speckle-server/packages/objectloader2/readme.md

objectloader2 for the Speckle viewer

This is an updated object loader for the Speckle viewer rewritten in Typescript.

The main aim for the objectloader is:

• download Speckle objects as JSON
• cache in IndexedDB so the same objects aren't downloaded twice
• give data to the viewer, as returned by the getObjectIterator generator, as soon as possible
• do the above as concurrently as a browser allows

Architecture

To achieve increased concurrency, the different phases of the objectloader are divided into pools of workers with queues to feed them. Below is a sequence diagram of the worker stages

sequenceDiagram
    ObjectLoader2->>CacheReader: Root+Children
    CacheReader-->>Database: Item exists?
    CacheReader->>ObjectLoader2: Item exists in Cache
    CacheReader->>Downloader: Item does not exist in Cache
    Downloader->>CacheWriter: Save Item to Cache
    CacheWriter->>Database: Write Item
    Downloader->>ObjectLoader2: Item exists in Cache

The queues between stages are illustrated below with the concurrency

flowchart TD
  start(ObjectLoader2)
  cachedQueue(BatchingQueue)
  cachedExists{Exists?}
  downloadQueue(BatchingQueue)
  download{Download Batch}
  saveQueue(BatchingQueue)
  save{Save to Database}
  asyncGeneratorQueue(Aggregated Async Generator Queue)
  loop(Generate to Viewer!)

  start -- Add IDs --> cachedQueue

  subgraph CacheReader
  cachedQueue -- Checks by Batch --> cachedExists
  end
  cachedExists -->|Yes| asyncGeneratorQueue
  subgraph Downloader
  cachedExists -->|No| downloadQueue
  downloadQueue --> download
  end
  subgraph CacheWriter
  download -- add to queue --> saveQueue
  saveQueue --> save
  end
  subgraph Viewer
  download -- add to queue --> asyncGeneratorQueue
  asyncGeneratorQueue -- Generator Loop --> loop
  end

From the list of IDs, they are moved to a queue to be begin checking the cache from a pool of readers.

Results are then sent to the viewer, if found, else they're send to the download queue.

The download queue is a batching mechanism that gets what is available, up to a limit or a timeout. The results are parsed and given to the generator and written to another queue.

The write cache queue is processed with a single writer to the indexeddb.

Deferment

Deferment is what happens with the viewer does a random access to OL2. It returns a promise but it will be fulfilled later if the item isn't in memory.

The DefermentManager only holds a subset of the model in memory. If the requested item isn't in memory, then it enqueues the request into the general process laid out above.

When items are returned to the generator loop, undefer is called which caches the item in the manager as well as fulfills any outstanding promises.

A cleanup process is ran to be a singleton process. This process sorts by the total number of requests and the size. If anything falls outside the size window, then it is removed from the manager's memory cache.

The aim is to speed up random access while still getting items from the cache in batches. Items that are accessed randomly tend to be references in the model.

Loader options

These can be use via a query string parameter. For example: https://app.speckle.systems/projects/57bbfabd80/models/81b8d76ef1 can have debug logging enabled with: https://app.speckle.systems/projects/57bbfabd80/models/81b8d76ef1?debug=true

Current parameters:

Parameter	Default	Type
debug	false	boolean
useCache	true	boolean