Preserve cached configuration when refresh fails

Build replacement appenders and thresholds before installing them and
advancing the local version. Release partial replacements and old caches
outside the configuration lock.  In order to make the `ensureFreshness`
version check as cheap as posible and only incur overhead when we
actually need to update the local cache, isolate the refresh logic in a
separate scope to prevent initialization and cleanup of temporary
variables when the version has not changed

Add regression coverage for repeated clone failures, cache preservation,
cleanup, and retry without another configuration change. Update
documentation to reflect the remaining freshness issue.

README.md

@@ -314,9 +314,10 @@ loggers or configuring each worker separately.
 
 > [!NOTE]
 > Thread-safety work is still in progress. Custom state and captured
-> formatters must follow the ownership rules above. Runtime configuration
+> formatters must follow the ownership rules above. Standalone `isEnabled()`
-> refresh and concurrent local-time timestamp construction still have known
+> checks do not yet notice changed namespace thresholds, and concurrent
-> failures. Nim 2.2.10 also produces sanitizer reports in its default allocator
+> local-time timestamp construction still has a known failure.
+> Nim 2.2.10 also produces sanitizer reports in its default allocator
 > during some cross-thread allocation patterns. See
 > [the regression tests](tests/README.md) for the remaining work.
 
@@ -375,9 +376,10 @@ let handle = localLogSvc.service
 ```
 
 Configuration methods remain available on both types. Shared handles contain no
-cache; `ensureFreshness(handle)` only validates initialization, and
+cache; `handle.appenders()` clones the current shared configuration.
-`handle.appenders()` clones the current shared configuration. Local services
+`ensureFreshness` applies only to *ThreadLocalLogService*, which maintains a
-retain their per-thread caches and refresh them through `ensureFreshness(local)`.
+per-thread cache. Calls to `ensureFreshness(handle)` must be removed or changed
+to refresh the relevant local service when migrating to version 3.0.0.
 
 *ThreadLocalLogService* is the object that users are expected to interact with
 during regular operation and support both the configuration functions of
@@ -450,8 +452,10 @@ proc ensureFreshness*(ls: ThreadLocalLogService) =
 
   # Only acquire lock and copy if versions differ
   withLock ls.shared.lock:
-    ls.configVersion = ls.shared.configVersion.load
+    let version = ls.shared.configVersion.load()
-    # Sync state...
+    # Build the complete replacement cache, then install it after success.
+    # If building raises, preserve the previous cache and version for retry.
+    ls.configVersion = version
 ```
 
 Goals/Motivation:

src/namespaced_logging.nim

@@ -285,15 +285,6 @@ proc shutdownThreadedConsoleLogging() =
 proc shutdownThreadedFileLogging() =
   shutdownWriter(fileLogging)
 
-
-proc ensureFreshness*(ls: var LogService) =
-  ## A shared handle has no cached configuration. Retained for callers that
-  ## previously refreshed LogService values; only local services need refresh.
-  if ls.shared == nil:
-    raise newException(ValueError,
-      "LogService not properly initialized. Use initLogService")
-
-
 proc ensureFreshness*(ls: ThreadLocalLogService) =
   ## Check our thread-local version of the logging service configuration
   ## against the global log service definition. This uses an atomic version
@@ -304,22 +295,41 @@ proc ensureFreshness*(ls: ThreadLocalLogService) =
       "LogService not properly initialized. Use initLogService to obtain a" &
       "properly initialized LogService object")
 
-  # Keep a stable borrowed pointer while inspecting configuration. In
+  # ORC's cycle collector maintains some thread-local bookkeeping state.
-  # particular, do not iterate a seq through a function-returned expression:
+  # Because of this, we have to be careful here while making a copy of the
-  # that can create an owning temporary and register its shared appender refs
+  # shared logging configuration state to avoid behavior that would result in
-  # with this thread's ORC cycle collector even while the lock is held.
+  # temporary variables with ownership semantics (specifically the shared
+  # appender references in the seq).
+  #
+  # We will keep a stable borrowed pointer while inspecting configuration and
+  # will create temporary variables to own the data being copied that can be
+  # cleaned up in this proc's scope.
   let state = ls.serviceHandle.shared
   if ls.configVersion == state.configVersion.load(): return
 
-  withLock state.lock:
+  block:
-    ls.configVersion = state.configVersion.load
+    # This block is a performance optimization. By putting these variables and
+    # operations in their own scope they won't get initialized or cleaned up
+    # unless ls.configVersion != state.configVersion.load().
 
-    ls.appenders = @[]
+    # We want the following vars to be in the outer scope (not in the lock) so
-    for a in state.appenders: ls.appenders.add(clone(a))
+    # that their cleanup happens after the lock is released.
+    var newAppenders: seq[LogAppender]
+    var newThresholds: TableRef[string, Level]
 
-    ls.thresholds = newTable[string, Level]()
+    withLock state.lock:
-    for ns, t in pairs(state.thresholds): ls.thresholds[ns] = t
+      let version = state.configVersion.load()
 
+      for a in state.appenders: newAppenders.add(clone(a))
+      newThresholds = newTable[string, Level]()
+      for ns, t in pairs(state.thresholds): newThresholds[ns] = t
+
+      # Record the version update only after every copy succeeds; a failure
+      # leaves the old version in place so the next freshness check retries the
+      # refresh.
+      swap(ls.appenders, newAppenders)
+      swap(ls.thresholds, newThresholds)
+      ls.configVersion = version
 
 proc initSharedLogServiceState(
     rootLevel = lvlAll,

tests/README.md

@@ -84,7 +84,11 @@ the unsafe forms are tested as compilation failures.
 
 The in-process regression tests are deterministic. The lifetime suite checks
 copying, self-assignment, replacement, moving, container copies, and exporting a
-handle from a local service. Shutdown tests launch
+handle from a local service. Refresh tests verify that repeated clone failures
+preserve the old appenders and thresholds, release partial replacements, and
+allow a later retry without another configuration change. A successful refresh
+releases the replaced cache and installs both appenders and thresholds.
+Shutdown tests launch
 a fresh process for each scenario and check all 10,000 numbered messages after
 normal exit, using isolated temporary paths and a 15-second deadline. Scenarios
 cover stdout, stderr, files, empty formatted messages, multiple file destinations,
@@ -109,8 +113,8 @@ The suite provides targeted regressions; it does not exhaust thread scheduling
 or ORC cycle-collector interleavings.
 
 The ownership scenarios, lifetime suite, and appender-state cleanup regression
-exercise the new ownership contracts. `isEnabled` freshness, failed-refresh
+exercise the new ownership contracts. `isEnabled` freshness,
-recovery, local-time timestamp construction, and allocator reports remain for
+local-time timestamp construction, and allocator reports remain for
 subsequent work.
 
 The standalone `ownership.nim` regression suite passed AddressSanitizer and

tests/regressions.nim

@@ -14,6 +14,18 @@ method clone(app: FallibleAppender): LogAppender {.gcsafe.} =
     raise newException(ValueError, "injected clone failure")
   FallibleAppender(control: app.control)
 
+type
+  RefreshProbeObj = object of LogAppender
+    destroyed: ptr int
+  RefreshProbe = ref RefreshProbeObj
+
+proc `=destroy`(app: RefreshProbeObj) =
+  if app.destroyed != nil: inc app.destroyed[]
+  `=destroy`(app.namespace)
+
+method clone(app: RefreshProbe): LogAppender {.gcsafe.} =
+  RefreshProbe(namespace: app.namespace, destroyed: app.destroyed)
+
 type
   LifetimeProbeObj = object
     destroyed: ptr int
@@ -26,10 +38,11 @@ proc `=destroy`(probe: LifetimeProbeObj) =
 proc ignoreMessage(state: var LifetimeProbe, msg: LogMessage) {.gcsafe, noconv.} =
   discard
 
-proc watchedService(destroyed: ptr int): LogService =
+proc watchedService(destroyed: ptr int, namespace = ""): LogService =
   result = initLogService()
   result.addAppender(initCustomLogAppender(
-    initSharedLogState(LifetimeProbeObj(destroyed: destroyed)), ignoreMessage))
+    initSharedLogState(LifetimeProbeObj(destroyed: destroyed)), ignoreMessage,
+    namespace = namespace))
 
 proc createAndReleaseService(destroyed: ptr int) =
   var service = watchedService(destroyed)
@@ -128,6 +141,42 @@ suite "ORC ownership and configuration regressions":
     local.ensureFreshness()
     check local.appenders().len == 1
 
+  test "failed refresh preserves the old cache and releases partial replacements":
+    var oldStateDestroyed, discardedClones: int
+    var control: CloneControl
+    var service = watchedService(addr oldStateDestroyed, "old")
+    service.setThreshold("worker", lvlError)
+    let local = service.threadLocalRef()
+    let logger = local.getLogger("worker")
+
+    # Only the local cache retains the old appender's state after this change.
+    service.clearAppenders()
+    service.addAppender(RefreshProbe(namespace: "new", destroyed: addr discardedClones))
+    service.addAppender(FallibleAppender(control: addr control))
+    service.setThreshold("worker", lvlInfo)
+    let initiallyDestroyed = discardedClones
+
+    for attempt in 1 .. 2:
+      control.failNext = true
+      expect ValueError:
+        local.ensureFreshness()
+      check oldStateDestroyed == 0
+      check discardedClones == initiallyDestroyed + attempt
+      block:
+        let cached = local.appenders()
+        require cached.len == 1
+        check cached[0].namespace == "old"
+      check not logger.isEnabled(lvlInfo)
+
+    # No further configuration update is needed to retry and install both
+    # the new appenders and the new namespace thresholds.
+    local.ensureFreshness()
+    check oldStateDestroyed == 1
+    let cached = local.appenders()
+    require cached.len == 2
+    check cached[0].namespace == "new"
+    check logger.isEnabled(lvlInfo)
+
   test "releasing the service releases state owned by its appenders":
     var destroyed = 0
     createAndReleaseService(addr destroyed)