NullReferenceException in TransformBlocks

[mikaellindemann]

After upgrading my setup using PostgreSQL from 8.3 (latest packages) to 8.4 I get the following exceptions:

When opening a page in the manager:

System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at Piranha.Services.ContentService`3.TransformBlocks(IEnumerable`1 blocks)
   at Piranha.Repositories.PageRepository.ProcessAsync[T](Page page, T model)
   at Piranha.Services.ContentService`3.TransformAsync[T](TContent content, ContentTypeBase type, Func`3 process)
   at Piranha.Repositories.PageRepository.GetById[T](Guid id)
   at Piranha.Services.PageService.GetByIdAsync[T](Guid id)
   at Piranha.Manager.Services.PageService.GetById(Guid id, Boolean useDraft)
   at Piranha.Manager.Controllers.PageApiController.Get(Guid id)
   at lambda_method(Closure , Object )
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Infrastructure.ActionMethodExecutor.AwaitableObjectResultExecutor.Execute(IActionResultTypeMapper mapper, ObjectMethodExecutor executor, Object controller, Object[] arguments)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Infrastructure.ControllerActionInvoker.<InvokeActionMethodAsync>g__Awaited|12_0(ControllerActionInvoker invoker, ValueTask`1 actionResultValueTask)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Infrastructure.ControllerActionInvoker.<InvokeNextActionFilterAsync>g__Awaited|10_0(ControllerActionInvoker invoker, Task lastTask, State next, Scope scope, Object state, Boolean isCompleted)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Infrastructure.ControllerActionInvoker.Rethrow(ActionExecutedContextSealed context)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Infrastructure.ControllerActionInvoker.Next(State& next, Scope& scope, Object& state, Boolean& isCompleted)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Infrastructure.ControllerActionInvoker.<InvokeInnerFilterAsync>g__Awaited|13_0(ControllerActionInvoker invoker, Task lastTask, State next, Scope scope, Object state, Boolean isCompleted)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Infrastructure.ResourceInvoker.<InvokeNextResourceFilter>g__Awaited|24_0(ResourceInvoker invoker, Task lastTask, State next, Scope scope, Object state, Boolean isCompleted)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Infrastructure.ResourceInvoker.Rethrow(ResourceExecutedContextSealed context)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Infrastructure.ResourceInvoker.Next(State& next, Scope& scope, Object& state, Boolean& isCompleted)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Infrastructure.ResourceInvoker.<InvokeFilterPipelineAsync>g__Awaited|19_0(ResourceInvoker invoker, Task lastTask, State next, Scope scope, Object state, Boolean isCompleted)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Infrastructure.ResourceInvoker.<InvokeAsync>g__Awaited|17_0(ResourceInvoker invoker, Task task, IDisposable scope)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Routing.EndpointMiddleware.<Invoke>g__AwaitRequestTask|6_0(Endpoint endpoint, Task requestTask, ILogger logger)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authorization.AuthorizationMiddleware.Invoke(HttpContext context)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authentication.AuthenticationMiddleware.Invoke(HttpContext context)
   at Piranha.AspNetCore.SitemapMiddleware.Invoke(HttpContext context, IApi api, IApplicationService service)
   at Piranha.AspNetCore.IntegratedMiddleware.Invoke(HttpContext context, IApi api, IApplicationService service)
   at Piranha.AspNetCore.Security.SecurityMiddleware.InvokeAsync(HttpContext ctx, IApplicationService service)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.Internal.Http.HttpProtocol.ProcessRequests[TContext](IHttpApplication`1 application)

When opening the same page from the frontend

System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at Piranha.Services.ContentService`3.TransformBlocks(IEnumerable`1 blocks)
   at Piranha.Repositories.PageRepository.ProcessAsync[T](Page page, T model)
   at Piranha.Services.ContentService`3.TransformAsync[T](TContent content, ContentTypeBase type, Func`3 process)
   at Piranha.Repositories.PageRepository.GetStartpage[T](Guid siteId)
   at Piranha.Services.PageService.GetStartpageAsync[T](Nullable`1 siteId)
   at Piranha.AspNetCore.IntegratedMiddleware.Invoke(HttpContext context, IApi api, IApplicationService service)
   at Piranha.AspNetCore.Security.SecurityMiddleware.InvokeAsync(HttpContext ctx, IApplicationService service)
   at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.Internal.Http.HttpProtocol.ProcessRequests[TContext](IHttpApplication`1 application)

[honzajscz]

Same here. I recreated the db and it works. But I have no data in it

[tidyui]

@honzajscz So you get the error when upgrading a database but not when creating a new one?

[tidyui]

I have located the error. The image aspect field that was added in the ImageBlock in version 8.3 gets it's CLRType stored like this in the database:

Piranha.Extend.Fields.SelectField`1[[Piranha.Extend.Blocks.ImageAspect, Piranha, Version=8.3.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null]]

This obviously creates issues when upgrading to version 8.4.0.0 as the assembly version won't match. This is not how we store types in general but seems to rather be how .NET evaluates generic types, something that we missed during the development of 8.3.

Solution

We will try to see how we can bypass this issue at the moment, however until we release a hotfix for this the temporary solution would be to open your database, do a select query for all BlockFields where 'CLRType' LIKE '%Version=8.3.0.0%' and change 8.3.0.0 to 8.4.0.0.

Regards

[tidyui]

Version 8.4.1 of Piranha is now available on NuGet

[tidyui]

@mikaellindemann @honzajscz Thanks for the quick feedback on the issue!

[tidyui]

As a final test I've now also upgraded our official homepage to the latest version without issues!

[mikaellindemann]

I have also upgraded mine and the pages are now loading again :-)