Tasks not loading for certain users

Hi,
Once again, I would like to start with thanks to the developers for untiring efforts on OJS.

There are similar titles related to task errors, and I examined them. Unfortunately, their comments did not help me. Origin of their error messages and their problem seems to be different.
I have site manager and editor roles and have full database and ftp access.

I upgraded the journal’s system from OJS 2.4.8.2 to 3.0.2. Although it did not previously exist (for a few weeks), I started to get an error message when I log in as another editor. The error message is:
Failed to load resource: the server responded with a status of 500 (Internal Server Error).

Safari inspector shows that error too;

h ttp://www.adlitipbulteni.com/index.php/atb/$$$call$$$/grid/notifications/task-notifications-grid/fetch-grid?_=1499614724526

I noticed that this error occurs immediately when I open the backend control panel and repeats every time.

Although Tasks button show number of existing tasks, it does not show anything except “loading” text and a rotating circle. In the meantime, I got the following error in php log.

PHP Warning: assert(): Assertion failed in .../lib/pkp/controllers/grid/notifications/NotificationsGridCellProvider.inc.php on line 122
PHP Fatal error: Call to a member function getAssocType() on null in .../lib/pkp/controllers/grid/notifications/NotificationsGridCellProvider.inc.php on line 123

The same user (editor) also reports the same issue when he logs in with his username and password. I get the same issue when I log in as some other users (authors) also. 

Hope, we can find a solution for this.
Best Regards,
Ugur Kocak

Server Environment: Linux OS, PHP version 5.6.29, Apache 2.2, database driver mysql, Database server version 5.6.34.

Hi @drugurkocak,

The assertion warning shouldn’t cause a 500 error; you should see something like a Fatal Error message in your PHP log at the same date/time as you attempt to fetch the tasks list.

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

Several days ago we faced with the same problem! Exactly, tasks not loading!

PHP Warning: assert(): Assertion failed in .../lib/pkp/controllers/grid/notifications/NotificationsGridCellProvider.inc.php on line 150
PHP Fatal error: Call to a member function getLocalizedTitle() on a non-object in .../lib/pkp/controllers/grid/notifications/NotificationsGridCellProvider.inc.php on line 152

Everything was OK last week. No ideas… :frowning:

Hi @rkhalikov,

What version of OJS are you using? (Please include this information in your posts.)

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

OJS 3.0.2
OS platform Linux
PHP version 5.5.38
Apache version Apache/2.2.22 (@RELEASE@)
Database driver mysql
Database server version 5.5.56

Hi @rkhalikov,

I suspect there’s some inconsistent data in your database that’s confusing OJS. Can you try turning on the show_stacktrace option in config.inc.php? This will cause the log to record more data when the error is encountered.

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

OK, I’ve enabled show_stacktrace and tried to see tasks. But I have only the same fatal errors in logs (in line 150 and 152) as before. Other errors are PHP Warning: file_exists(): and PHP Strict Standards.

Hi @rkhalikov,

Hmm, OK. Could you edit lib/pkp/controllers/grid/notifications/NotificationsGridCellProvider.inc.php and find line 150:

assert(is_a($submission, 'Submission'));

Just below that, add:

error_log('Assoc type: ' . $notification->getAssocType() . ' Assoc ID: ' . $notification->getAssocId());

This should cause some useful information to get logged.

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

Well, done. But I guess, no more info received:

[error] Assoc type: 1048585 Assoc ID: 27, referer: https://.../submissions
[error] Assoc type: 1048586 Assoc ID: 8, referer: https://.../submissions
[error] PHP Warning:  assert(): Assertion failed in .../lib/pkp/controllers/grid/notifications/NotificationsGridCellProvider.inc.php on line 150
[error] Assoc type: 1048585 Assoc ID: 13, referer: https://.../submissions
[error] PHP Fatal error:  Call to a member function getLocalizedTitle() on a non-object in .../lib/pkp/controllers/grid/notifications/NotificationsGridCellProvider.inc.php on line 154, referer: https://.../submissions

Hi @rkhalikov,

It looks like you have notifications that refer to nonexistent submissions. Could you try the following query?

SELECT * FROM notifications n LEFT JOIN submissions s ON (n.assoc_id=s.submission_id) WHERE n.assoc_type=1048585 AND s.submission_id IS NULL;

Simply deleting any resulting records should resolve the issue, but I’d like to see if I can track down the source of these.

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

No results :frowning: MySQL returned an empty result set (i.e. zero rows).

I tried to add one new paper (new submission). It works, I see 1 new task label, but list of tasks is not loading:

Requering SQL returned zero rows as well…

Hi @rkhalikov,

Hmm, can you try:

SELECT * FROM notifications n LEFT JOIN queries q ON (n.assoc_id=q.query_id) WHERE n.assoc_type=1048586 AND q.query_id IS NULL;

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

Done, but zero rows again…

Hi @rkhalikov,

Hmm, another hypothesis:

 SELECT s.submission_id, s.section_id FROM submissions s LEFT JOIN sections se ON (s.section_id = se.section_id) WHERE se.section_id IS NULL;

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

Hmm, one result:

submission_id 13
section_id null

Hi @rkhalikov,

OK, that’s definitely a data error, though I’m not 100% sure it’s the one that’s causing your tasks list to fail. Submission ID 13 is assigned to a nonexistent section. You’ll have to correct this in the database – update the section_id value of the submissions table for that row.

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

Can I just delete this entry (Submission ID 13)?

Hi @rkhalikov,

Yes, if you don’t mind it disappearing from the record.

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

1 Like

OK, I went another way. For a troubled journal, I recreated its sections. Then I mapped a problem article (Submission ID 13, what irony :wink: ) for a new section by editing submissions table.
And the problem with tasks has disappeared! Now everything is working properly. Thank you very much for your help!

1 Like

Hi @asmecher,
I’m sorry I could not write an anything before. I am little busy, so I am just reading it.
I am sure my issue is also caused by a mess in the database, probably I did.
Only the following query gives some results, others give empty results.
SELECT * FROM notifications n LEFT JOIN queries q ON (n.assoc_id=q.query_id) WHERE n.assoc_type=1048586 AND q.query_id IS NULL;

Your suggestions will make me happy.
Best regards,
Ugur Kocak