Programming exercises: Display error message for unexpected errors on exercise import

[florian-glombik]

Checklist

General

• I tested all changes and their related features with all corresponding user types on a test server.
• I chose a title conforming to the naming conventions for pull requests.

Client

• I strictly followed the client coding and design guidelines.
• I added multiple integration tests (Jest) related to the features (with a high test coverage), while following the test guidelines.
• I added multiple screenshots/screencasts of my UI changes.

Motivation and Context

A missing error message confused instructors when importing programming exercises with the system in an unexpected state.
An instructor tried to import an exercise and nothing happened (meaning that there was an error in the network tab that was not displayed as an alert in the user interface).

The error occurs in ProgrammingExerciseExportImportResource.importProgrammingExercise, most likely related to a duplicated exercise short name that is not covered by ProgrammingExerciseRepository.validateCourseSettings.

de.tum.in.www1.artemis.web.rest.errors.BadRequestAlertException: Project already exists on the Version Control Server: exerciseTitle. Please choose a different title and short name!
        at de.tum.in.www1.artemis.service.programming.ProgrammingExerciseService.checkIfProjectExists(ProgrammingExerciseService.java:896)
        at de.tum.in.www1.artemis.service.programming.ProgrammingExerciseImportService.importProgrammingExercise(ProgrammingExerciseImportService.java:277)
        at de.tum.in.www1.artemis.web.rest.programming.ProgrammingExerciseExportImportResource.importProgrammingExercise(ProgrammingExerciseExportImportResource.java:217)

Description

Adjusting the client side of the programming exercise import display to display an alert for unexpected errors.

• adjusting the alert.service that intercepts all errors to display an alert for errors where the "error" object is not set but the response is an error (using the header fields x-artemisapp-error and x-artemisapp-message for the alert, or throwing a generic error message if these are not defined)
• adding tests for the new error handling logic
• adding a translation that was missing on the client side
• calling scrollToTopOfPage instead of duplicating the code

Steps for Testing

On the test server

• Make sure that error alerts are not displayed twice (this can affect all areas of Artemis, since the adjusted alert.service intercepts all errors)
• after creating a programming exercise successfully, the page should scroll to the top

Locally

I do not know how to test the fallback "unexpected error message" on the testserver

I am not sure how to get the system into a state leading to the issue described; I was able to reproduce the state by importing a programming exercise with a duplicate short name and disabling the duplicate check.

1. Disable the duplicate check

   1. Open the ProgrammingExerciseExportImportResource class
   2. Comment out the line programmingExerciseRepository.validateCourseSettings(newExercise, course);

2. Import a programming exercise with a duplicate short name

3. An error message should be displayed as alert in the upper right corner

4. Enable the duplicate check again and verify that only one alert is displayed

In my case the thrown error is POST http://localhost:9000/api/programming-exercises/import/1?recreateBuildPlans=false&updateTemplate=false 500 (Internal Server Error)

Testserver States

Note

These badges show the state of the test servers.
Green = Currently available, Red = Currently locked

Review Progress

Code Review

• Code Review 1
• Code Review 2

Manual Tests

• Test 1
• Test 2

Test Coverage

Client

Class/File	Line Coverage	Confirmation (assert/expect)
programming-exercise-update.component.ts	87.85%	✅

�

Screenshots

Now

Before

Page just stays open, nothing happens

Summary by CodeRabbit

• New Features

  • Enhanced error alert handling based on HTTP status codes in the application.
  • Improved user feedback with updated error messages and translation parameters.

• Bug Fixes

  • Fixed error alert handling in programming exercise updates.

• Tests

  • Added new test cases for alert handling in both programming exercise updates and general alert services.

• Refactor

  • Refactored error handling logic for clearer and more efficient user notifications.
  • Replaced direct page scrolling with utility function for smoother user experience.

[coderabbitai]

Walkthrough

The changes across the files aim to enhance error handling and user feedback mechanisms in the programming exercise update component. These improvements include refining error messages, incorporating utility functions for page scrolling, and enhancing alert displays for better user guidance during error scenarios.

Changes

File Path	Change Summary
.../programming-exercise-update.component.ts	Added import for scrollToTopOfPage, updated error handling logic, and modified alert service usage.
.../programming-exercise-update.component.spec.ts	Added a test case for handling alerts during an unknown error in the update process.
.../alert.service.ts	Updated error alert handling based on HTTP response status codes for more detailed error messages.

Possibly related issues

• Exam Mode : Missing Error state description for Exam Creation forms #8076: The enhancements in error handling and alert management align with the objective of providing clear error state descriptions and visual cues for issue resolution in exam creation forms.
• Development: Course access authorization alert sometimes appears twice #6382: The focus on improving error handling and avoiding duplicate alerts in this PR may address the issue of inconsistent appearance of access authorization alerts mentioned in this ticket.

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[pzdr7]

Tested on TS1.

Tried to import a programming exercise with a duplicate short name.

---

The response is 400 Bad Request with an appropriate alert visible. For some reason, the "unexpected error" is shown with text "OK". Can we do anything about that?

[florian-glombik]

Thanks for testing @pzdr7 #8463 (review), the issue was that the alert.service intercepts all HTTP errors, which led to 2 alerts being displayed with the previous solution.

The new solution addresses the issue directly in the alert.service

[Strohgelaender]

code lgtm

[sarpsahinalp]

Tested during testing session, lgtm

[az108]

Worked fine for me during the testing session!

[egekurt123]

Local Behavior showcased during the testing session, TS Behavior tested manually on TS1 -> Both work as described

[coolchock]

presented in testing session locally, works as expected

[pzdr7]

Code looks good. Left one comment, but I'll leave it up to you.

[florian-glombik]

The actual issue will be fixed in #8523. The content of this PR will be refined in which I will link here once it is created, addressing a refactoring of the server & client-side error handling.