Firestore "no internet connection" error

[HusamAamer]

• Xcode version: 9
• Firebase SDK version: 4.8
• Firebase Component: Firestore
• Component version: 0.9.4

The problem

When getting collection documents in offline, Firestore returns error = nil with empty snap, and the following error logged in the debug area .

<Firebase/Network/ERROR> Encounter network error. Code, error: -1009, Error Domain=NSURLErrorDomain Code=-1009 "The Internet connection appears to be offline." UserInfo={NSUnderlyingError=0x1c025d700 {Error Domain=kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork Code=-1009 "(null)" UserInfo={_kCFStreamErrorCodeKey=50, _kCFStreamErrorDomainKey=1}}, NSErrorFailingURLStringKey=https://play.googleapis.com/log, NSErrorFailingURLKey=https://play.googleapis.com/log, _kCFStreamErrorDomainKey=1, _kCFStreamErrorCodeKey=50, NSLocalizedDescription=The Internet connection appears to be offline.}

Is there a way to get no connection errors ??

I think It would be more convenient to have an error with no connection.
Even if data catches I prefer to have a cached snap with no connection error.

Regards,

[morganchen12]

If the Firestore error is nil, then it should mean the query returned a cached result successfully. The error printed to console references a domain that (from what I understand) isn't your Firestore database.

@wilhuff is this a bug, or intended behavior?

[wilhuff]

This is intended behavior. Firestore is supposed to work offline, so the fact that we can't connect to the server isn't an error case.

We recently added the log message to help developers understand why they weren't seeing any data (it's only logged if you're offline and have no data matching the query).

We recognize that there are some cases where you really care that you're talking to the server and really want to fail if you can't connect. We have a change forthcoming (#655) that will allow you specify that you want the source to the server (and that you don't care about offline behavior) in which case you'll get the error you're expecting.

[tiagoalmeida]

@wilhuff sorry to comment after you closed this, but this issue is the closest I got with my current situation. Do you have any news on this?

I wasn't expecting that even with settings.isPersistenceEnabled = false I would get this behavior. I want to fetch documents and warn the user if he has no internet connection to try again. Is this possible with the current version?

[wilhuff]

The only update is that the ability to specify the source has since been released. If you want to get errors when the server is unavailable, pass FirestoreSource.server to data getting methods like DocumentReference.getDocument(source:completion:).

[mikelehen]

@tiagoalmeida In general it would help if you elaborated on what you are trying to do and what you've tried. Adding to @wilhuff's answer, I think you have a few possible approaches depending on what you're trying to do:

1. Use query.getDocuments(source:.server) and if you're offline you'll get an error.
2. Use query.getDocuments()) and check the returned snapshot for snapshot.metadata.fromCache == true. since by default getDocuments() will try to get an up-to-date snapshot from the server and only return from cache if that fails.
3. Use query.addSnapshotListener(includeMetadataChanges:true, ...) and check for snapshot.metadata.fromCache == true on the generated snapshots. Any snapshots generated with fromCache==true indicate we haven't gotten data from the server yet, so you may be offline.

If you need more guidance, https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/google-cloud-firestore-discuss is a great place to ask Firestore usage questions. And you can also open a brand new github issue if you have a specific bug or feature request for us to take a look at. Thanks!

[jonalxh]

The only update is that the ability to specify the source has since been released. If you want to get errors when the server is unavailable, pass FirestoreSource.server to data getting methods like DocumentReference.getDocument(source:completion:).

Hi @wilhuff
Does it work with querySnapshots? How to do it?

[mikelehen]

@jonalxh Yes. query.getDocuments(source:.server)

[jonalxh]

@mikelehen Do you know if it works under Javascript SDK? I'm trying but it doesn't work.

[mikelehen]

@jonalxh It would help if you elaborated on what you tried and what happened, but yes, it should work on the JavaScript SDK as well. query.get({source: 'server'}).then(querySnap => ...)