changes in this direction. Any comments?

fxulusoy on 14 Apr 2016

@fxulusoy: makes sense. eager to see more info on activation list. thanks!

l2fprod on 16 Apr 2016

@mdeuser I see go-cli has a --full flag
Should we close this issue?

@l2fprod you can use --since --upto and --full to get a list of the activations and be able to find the one you are looking within the time frame you scoped.

$ wsk activation list -h
list activations
Usage:
  wsk activation list [NAMESPACE] [flags]

Flags:
  -f, --full          include full activation description
  -l, --limit LIMIT   only return LIMIT number of activations from the collection (default 30)
      --since SINCE   return activations with timestamps later than SINCE; measured in milliseconds since Th, 01, Jan 1970
  -s, --skip SKIP     exclude the first SKIP number of activations from the result
      --upto UPTO     return activations with timestamps earlier than UPTO; measured in milliseconds since Th, 01, Jan 1970

csantanapr on 7 Sep 2016

Fred's request is to show more information in the list as in

$ wsk activation list
activations
123fb4243552491b94b...       vision-analysis   duration    start-time    end-time     status

rabbah on 7 Sep 2016

@rabbah that's the final list of columns to show? No more, No less
activationid actionanme duration start-time end-time status

csantanapr on 7 Sep 2016

It's open for discussion. Maybe we add status, start time and duration for starters.

rabbah on 7 Sep 2016

yeah I think those 3 would be useful, and if duration can be printed in human (i.e. less than 1 show xms, less than 1 minute shows x:x seconds, etc..)

csantanapr on 8 Sep 2016

Maybe we add status, start time and duration for starters.

incl. action name?

mbehrendt on 8 Sep 2016

Name is already printed.
We might want to add trigger/rule vs action distinction.

rabbah on 8 Sep 2016

cool -- wanted to make sure that stays on the list.

agree the distinction trigger/rule/action should be highlighted. i think folks will also want to filter based on them, so probably another parameter on the cli?

mbehrendt on 8 Sep 2016

@rabbah - @bpoole16 and I have picked up on this issue, and we had a few questions:

You mentioned a distinction between actions and triggers/rules in the list; did you have any thoughts on implementation with this? Currently, there is no way to distinguish activations of actions, rules or triggers.
What are your thoughts on implementing this form of the list with a flag? Gathering the data necessary to display the info requested here requires several Get calls to the server, producing noticeable lag time from entering the command to the finished list displaying.

underwoodb-sd-ibm on 26 Jul 2017

activation for triggers and rules have end time stamp equal to 0 and duration 0 as well.
a rule will have a caused field also populated.

isn't there a pr that almost has this completed?

rabbah on 26 Jul 2017

See https://github.com/apache/incubator-openwhisk/pull/2138.

rabbah on 26 Jul 2017

@rabbah, @mdeuser - wasn't able to find an open PR for this issue when we originally looked into it. Thanks for pointing that out! Are we to assume that this issue is off the table, then? It doesn't look like the PR has been touched in a few months.

underwoodb-sd-ibm on 27 Jul 2017

This issue is still in need of an implementation. Since the original owner of that PR is not working on it, you can pick up where it leaves off.

mdeuser on 27 Jul 2017

👍1

@mdeuser, @rabbah, @dubeejw: we wanted to get some feedback on our current proposed output for wsk activation list:

$ wsk activation list
activations
activation id                     name            type     date        start     end       zone  duration  status
0dde2068e2db439883ccdfad79252c11  goodbye         action   2017-07-27  10:13:02  10:13:02  EDT   42        success
e03b8069ed7541aabd213a47ec76aaa6  goodbyeRule     rule     2017-07-27  10:13:02  n/a       EDT   0         success
50aa984ff20c4f9a8cf64dc92e94fff5  goodbyeTrigger  trigger  2017-07-27  10:13:02  n/a       EDT   0         success
aa7627f3addb42c2a1c80837a218849c  hello           action   2017-07-27  09:52:20  09:52:20  EDT   371       success
4ab5887c564c4b46b8dc688000dcd121  hello           action   2017-07-27  09:52:19  09:52:19  EDT   68        success
20297150a8794bc2904d6786bef933b2  hello           action   2017-07-27  09:52:19  09:52:19  EDT   76        success
7fc8cc98eafa44c488f986ce38d5b0a2  zhelloRule      rule     2017-07-27  09:52:19  n/a       EDT   0         success
f639be4f00ab457f9065c38eab337ded  ahelloRule      rule     2017-07-27  09:52:19  n/a       EDT   0         success
667cc6023e3647668c12be8117a7d98e  helloRule       rule     2017-07-27  09:52:19  n/a       EDT   0         success

underwoodb-sd-ibm on 27 Jul 2017

for triggers and rules i would omit the end and duration. otherwise looks good to me.

rabbah on 27 Jul 2017

i'm confused by the time zone - where would there be different time zones for the actions? you're going to show the stamps in the time zone for the local host machine right? i think EDT/EST there is a unnecessarily confusing. I would take it out.

rabbah on 27 Jul 2017

looking good.

are the size limits for the name column?
will name value include the package?
what is driving the zone column? i agree with @rabbah in that the default date/time should be displayed in the local system executing the cli.
duration .. add units to column header.. i.e. duration (ms)

mdeuser on 27 Jul 2017

Any opinions on format for the date(yyyy-mm-dd)? There is no Golang function that allows us to format the date based on location. So, if we wanted to format the date according to region we would have to write something to check the users region.

@mdeuser
1) Currently, there are no limits for name.
2) Name does not include package.
3) We agree, zone is being removed.
4) Will do.

bpoole16 on 27 Jul 2017

Thinking about the appearance of and activation that spans midnight and crosses into the next day. having a start and end each complete with date/time would work, but may be too wordy as most activations would start/end on the same date. are the start and end time values in 24 hour format?

mdeuser on 27 Jul 2017

They are on military time, yes.

underwoodb-sd-ibm on 27 Jul 2017

As for date, i think YYYY-MM-DD should be fine for now.

mdeuser on 27 Jul 2017

👍1

Here are our two competing ideas for list output, given feedback:
Output 1:

$ wsk activation list
activations
activation id                     name                                                type     start                 end              duration      status
8be7b9b23749477dbd9d0a21ddadec34  thisisareallyreallyreallyreallyREALLYreallylong...  action   2017/07/27  12:45:40  07/27  12:45:40  34h 17m 36s   success
8ac78624eb654b1cb9442ec62686a9f6  hello                                               action   2017/07/27  12:08:48  07/27  12:08:48  34h 17m 36s   success
d0083e7c387b4dbcbd66bf303a4771f8  hello                                               action   2017/07/27  12:08:48  07/27  12:08:48  34h 17m 36s   success
9c8636e15bcc4c129f226e422737610f  hello                                               action   2017/07/27  12:08:48  07/27  12:08:48  34h 17m 36s   success
6d17d52fd40f4ba38f3d0125bf7c9cd1  zhelloRule                                          rule     2017/07/27  12:08:48  --/--  --:--:--  --            success
2faeafa6ec7c495a984124f43ffedbb4  ahelloRule                                          rule     2017/07/27  12:08:48  --/--  --:--:--  --            success
b7d8b40eb473467c88dbc1710d5fdc7a  helloRule                                           rule     2017/07/27  12:08:48  --/--  --:--:--  --            success
ed5fc08691974db0b5e1ee155c216ba6  helloTrigger                                        trigger  2017/07/27  12:08:48  --/--  --:--:--  --            success
c0e392579fc4404596e2cc18fc9f3c73  hello                                               action   2017/07/27  12:08:17  07/27  12:08:17  34h 17m 36s   success

Output 2:

$ wsk activation list
activations
activation id                     name                                                type     start                 end              duration      status
8be7b9b23749477dbd9d0a21ddadec34  thisisareallyreallyreallyreallyREALLYreallylong...  action   2017/07/27  12:45:40  07/27  12:45:40  34:17:36.789  success
8ac78624eb654b1cb9442ec62686a9f6  hello                                               action   2017/07/27  12:08:48  07/27  12:08:48  34:17:36.789  success
d0083e7c387b4dbcbd66bf303a4771f8  hello                                               action   2017/07/27  12:08:48  07/27  12:08:48  34:17:36.789  success
9c8636e15bcc4c129f226e422737610f  hello                                               action   2017/07/27  12:08:48  07/27  12:08:48  34:17:36.789  success
6d17d52fd40f4ba38f3d0125bf7c9cd1  zhelloRule                                          rule     2017/07/27  12:08:48  --/--  --:--:--  --:--:--.---  success
2faeafa6ec7c495a984124f43ffedbb4  ahelloRule                                          rule     2017/07/27  12:08:48  --/--  --:--:--  --:--:--.---  success
b7d8b40eb473467c88dbc1710d5fdc7a  helloRule                                           rule     2017/07/27  12:08:48  --/--  --:--:--  --:--:--.---  success
ed5fc08691974db0b5e1ee155c216ba6  helloTrigger                                        trigger  2017/07/27  12:08:48  --/--  --:--:--  --:--:--.---  success
c0e392579fc4404596e2cc18fc9f3c73  hello                                               action   2017/07/27  12:08:17  07/27  12:08:17  34:17:36.789  success

The only difference is how we list the duration.
Also, here is a link showing the specific function for and display of each duration: https://play.golang.org/p/--95pS7LYG
Any feedback about which direction to go would be appreciated. Thanks!

underwoodb-sd-ibm on 27 Jul 2017

what are the duration units? action have a maximum duration of minutes.. currently 5 tops before they are automatically booted from the system.

mdeuser on 27 Jul 2017

imho, the date formats using dash (-) delimiters are more readable. i think just a single date probably warranted. maybe start date, start time, end time.

mdeuser on 27 Jul 2017

@mdeuser, @rabbah: how does this look? We adjusted the duration back to reporting just milliseconds, as a 5 minute max run time isn't too much to account for, in our opinion. Also changed the delimiter back to dashes, as well as adjusted the headers and took out the end date.

$ wsk activation list
activations
activation id                     name                                                type     start date  start time  end time  duration (ms)  status
8be7b9b23749477dbd9d0a21ddadec34  thisisareallyreallyreallyreallyREALLYreallylong...  action   2017-07-27  12:45:40    12:45:40  44             success
8ac78624eb654b1cb9442ec62686a9f6  hello                                               action   2017-07-27  12:08:48    12:08:48  48             success
d0083e7c387b4dbcbd66bf303a4771f8  hello                                               action   2017-07-27  12:08:48    12:08:48  7              success
9c8636e15bcc4c129f226e422737610f  hello                                               action   2017-07-27  12:08:48    12:08:48  60             success
6d17d52fd40f4ba38f3d0125bf7c9cd1  zhelloRule                                          rule     2017-07-27  12:08:48    --:--:--  -              success
2faeafa6ec7c495a984124f43ffedbb4  ahelloRule                                          rule     2017-07-27  12:08:48    --:--:--  -              success
b7d8b40eb473467c88dbc1710d5fdc7a  helloRule                                           rule     2017-07-27  12:08:48    --:--:--  -              success
ed5fc08691974db0b5e1ee155c216ba6  helloTrigger                                        trigger  2017-07-27  12:08:48    --:--:--  -              success
c0e392579fc4404596e2cc18fc9f3c73  hello                                               action   2017-07-27  12:08:17    12:08:17  41             success

underwoodb-sd-ibm on 28 Jul 2017

looks good!

Is the name field is now being bounded? If so, that's good, but we'll need a --full flag to display this information vertically (see wsk api list --full) so that the entire name can be displayed
The package name should also be included if it's not the default user package - to handle the case of the same named action residing in separate packages.
Personally, I like having numbers, like the duration, being right aligned. That way the digits will always line up across the rows.

mdeuser on 28 Jul 2017

👍1

@mdeuser - with regards to a --full flag, do you want us to overwrite the current method that wsk activation list --full uses? Right now, it spits out the raw json file documenting all pertinent information for each activation in the list.

underwoodb-sd-ibm on 28 Jul 2017

ah.. yes. the command already has that --full support. that should be good enough.

does the backend need a change to support the package qualification?

mdeuser on 28 Jul 2017

@mdeuser

Quick note about the --full list: the information in the json format is not currently formatted in a necessarily human-friendly way when it comes to time. Here is an example of what it might look like if we still pursued the full list you were discussing:

$ wsk activation list
activations
Activation: 3134aa36e0cb458dbf11210afffa7c83
   Name: hello
   Type: action
   Start Date: 2017-07-28
   Start Time: 09:01:03
   End Time: 09:01:03
   Duration (ms): 79
   Status: success
Activation: 8be7b9b23749477dbd9d0a21ddadec34
   Name: thisisareallyreallyreallyreallyREALLYreallylongactionname
   Type: action
   Start Date: 2017-07-27
   Start Time: 12:45:40
   End Time: 12:45:40
   Duration (ms): 44
   Status: success

Also of note: API full list used to be printed out in JSON format, but has since been changed to the way wsk api list -f prints now, as you had suggested we look into. Not sure if this might be in some other issue?

With regards to changing the back end: we are unsure. The json output has a path value under annotations that includes the package name, and it seems easy to grab the packageName/entityName from it. We're not sure if it's better to use that information to create the name, or to change the backend to give us the name beforehand. Thoughts?

underwoodb-sd-ibm on 28 Jul 2017

@underwoodb-sd-ibm - for backwards compatibility, leave the wsk activation list --full format as-is.

as for the package name, it seems there's a path annotation in the activation record which has a value of the fully qualified action name. perhaps that can be used to identify the package name.

mdeuser on 31 Jul 2017

👍 to this feature