request #44484 Unable to update an artefact that use an 'Artefact link' field

Infos

Artifact ID#44484

Submitted byAurélien Tisné (atisne)

Last Modified On2025-09-10 11:26

Submitted on2025-09-04 11:11

Rank46186

Details

Summary *

Unable to update an artefact that use an 'Artefact link' field

Original Submission

After upgrading to Tuleap 16.11, we are facing to an issue concerning the new 'Artifact link' field. The update of some artefacts fails with an Internal serveur error:

sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: PHP Fatal error:  Uncaught TypeError: Tuleap\Tracker\Artifact\Changeset\ArtifactLink\SubmittedValueConvertor::convert(): Argument #1 ($submitted_value) must be of type array, string given, c>
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: Stack trace:
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #0 /usr/share/tuleap/plugins/tracker/include/FormElement/Field/ArtifactLink/ArtifactLinkField.php(1398): Tuleap\Tracker\Artifact\Changeset\ArtifactLink\SubmittedValueConvertor->convert()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #1 /usr/share/tuleap/plugins/tracker/include/Workflow/WorkflowUpdateChecker.php(71): Tuleap\Tracker\FormElement\Field\ArtifactLink\ArtifactLinkField->hasChanges()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #2 /usr/share/tuleap/plugins/tracker/include/Workflow/WorkflowUpdateChecker.php(50): Tuleap\Tracker\Workflow\WorkflowUpdateChecker->fieldHasChanges()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #3 /usr/share/tuleap/plugins/tracker/include/Tracker/Artifact/Changeset/NewChangesetFieldsValidator.php(61): Tuleap\Tracker\Workflow\WorkflowUpdateChecker->canFieldBeUpdated()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #4 /usr/share/tuleap/plugins/tracker/include/Tracker/Artifact/Changeset/FieldsValidator.php(89): Tracker_Artifact_Changeset_NewChangesetFieldsValidator->validateField()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #5 /usr/share/tuleap/plugins/tracker/include/Tracker/Artifact/Changeset/FieldsValidator.php(64): Tracker_Artifact_Changeset_FieldsValidator->validateOneField()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #6 /usr/share/tuleap/plugins/tracker/include/Tracker/Artifact/Changeset/NewChangesetValidator.php(59): Tracker_Artifact_Changeset_FieldsValidator->validate()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #7 /usr/share/tuleap/plugins/tracker/include/Tracker/Artifact/Changeset/NewChangesetCreator.php(72): Tuleap\Tracker\Artifact\Changeset\NewChangesetValidator->validateNewChangeset()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #8 /usr/share/tuleap/src/vendor/paragonie/easydb/src/EasyDB.php(1263): Tuleap\Tracker\Artifact\Changeset\NewChangesetCreator->{closure:Tuleap\Tracker\Artifact\Changeset\NewChangesetCreator::>
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #9 /usr/share/tuleap/src/common/DB/DBTransactionExecutorWithConnection.php(44): ParagonIE\EasyDB\EasyDB->tryFlatTransaction()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #10 /usr/share/tuleap/plugins/tracker/include/Tracker/Artifact/Changeset/NewChangesetCreator.php(61): Tuleap\DB\DBTransactionExecutorWithConnection->execute()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #11 /usr/share/tuleap/plugins/tracker/include/Tracker/Artifact/Link/ArtifactReverseLinksUpdater.php(117): Tuleap\Tracker\Artifact\Changeset\NewChangesetCreator->create()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #12 /usr/share/tuleap/plugins/tracker/include/Tracker/Artifact/Link/ArtifactReverseLinksUpdater.php(93): Tuleap\Tracker\Artifact\Link\ArtifactReverseLinksUpdater->saveChangesets()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #13 /usr/share/tuleap/src/common/NeverThrow/Ok.php(70): Tuleap\Tracker\Artifact\Link\ArtifactReverseLinksUpdater->{closure:Tuleap\Tracker\Artifact\Link\ArtifactReverseLinksUpdater::updateArt>
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #14 /usr/share/tuleap/plugins/tracker/include/Tracker/Artifact/Link/ArtifactReverseLinksUpdater.php(93): Tuleap\NeverThrow\Ok->andThen()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #15 /usr/share/tuleap/plugins/tracker/include/Action/UpdateArtifactAction.php(108): Tuleap\Tracker\Artifact\Link\ArtifactReverseLinksUpdater->updateArtifactAndItsLinks()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #16 /usr/share/tuleap/plugins/tracker/include/Tracker/Artifact/Artifact.php(950): Tuleap\Tracker\Action\UpdateArtifactAction->process()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #17 /usr/share/tuleap/plugins/tracker/include/Tracker/TrackerManager.php(116): Tuleap\Tracker\Artifact\Artifact->process()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #18 /usr/share/tuleap/plugins/tracker/include/Tracker/TrackerManager.php(169): TrackerManager->processSubElement()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #19 /usr/share/tuleap/plugins/tracker/include/TrackerPluginDefaultController.php(45): TrackerManager->process()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #20 /usr/share/tuleap/src/common/Request/FrontRouter.php(251): Tuleap\Tracker\TrackerPluginDefaultController->process()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #21 /usr/share/tuleap/src/common/Request/FrontRouter.php(109): Tuleap\Request\FrontRouter->routeHandler()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #22 /usr/share/tuleap/src/www/index.php(50): Tuleap\Request\FrontRouter->route()
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]: #23 {main}
sept. 02 14:06:23 tuleap.c-s.fr php[4020142]:   thrown in /usr/share/tuleap/plugins/tracker/include/Artifact/Changeset/ArtifactLink/SubmittedValueConvertor.php on line 58

We noticed that, with an artefact that have no issue, the first argument of the method convert() is an Array like

Array
(
    [new_values] =>
    [removed_values] => Array
        (
        )

    [list_of_artifactlinkinfo] => Array
        (
            [3667] => Tracker_ArtifactLinkInfo Object
                (
                    [artifact_id:protected] => 3667
                    [keyword:protected] => FT
                    [group_id:protected] => 174
                    [tracker_id:protected] => 405
                    [last_changeset_id:protected] => 47936
                    [type:Tracker_ArtifactLinkInfo:private] => failed
                    [artifact:Tracker_ArtifactLinkInfo:private] =>
                )

        )

)

But, with an artefact that fail, the first argument is a String like

 {"field_id":65523,"all_links":[{"id":195184,"direction":"forward","type":""}]}

We can't see visual obvious differences between the two artefacts to explain the difference in behavior.

The issue occurs only with the new artifact link interface.

Unfortunately, we didn't find a way to reproduce such a case from scratch. Don't hesitate to suggest us things to investigate.

CategoryTrackers

Reported in version16.11

PlatformEmpty

Is an Enhancement or an internal improvement?

[ ] enhancement
[ ] internal improvement

CC listEmpty

Stage

Assigned toEmpty

StatusNew

Close dateEmpty

Attachments

AttachmentsEmpty

References

Cross references

Show items referenced by request #44484

Referenced by request #44484

Git commit

tuleap/tuleap/stable

Starts implementation of "unique" field (do not allow field "permissions on artifact" to be present more than once in a tracker) ca0508ff8b

sechinard , 2012-02-01 15:17

Follow-ups

Guilhem Bonnefille (CS) (gbonnefille)

2025-09-10 11:26

Thanks for clarification.

We won't be able to produce any patches on our side. We hope you will be able to patch the code to avoid the insertion of many AL.

We are currently dealing with remediation on the different concerned projects.

Manuel Vacelet (vaceletm)

2025-09-10 11:18

To be crystal clear on the overall intend: multiple artifact links will never be supported and all cases that might lead to a situation where there are multiple AL fields should be fixed.

We won't accept patches to workaround this limitation as it will create almost dead code and unneeded complexity on a part of code where we already have way too much cognitive overload.

Guilhem Bonnefille (CS) (gbonnefille)

2025-09-10 10:06

We found at least two ways to reproduce the situation:

import a tracker's structure generated manually (during a migration from another tool)
add a art_link, remove it, add a new one, restore the first one

Do you plan to fix these scenarios in the context of this issue or do you prefer new separated / dedicated issues?

Note about the use cases: The teams using two art_link in a single tracker use them to give more semantic on the links and to adapt the visual. For example, they use one art_link for referencing related issues, while the other art_link refers to artifacts representing versions or deliveries. Graphically, these two fields are presented in distinct groups of fields. Just in the case you decide to opt for a solution where multiple art_link are possible.

Guilhem Bonnefille (CS) (gbonnefille)

2025-09-09 14:52

I will propose a patch.

Looking deeper and deeper in the code, I understand that this situation is REALLY unexpected. Thus, there is no way to go.

Initially, I wished to loop over ALL art_link. But the downstream code really expect a single artifact links collection.

Then I decided to simply log the suspicious error. But stable/plugins/tracker/include/Tracker/FormElement/Tracker_FormElementFactory.php does not have a logger interface.

Finally, I don't know what change I can propose. I will focus on the data investigation, in order to evaluate how to remediate our data. I identified 6 trackers concerned over our 8.000 trackers.

Thomas Gerbet (tgerbet)

2025-09-09 14:26

Hello,

As an unexpected situation, I would have appreciated a warning when more than one field is found.

As Joris said we were quite surprised to discover this situation was possible. We did some archeology and we discovered this situation was possible during a few months between 2011 and 2012 until the implementation of git #tuleap/stable/ca0508ff8b82d250e52662c7f53cfd181acb6d46 landed

I will propose a patch.

Great news, thanks!

Guilhem Bonnefille (CS) (gbonnefille)

2025-09-09 09:17

I will propose a patch.

Guilhem Bonnefille (CS) (gbonnefille)

2025-09-08 16:57

As an unexpected situation, I would have appreciated a warning when more than one field is found.

I'm trying to read the history in order to unerstand since when the situation changed, but I'm blocked by the grafted commit 9f557da4882f526f36674a238fec8a0c78f0d928.

Joris MASSON (jmasson)

2025-09-08 16:51

Thanks for the heads up ! Well, I must say this situation is really unexpected. One of the business rules for the artifact links field is that there should be at most one per tracker. Having two fields of type artifact links is likely going to raise more bugs. I thought this case was forbidden, I wonder how it could have happened.

Guilhem Bonnefille (CS) (gbonnefille)

2025-09-08 16:26

I think I found the bug.

The failing tracker is old and uses TWO fields of type artifact_links.

The conversion code from JSON to Array is in stable/plugins/tracker/include/Artifact/ChangesetValue/ChangesetValuesContainerBuilder.php in the function getFieldDataForArtifactLinkField. Such function uses getAnArtifactLinkField which searches for the first artifact_links field.

Joris MASSON (jmasson)

2025-09-05 10:53

From @gbonnefille

In fact, we are able to reproduce the bug on demand on SOME artifacts. But we are not able to create new artifacts with the same failing behavior.

When we trigger the issue, the artifact has a link to another artifact. We do not affect this link, we simply change an other field.

Guilhem Bonnefille (CS) (gbonnefille)

2025-09-04 11:26

@jmasson We tried to investigate the code. For the moment, the only noticed element is that $submitted_value is typed as array in the convert function, while it is untyped in callers.

Perhaps adding a type would help to detect the issue sooner.

Aurélien Tisné (atisne)

2025-09-04 11:17

Summary
-~~Enable~~ to update an artefact that use an 'Artefact link' field
+Unable to update an artefact that use an 'Artefact link' field

Public

Referenced by request #44484

Git commit

tuleap/tuleap/stable

Follow-ups