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| Management of `.Blob` objects is currently very basic: when a `.Blob` object is returned in the output of an Action that has been called via the HTTP interface, it will be retained as long as the action's output. This may be set on each action, and defaults to 5 minutes. This should be improved in the future to avoid memory management issues. | ||
| A `.Blob` instance holds a strong reference to exactly one `.BlobData` object, which refers to data on memory, on disk, or at a remote network location. Using class methods, it's possible to retrieve a `.BlobData` object using a unique ID. This is used internally by LabThings to allow the data to be downloaded, and to allow Blobs to be passed as input to actions. Only a weak reference is retained by the class, so this mechanism does not prevent the data from being finalised: a strong reference to the `.Blob` object must exist somewhere, or the data will be discarded. |
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The BlobData object is not included in the mermaid diagram.
It might be useful to either:
- Extend the original diagram to include BlobData (but that might make the diagram messy, and its quite easy to read at present)
- Make a new mermaid diagram with an explanation about BlobData usage, and include it here. This could be a sequence diagram (like the existing mermaid diagram) or a class diagram.
| Management of `.Blob` objects is currently very basic: when a `.Blob` object is returned in the output of an Action that has been called via the HTTP interface, it will be retained as long as the action's output. This may be set on each action, and defaults to 5 minutes. This should be improved in the future to avoid memory management issues. | ||
| A `.Blob` instance holds a strong reference to exactly one `.BlobData` object, which refers to data on memory, on disk, or at a remote network location. Using class methods, it's possible to retrieve a `.BlobData` object using a unique ID. This is used internally by LabThings to allow the data to be downloaded, and to allow Blobs to be passed as input to actions. Only a weak reference is retained by the class, so this mechanism does not prevent the data from being finalised: a strong reference to the `.Blob` object must exist somewhere, or the data will be discarded. | ||
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| When a `.Blob` object is returned in the output of an Action that has been called via the HTTP interface, it will be retained as long as the action's output by the `.ActionManager`. The retention period may be set on each action, and defaults to 5 minutes. This should be improved in the future to avoid memory management issues. |
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Is there an issue for this last point?
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This tidies up the explanation of how blobs are structured and managed.
I experimented with
sphinxcontrib-mermaidfor diagrams, and have added one to the section that @julianstirling found confusing. I'm very open to improvements, but I think it's already quite helpful.Closes #308