RPC output data should also be rendered as classes with proper validation

[111pontes]

Currently, the ExecutorService documentation indicates that the execute_rpc method doesn't return any value. However, many RPCs define output data. This method should return a validated entity for those RPCs.

[networkop]

+1 for this feature. Should it be possible to decode the received response manually in the meantime? With something like codec.decode(provider,xml)?

[ghost]

Hi, this feature is being implemented in the new core infrastructure and will be available soon. In the meanwhile, yes, you can use the codec_service.decode function for decoding the returned XML payload

[111pontes]

I don't think Codec service can be seamlessly used. Returned string contains the raw NETCONF RPC reply. Even after manipulating the XML string to remove the rpc-reply tag, decoding still fails:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "./nc-execute-xr-ping-act-99-ydk.py", line 89, in <module>
    ping_rcp.output.ping_response = codec.decode(cd_provider, encoded_output)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/ydk/services/codec_service.py", line 49, in decode
    entity = self.operate_on_object_or_dictionary(payload, CodecService._decode_payload, [decoder])
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/ydk/services/service.py", line 32, in operate_on_object_or_dictionary
    result = function(entity, *args)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/ydk/services/codec_service.py", line 55, in _decode_payload
    entity = decoder._decode(payload)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/ydk/providers/codec_provider.py", line 65, in _decode
    entity = self.decoder.decode(payload)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/ydk/providers/_decoder.py", line 40, in decode
    top_entity = self._get_top_entity(payload_tree)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/ydk/providers/_decoder.py", line 59, in _get_top_entity
    return self.get_top_container_for_namespace(namespace, root.tag.split('}')[1])
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/ydk/providers/_decoder.py", line 51, in get_top_container_for_namespace
    entity_import = _yang_ns._namespace_package_map[(namespace, text)]
KeyError: ('http://cisco.com/ns/yang/Cisco-IOS-XR-ping-act', 'ping-response')

[ghost]

For RPCs which don't define output data, like edit-config, which returns <ok/> on success, the return value would be None. Just want to make sure this makes sense.

[111pontes]

There are at least four possible scenarios:

1. RPC succeeds and no data is returned and model specifies data (e.g. oper data non-existent)
2. RPC succeeds, no data is returned and model specifies no data (e.g. RPC w/o output)
3. RPC succeeds and data is returned
4. RPC fails

Yes, it seems sensible that 1, 2 and 4 return None and exception handling is used to manage failure scenarios.