[Bug]: Issues with notification since recent update

[smilehappyman]

Bug Description

Notification monitor inconsistent

Steps to Reproduce

1. Go to Vine page
2. Click on Notification Monitor on page
3. Tried leaving it alone and tried by pressing fetch last 100
4. New items don't come in at all or will come in late, up to 30 minutes
5. Sometimes pressing see details does not work

Expected Behavior

Notification monitor would consistently update listings and allow me to see details

Screenshots (optional)

No response

Error in Developer Console (optional)

No response

Last Page of Debug Log (optional)

No response

Browser

Opera GX and Microsoft Edge (up to date)

Additional Context

I'm not super tech savvy and don't know much about the programming. I hope you might understand any inaccurate use of any of the sections in the post and of my unfamiliarity with jargon. Please let me know if additional specs or info is needed. It could be that the update that integrated the program onto the actual Vine page might be contributing.

The notification monitor was working great up the latest upgrade but the page has started to stall regularly and sometimes items won't show. I've tried on two different browsers and on different computers but a lot of the time, some items will show on browser one but not the other and vice versa. A lot of times, the page would stall and wouldn't bring up the see details page. I did not make any changes to the settings on both browsers nor did I change the settings on both computer in a way that could affect this.

Thank you in advance for your help with this. I also want to say that I'm appreciative of this program and that the premium subscription model does not only seem fair but well justified given all the work and effort the developer(s) puts into this.

[FMaz008]

What version of VH are you using? There was a bug with Firefox where the see details button would not work.

How do you determine that an item is 30 minutes late?

[smilehappyman]

I'm tried on Opera GX and with Edge. The issue is there on both. I'm currently on 3.0.6 of Vine Helper EDIT - Sorry for all the edits I made. Sometimes my ADHD causes me to send things sporadically. But what I wanted to say is that the notification monitor will often freeze. When I look at the mobile version I have on an Android, the list keeps going but the desktop version is often stuck on a certain listing. When I click fetch last 100, it shows all the listings that came out after the last one up. This happens repeatedly throughout the day. Sometimes it doesn't even show the remaining ones and clicking the fetch 100 button removes all of the listings that were on the page while other times clicking it doesn't have any effect on the page. I don't know if it has to do with this same issue but its taken exponentially longer to load up the see details page versus the previous iteration. There is also this strange glitch where new items will show up for a second and disappear right after even though they are actually available on Vine.

…

On Fri, Jan 17, 2025, 12:58 PM Francois Mazerolle ***@***.***> wrote: What version of VH are you using? There was a bug with Firefox where the see details button would not work. How do you determine that an item is 30 minutes late? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#173 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BOTMDAI7RCZHCJDQ6OHSVKL2LFAEVAVCNFSM6AAAAABVMNPAEGVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDKOJYHEYDAOBUGA> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[smilehappyman]

I have pictures and videos that I can send that would better help represent the issue but I'm new to GitHub and don't know how to send them. I tried the option to add files to this message but I they were rejected. I would really appreciate the help.

[Wladefant]

You can just click on the image icon

[smilehappyman]

Hi, on my end, I see this toolbar. I might have misunderstood though. I was able to attach the photo here, however, the video helps better illustrate the issue. I wanted to send the video but all I get is the error message. Any additional info would be of great help.

[FMaz008]

So as I understand, the notification monitor, although it remains green, act as if it was disconnected from the server and no longer receive any items ?

(Side note: the fetch 100 use a different method to query items, it doesn't, yet, go through the websocket tunnel).

Just to confirm I understand properly: in the image you attached, you are showing me that on the right, the notification monitor was stopped and on the left you clicked Fetch Last 100 and new items popup up?
Why is the most recent items date/time still the same between both images ?
This suggest you have received the items, but that they are not displayed ?

If you update to 3.0.7, the (?) icon has a new field that allow you to see the time an item was broadcasted from the server, and the time it was received. It won't help for Fetch 100, but as you are saying some items are coming 30 minutes late, I'd be curious to see what the timestamp look like for one of those delayed item.

Example of a normal item dropping:

(Notice that one time stamp is from the server, while the other is from my computer, hence the 1 second mismatch suggesting the items was received before it was sent.)

I am not aware that the websocket system has the ability to hold packets in memory, sort of in a buffer. Connection latency aside, everything is instantaneous. (normally)

This is a really long shot, but are you using multiple browsers on the same computer where as maybe the websocket tunnel would get routed to only the most recent client, without showing the other client as disconnected?

Do you have any kind of special network setup, such as using a VPN, IP changer, etc... ?
Do you have any kind of app or plugin that have the potential to block a connection (adblockers, firewalls, etc.)

[smilehappyman]

I hope that I'll be able to explain this.

First, in the image that I sent, the time stamp for the one on the left is later than the one on the right. If you look at the most recent item tab and the timestamp for the one on the left, it shows an earlier time. it gets stuck on that time for so long that I am ultimately led to reload the page. Reloading it sometimes brings up the later added items but not always. As a separate method, I pressed fetch last 100 just because there was such a long stalling period.

I know that you aren't suggesting the update is a fix but I did want to say that I made sure it was updated to 3.0.7 after your first message.

So I have three separate screenshots. The 1st shows what the page looks like when the websocket server is on. The 2nd is a screenshot I took very recently that shows the websocket server as off. I refreshed the page unintentionally and the items are no longer visible but they were before I reloaded the respective pages. In both states, new items do not come up and remain on the page. Many times a new item will flash on the screen for a second but then disappear and leave the scoop maker and the cheesecloth for example as it is in the screenshots. The last one is a screenshot of the ? pages for both. The screenshots might not be 30 minutes exactly but even right at this very moment, the monitor is still stuck on the scoop maker and the cheesecloth.

For the questions on the bottom of your message, I took the image with both browsers on one computer as a way to illustrate the differences. I've tried with just one browser and with a page on two separate computers. The issue persists in all these setups.

I am using a VPN and having been doing so long before I was even a Vine member. I do not have any firewalls in place but I am using uBlock Origin. I've been using this even longer before.

[FMaz008]

For the (?) Thing, it needs to be on an item that drop late on its own as you mentionned. Not when you use fetch 100.

Are you running the github code?

[smilehappyman]

Ah sorry, I misunderstood what you meant. It isn't happening at the moment, likely because there aren't new items being added. I'll send it as soon as it happens when I start up the program tomorrow.

Also, I'm not running it through GitHub, I got it as a Chrome extension. The ones I presented were of Opera GX and Edge but I tried Chrome too just in case and it seems to be happening on that browser too. I just mention that for extra detail.

Sorry that this is taking so long but I really appreciate your help in determining if there is an issue.

[FMaz008]

I just pushed v3.0.8 to the stores. With it, if an item is removed from the notification monitor, it will add a line prefixed by "NOTIF: " in the debug log.

The debug log can be accessed by pressing the 'd' key on your keyboard. (as long as you have not disabled the keybindings of VH.)

This way when you see an item disapear, try to find what the reason might be, so we can narrow down where the issue might come from.

[smilehappyman]

Thank you for your continued efforts to help with this bug and for adding the sound effects.

I wasn't sure if you were asking for the info on the debug log but I added screenshots.
These are from Opera

These are from Edge

[FMaz008]

I see NOTIF lines in the first screenshot, and the timing suggest you where fetching last 100 for the 2nd time, so all the items were getting replaced.

I don't see NOTIF lines in the other screenshot.

What I'm looking for are 2 things:

1. If you notice an item disapearing, I want to see the NOTIF line in the debug log. It will be bear the bottom 10-15 lines.
2. If you notice an item appearing with a delay between the 2 browsers, I'd like to see the Technical Details for the item (the (?) Icon)

Don't worry about running thr github code. I published the required tools as part of the official releases :)

[smilehappyman]

1. Here are a few screenshots I took earlier of a couple examples of NOTIF on the debug log for the second browser.

2. For this request, I am not able to monitor it closely as I'm working on something else alongside this but I did share two screenshots. These are significantly more tame examples than others I've experienced but it does show that the gap is much larger than the usual.
   
   

Lastly, I wanted to organize and clarify the issues that I've been mentioning previously with these bullet points. These are all happening at different points. They have happened either on one browser or both. It happens randomly from one to the other. I've tried on just one and both browsers per computer as well. All of these were not problems in the previous iterations and there were no changes made to the computer or either browser to consider as suspects.

• 1. The notification monitor is not bringing up updates for long periods.
• 2. Items pop up for a second than disappear. The items are available on Vine but only flash on the NM. There would be a single item that remains first as the newer listings are "kicked out". They are typically not $0 ETV or KW matches
• 3. There are listings in one browser that are missing completely in the other
• 4. Websocket server goes on and off periodically throughout the day
• 5. Fetch last 100 just removes every listing from the page.

[FMaz008]

1. Not sure
2. I just fixed an issue in the API that would not properly mark items as available and caused re-broadcast of type "unavailable itemnavailable again" in repetition
3. Not sure, packets can get lost?
4. I'm working on the API, everytime I make a change I must restart it, causing the monitors to disconnect for 20-30 secs.
5. I just tried it and it added items, replacing only the existing ones. Debug log confirms this. This is the expected behavior.

So from your screenshots:

• All removed items are replacing existing items in the monitor. This is an exoected behavior, except for the API issue I just mentioned that could have made it look like an item was removed in quick successsion, but was really just rebroadcasted.
• the delay between the broadcast and the reception is very odd. And my working on the server aside, it is in fact so long in some cases that the server might close the connection as the pings to keep the tunnel open would timeout.

I wonder if other people are experiencing this or if it could be a high latency connection on your end. (Unreliable vpn, proxy, satelite connexion, etc...)

If that was the case, the occasional long delays and the missing items could be the same cause.

[FMaz008]

Also another possibility for "missing 0etv" can be that the 2 monitors are unsynced. For example:

• I launched one monitor at 2:42pm
• at 2:45pm, an item was received. Etv unknown.
• I opened a second monitor at 3pm
• at 3:15pm, an etv update for the item came in.
• monitor 1 contained the item, flagged it as 0etv and brought it to the top
• monitor2 did not contain the item and showed nothing at all.

[smilehappyman]

Thank you for all the responses. I was hoping to clarify some things and hope you might help me understand some others. I hope you could ELI5 or help simplify if you can respond to this at all.

For the 3rd point, I wasn't sure what you meant by packets being lost. If you could help explaining it to this layperson, I would appreciate it.

For the 5th bullet point, it used to bring up the most recent set of 100 like it should. However, now, when I press it now, maybe 70-80 percent of the time, it either doesn't do anything and leaves the exact set that were already up or it will get rid of all the listings on the page leaving it blank. I think I understand the purpose of this button but maybe I'm not understanding the points.

As to your last message, I looked back at my post and I explained it incorrectly, sorry. What I was trying to say wasn't that the items that were being quickly booted out were 0 ETV or WK match items. I meant that the item that remains at the first spot isn't necessarily always one of these two special types. I wrote this part to suggest that the item is not constantly in the same place because of these factors. My grammar was improper so sorry for the miscommunication.

Last, I noticed that the unavailable items on Opera arrive much, much later or never at all for the items that are gone. Strangely this isn't true of the Opera GX on a laptop I was borrowing but it does this on my desktop computer. Perhaps this information might help track where the issue might be.

All of these started right after Vine Helper was updated to 3.0+

[FMaz008]

For the 3rd point, I wasn't sure what you meant by packets being lost. If you could help explaining it to this layperson, I would appreciate it.

Basically the letter containing some data addressed to your computer did not get delivered. The internet equivalent of loss mail, but often due to a bad (as in intermitent) connection.

For the 5th bullet point, it used to bring up the most recent set of 100 like it should. However, now, when I press it now, maybe 70-80 percent of the time, it either doesn't do anything and leaves the exact set that were already up

Which is very odd. Unless you are clicking on the disabled button (it disable itself for 60 seconds after clicking on it)

or it will get rid of all the listings on the page leaving it blank.

I need to see the debug log for Vine Helper as well as the Debbuging Console of your browser if that happens again.

I think I understand the purpose of this button but maybe I'm not understanding the points.

I get the last 100 items added into the database. (Not the last 100 broadcasted items. So you won't get items which were recently requeued, redropped, or made available again)

Last, I noticed that the unavailable items on Opera arrive much, much later or never at all for the items that are gone

The unavailable flag, which is new with the v3, only works for 2 out of 3 scenarios:

1. Immediately when clicking See Details, an ITEM_NOT_IN_ENROLLMENT error occur.
2. For items without any variants, at the end of the ordering process, an ITEM_NOT_IN_ENROLLMENT occur.

But the following scenario will not, at the current time, mark an item as unavailable:
3. An item with variants, at the end of the ordering process, an error occur.

The reason for this is that VH does not yet know how many variants there are. And thus canot know if ALL rhe variants are out of stock. So it will not mark the "parent" item as unavailable if, for example, only 1 of X variants is out of stock.

I'm working on that...

[smilehappyman]

Please don't feel pressured to respond to this, I merely wanted to present some info
All of this really is quite odd. As a note, to three of your points, this seems to happen regardless of whether the fetch last 100 is disabled or not. I've tried in both conditions and the problem occurs even when pressing it while it is available. Also, your description of the function of the fetch 100 was what I thought it was in that it brings up the latest 100 items added to the database. A majority of the time, it just doesn't add or remove anything, it's just stagnant. Also, even when it brings up newer items, it is much lower than 100, I did it just now and it brough up 22. I just tried once more and found that even when it shows different items, sometimes the newer ones are were added to the database at the very least 10 minutes prior. I did notice that it no longer just gets rid of everything on the page which is a good thing, I hope.

Second, the issue with the unavailable tag is delayed on items with or without variants. Perhaps this might be wrong but this happens to items that only show one type with no extra size or colour options included on the page. I went back and checked the seller's listings for similar items (in and out of stock), but a lot of the time, they don't have other variants of the item among their listings either.

Last, the item flashing in and out has been quite strange too. I was able to spot an item that flashed in for a second and added it to my order list. I think I understood that it might be because the item was re-added but wouldn't it be beneficial to see the items that have been requeued? After a couple items flash in and out, I get another "freeze" and no items are added for a long period. When I felt it has been too long, I reload the page and press fetch last 100. Some of the time, it brings up all the items that were added to the database during the duration where my page was frozen with no new items.

Also, I tried disconnecting from the VPN and all its associated features but the issues seem to persist. I don't have any firewalls up and the connection is consistent to how it normally is. This had all started with the update and I don't know if its incompatible or what might be the issue.

Thank you for all your detailed messages back. I hope that this offered some semblance of insight to the work you put into Vine Helper and I sincerely hope this might have even offered some knowledge into the maintenance of these programs. Please feel free to not reply. I hope that you might read this but that you wouldn't feel pressure to respond. Thanks for the detailed explanations and everything else.