Including pointer in another pointer not working

[josephomills]

New Issue Checklist

• I am not disclosing a vulnerability.
• I am not just asking a question.
• I have searched through existing issues.
• I can reproduce the issue with the latest version of Parse Server and the Parse Flutter SDK.

Issue Description

I have an attendance system that has a Scan class, having a pointer to Gathering class that has a pointer to a GatheringType: I want to include the GatheringType field on the Gathering object when I query Scan class. I'm using the Flutter SDK to run a nested query. I get internal server error when I use includeObject or even excludeKeys on the inner query. This is my query method below:

static QueryBuilder<ScanObject> scanQuery(
      {required GatheringCategory category}) {
    final ParseUser user = getIt<AuthBloc>()
        .state
        .currentUserOption
        .getOrElse(() => ParseUser(null, null, null));

    // Get gathering type of given category
    final gatheringTypeQuery = QueryBuilder<GatheringTypeObject>(
        GatheringTypeObject())
      ..keysToReturn([GatheringTypeObject.kName, GatheringTypeObject.kCategory])
      ..whereEqualTo(GatheringTypeObject.kCategory, category.name.capitalize);

    // Get all gatherings of the given type
    final gatheringQuery = QueryBuilder<GatheringObject>(GatheringObject())
      ..includeObject([GatheringObject.kGatheringType])
      ..excludeKeys([GatheringObject.kExcluded])
      ..whereMatchesQuery(GatheringObject.kGatheringType, gatheringTypeQuery);

    // get all scans of the above gatherings
    final query = QueryBuilder<ScanObject>(ScanObject())
      ..includeObject([ScanObject.kGathering])
      ..orderByDescending(ScanObject.kScannedInAt)
      ..excludeKeys([ScanObject.kSelfie])
      ..whereEqualTo(ScanObject.kUser, user.toPointer())
      ..whereMatchesQuery(ScanObject.kGathering, gatheringQuery);

    return query;
  }

If I'm using the wrong approach, I'd be glad if I could be helped on that.

Steps to reproduce

Have 3 class A, B & C. Let B be a pointer in A & let C be a pointer in B. Then try and include an object of C in a query for object A like this:
queryForC
queryForB - whereMatchesQuery of queryC, includeObject C, (optionally exclude any key)
queryForA - whereMatchesQuery of queryForB, includeObject B

Run queryForA.

Actual Outcome

Problem is when I add includeObject or excludeKeys on the QueryBuilder for the inner query (queryForB), I get an internal server error. Without the inner includeObject, there's no error, but the GatheringType field on the Gathering object is null.

Expected Outcome

I'm expecting to get a success response with GatheringType object on each Gathering object from my Scan results.

Environment

Parse Flutter SDK

• SDK version: 3.1.3
• Operating system version: Windows 10

Server

• Parse Server version: 4.5.0

Flutter

• Flutter version: 3.3.9

Logs

I/flutter (17764): ParseLiveList: lazyLoading is on
I/flutter (17764): ╭-- Parse Request
I/flutter (17764): curl -X GET -H 'user-agent: Flutter Parse SDK 3.1.13' -H 'X-Parse-Application-Id: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx' -H 'X-Parse-Session-Token: r:948692d6fd9d2db69a60e8672832f667' -H 'X-Parse-Client-Key: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx' https://parseapi.back4app.com/classes/Scan?where=%7B%22user%22:%20%7B%22__type%22:%22Pointer%22,%22className%22:%22_User%22,%22objectId%22:%226Mv2HlvU89%22%7D,%22gathering%22:%7B%22$inQuery%22:%7B%22where%22:%7B%22gatheringType%22:%7B%22$inQuery%22:%7B%22where%22:%7B%22category%22:%20%22Lecture%22%7D,%22className%22:%22GatheringType%22%22keys%22:name,category%7D%7D%7D,%22className%22:%22Gathering%22%22include%22:gatheringType,%22excludeKeys%22:excluded%7D%7D%7D&include=gathering&order=-scannedInAt&excludeKeys=selfie&keys=scannedInAt
I/flutter (17764):
I/flutter (17764):  https://parseapi.back4app.com/classes/Scan?where={"user": {"__type":"Pointer","className":"_User","objectId":"6Mv2HlvU89"},"gathering":{"$inQuery":{"where":{"gatheringType":{"$inQuery":{"where":{"category": "Lecture"},"className"
I/flutter (17764): ╰--
D/EGL_emulation(17764): app_time_stats: avg=9201.36ms min=9201.36ms max=9201.36ms count=1
D/EGL_emulation(17764): app_time_stats: avg=111.10ms min=29.73ms max=631.86ms count=9
I/flutter (17764): ╭-- Parse Response
I/flutter (17764): Class: Scan
I/flutter (17764): Function: ParseApiRQ.query
I/flutter (17764): Status Code: 1
I/flutter (17764): Type: InternalServerError
I/flutter (17764): Error: null
I/flutter (17764): ╰--
...
flutter (17764): [ERROR:flutter/runtime/dart_vm_initializer.cc(41)] Unhandled Exception: FormatException: Unexpected character (at character 197)
E/flutter (17764): ...ecture"},"className":"GatheringType""keys":name,category}}},"className":...
E/flutter (17764):                                        ^
E/flutter (17764):
E/flutter (17764): #0      _ChunkedJsonParser.fail (dart:convert-patch/convert_patch.dart:1383:5)
E/flutter (17764): #1      _ChunkedJsonParser.parse (dart:convert-patch/convert_patch.dart:836:49)
E/flutter (17764): #2      _parseJson (dart:convert-patch/convert_patch.dart:35:10)
E/flutter (17764): #3      JsonDecoder.convert (dart:convert/json.dart:612:36)
E/flutter (17764): #4      JsonCodec.decode (dart:convert/json.dart:216:41)
E/flutter (17764): #5      LiveQueryClient._subscribeLiveQuery
parse_live_query.dart:360
E/flutter (17764): #6      LiveQueryClient.subscribe
parse_live_query.dart:235
E/flutter (17764): <asynchronous suspension>

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[Nidal-Bakir]

since it's an internal server error can you provide the logs from the Admin dashboard when you request the data?

[Canoncul]

same issue
body format is invalid in json.

..."className":"GatheringType""keys":name,category

[mbfakourii]

This error occurs because the json that is being sent to the server does not have the correct json format. Is it possible to send the complete json sent to the server?

[mbfakourii]

I simulated your code but did not get an error. The query was also given. The request was as follows

https://parseapi.back4app.com/classes/ScanObject?where={"kUser": {"__type":"Pointer","className":"_User","objectId":"DZEsNxKgmK"},"kGathering":{"$inQuery":{"where":{"kGatheringType":{"$inQuery":{"where":{"kCategory": "book"},"className":"GatheringTypeObject""keys":kName,kCategory}}},"className":"GatheringObject""include":kGatheringType,"excludeKeys":kExcluded}}}&include=kGathering&order=-kScannedInAt&excludeKeys=kSelfie

[josephomills]

same issue

body format is invalid in json.

..."className":"GatheringType""keys":name,category

Exactly, when I run the query in debug mode, I see that the json body format is invalid

[josephomills]

I simulated your code but did not get an error. The query was also given. The request was as follows

https://parseapi.back4app.com/classes/ScanObject?where={"kUser": {"__type":"Pointer","className":"_User","objectId":"DZEsNxKgmK"},"kGathering":{"$inQuery":{"where":{"kGatheringType":{"$inQuery":{"where":{"kCategory": "book"},"className":"GatheringTypeObject""keys":kName,kCategory}}},"className":"GatheringObject""include":kGatheringType,"excludeKeys":kExcluded}}}&include=kGathering&order=-kScannedInAt&excludeKeys=kSelfie

@mbfakourii Check the json format well, there are some missing "}" and ",".

• Between "GatheringTypeObject" & "keys"
• Between "GatheringObject" and "include"

[josephomills]

Anyways, I figured out that the solution to include pointers of inner queries is to use the dot notation.

i.e. by having only one includeObject on the outer query (no includes on inner queries) like this:

outerQuery..***..includeObject["gathering", "gathering.type"];