Joseph Doherty
108220c36b
Ship tag extended-property reads over the 2020 WCF aa/Retr/GetTepByNm op: HistorianClient.GetTagExtendedPropertiesAsync(tag) -> name/value pairs. String-handle op reached with the Open2 storage-session GUID formatted uppercase (same format that unlocked GETRP/GETHI/ExeC). Routed via the name-based native path (GetTagExtendedPropertiesByName, server-fetch flag), not the index-based TagQuery path. Evidence-backed findings from the capture: - GetTepByNm (and GetTgByNm) succeed with the uppercase handle -- further validates the resolved string-handle wall. - QTB (StartTagQuery) does NOT punch through: captured uppercase, it still fails server-side (CMdServer::StartActiveTagnamesQuery over the aahMetadataServer pipe) -- a metadata-server blocker, not handle format. - R1.6 (localized properties) has NO distinct op (only error-message/UI-text localization in the managed client); collapses into R1.5. Closed, not throwing. Wire format (golden-pinned, synthetic bytes -- no dev tag names committed): - request tagNames = uint count + per-name(uint charCount + UTF-16) - response = uint tagCount + per-tag(marker + compact-ASCII name + uint propCount + per-prop(marker + compact-ASCII name + 0x43 VT_BSTR value) + trailer); sequence-paged. Adds: HistorianTagExtendedProperty model, HistorianTagExtendedPropertyProtocol (codec), HistorianWcfTagExtendedPropertyClient (orchestration), dialect + public API; golden WcfTagExtendedPropertyProtocolTests (4) + gated live test (HISTORIAN_TEP_TAG). Tooling: Capture-TagExtendedProperties.ps1, decode-tag-properties-capture.py, harness tag-extended-properties scenario. Docs: wcf-tag-extended-properties.md; roadmap R1.5 DONE / R1.6 collapsed; wall doc + memory updated with the QTB-server-side nuance. 228 tests green. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01B6mcaT2PjRFKcogzp9UkfC
125 lines
8.1 KiB
Markdown
125 lines
8.1 KiB
Markdown
# The 2020 WCF string-handle wall (2026-06-20)
|
||
|
||
> ## ✅✅ RESOLVED (2026-06-20): the "wall" was a handle-FORMAT bug, not a registration wall.
|
||
>
|
||
> The string-handle ops are reachable from the pure-managed client after all. The Open2
|
||
> storage-session GUID must be passed as the `string handle` **UPPERCASE, dash-separated,
|
||
> no braces** — `storageSessionId.ToString("D").ToUpperInvariant()`. The earlier probes that
|
||
> "proved" the wall passed the GUID in .NET's default **lowercase** `ToString("D")`, which the
|
||
> server's session table does not match. Live-verified end-to-end against the local 2020 server:
|
||
> - **GETRP** (R1.2) → returns the runtime `HistorianVersion` (shipped).
|
||
> - **GETHI** (R1.4) → `returned=True`, returns the version buffer (`0C000000` + UTF-16 "20,0,000,000").
|
||
> - **ExeC** (R1.1) → `returned=True`, `Retr.GetV` prime + `ExeC("SELECT 1 AS ProbeValue", option=0)`
|
||
> yields `queryHandle`, then `GetR(handle, queryHandle, sequence=0)` returns a 1232-byte result =
|
||
> a **BinaryFormatter-serialized .NET DataTable** (stream header `…System.Data, Version=4.0.0.0…`).
|
||
>
|
||
> Probes: gated `StringHandleProbeDiagnosticTests` (GETHI + ExeC). Captures:
|
||
> `scripts/Capture-RuntimeParam.ps1`, `scripts/Capture-ExecSql.ps1`. The handle for ExeC/GetR is the
|
||
> **same** Open2 storage-session GUID (confirmed = `outBuff[5..21]`). The original analysis below is
|
||
> retained for history; treat its "blocked" conclusions as **superseded** — the only missing piece
|
||
> was the uppercase format.
|
||
>
|
||
> **Update 2026-06-20 — R1.5 `GetTepByNm` shipped; QTB nuance.** `GetTagExtendedPropertiesFromName`
|
||
> (`GetTepByNm`) is now **shipped + live-verified** with the uppercase handle
|
||
> (`GetTagExtendedPropertiesAsync`; see `wcf-tag-extended-properties.md`). It confirms the
|
||
> string-handle Retrieval family is reachable (and `GetTgByNm`/GetTagInfosFromName was observed
|
||
> succeeding alongside it). **But not every string-handle op is just a format fix:** `QTB`
|
||
> (`StartTagQuery`) was captured being sent with a correctly-**uppercase** handle and still failed
|
||
> with `error 1` *server-side* (`CMdServer::StartTagQuery::StartActiveTagnamesQuery` over
|
||
> `\\.\pipe\aahMetadataServer\console`). So QTB/QTG (the active-tagnames query family) are blocked by
|
||
> the metadata server, not the handle format — distinct from the handle-format wall. **R1.6
|
||
> (localized properties) has no distinct op** and collapses into R1.5.
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
Live-probing the local **Historian 2020** (WCF, port 32568) for HCAL roadmap M1
|
||
surfaced a clean structural boundary on what the pure-managed client can call. It
|
||
explains why R1.1/R1.4/R1.5 all fail and identifies the single RE target that
|
||
unblocks the rest of the M1 read surface.
|
||
|
||
> ⚠️ **Superseded — see the RESOLVED banner above.** The boundary below is real *only* when the
|
||
> handle is sent lowercase. With the uppercased storage GUID the string-handle ops succeed.
|
||
|
||
## The dichotomy
|
||
|
||
Retrieval/Status/History ops split by the **type of their first (handle) parameter**:
|
||
|
||
| Handle type | Examples | Status on 2020 WCF |
|
||
|---|---|---|
|
||
| **`uint` client handle** (Open2 output) | `StartQuery2`, `GetNextQueryResultBuffer2`, `IsOriginalAllowed`, `GetTagInfosFromName`/`GetTagInfoFromName` (GetTgByNm), `GetSystemParameter`, `StartEventQuery`, `GetNextEventQueryResultBuffer`, `RegisterTags2`, `EnsureTags2`, `UpdateClientStatus3` | ✅ **work** — the proven read/browse/metadata/status-param/event/write surface |
|
||
| **`string` GUID handle** | `ExecuteSqlCommand` (ExeC), `StartTagQuery` (QTB), `QueryTag` (QTG), `GetHistorianInfo` (GETHI), `GetTagExtendedPropertiesFromName` (GetTepByNm), `GetTagInfosFromName2` (GetTgByNm2), `GetTagidsByTagnameAndSource` | ⛔ **blocked** — native error type 4, code **51 (InvalidParameter)** or **1 (Failure)** |
|
||
|
||
## Evidence (this probe + prior notes)
|
||
|
||
- **ExeC** → type 4 / code 51 for every handle variant (storageGuid, contextGuid).
|
||
Matches `implementation-status.md` ~982 / ~1404 ("StartTagQuery depends on earlier
|
||
native session/filter registration … do not wire through guessed calls").
|
||
- **GETHI** (`HistorianVersion` param query — the *exact* native request shape from
|
||
`BuildGetHistorianInfoRequest`, with `Stat.GetV ×2` priming) → type 4 / code **1**
|
||
for all five handle formats tried: storage-session GUID, context GUID, uint as
|
||
decimal, uint as `X8` hex, uint as `0x`-hex. In the only place GETHI is used (the
|
||
event-priming chain) its result is wrapped in `TryRun` and **discarded**, so there
|
||
was never evidence it actually returns data from the managed client.
|
||
- **GetTepByNm / QTB / QTG / GetTgByNm2** all take a `string handle` → same family.
|
||
|
||
## Why
|
||
|
||
The string-handle ops are keyed off a **native-side session/filter registration**
|
||
that the C++ client performs but the managed replay does not reproduce. The uint
|
||
client handle is the Open2 session token the server already trusts; the string GUID
|
||
handle indexes a *different* per-service registration table that stays empty unless
|
||
the native priming is replicated faithfully. `Stat.GetV ×2` alone is insufficient.
|
||
|
||
## Consequence for the roadmap
|
||
|
||
Every remaining **M1 read** item is a string-handle op:
|
||
|
||
- R1.1 `ExecuteSqlCommandAsync` (ExeC) — blocked
|
||
- R1.4 `GetHistorianInfoAsync` (GETHI) — blocked
|
||
- R1.5 extended-property read (GetTepByNm) — blocked (string handle, confirmed)
|
||
- R1.6 localized-property read — same family
|
||
|
||
So **M1 read-surface completion on 2020 WCF is gated entirely behind one RE target:
|
||
the native session/filter registration for string-handle ops.** Reverse-engineer it
|
||
once and the whole family unlocks. Until then, the alternatives are:
|
||
|
||
1. **RE the registration** — instrument the native `CRetrievalConnectionWCF` /
|
||
`CStatusConnectionWCF` priming between Open2 and the first successful string-handle
|
||
call (capture-tier; the highest-leverage single RE task for M1).
|
||
2. **2023 R2 gRPC server** — these ops are first-class on the gRPC front door, where
|
||
the handle/envelope differs and the registration wall may not apply.
|
||
|
||
Do **not** ship any string-handle op via guessed calls (project discipline:
|
||
"leave them throwing until evidence supports an implementation").
|
||
|
||
## ⚠️ Update (2026-06-20): GETRP punches through — the wall is not absolute
|
||
|
||
Roadmap **R1.2 `GetRuntimeParameterAsync`** turned out to be a **`string`-handle op**
|
||
(`aa/Stat/GETRP(string handle, byte[] pRequestBuff) → (bool, byte[] pResponseBuff,
|
||
byte[] errorBuffer)`) — the **same shape as GETHI**, and in the same native session it
|
||
uses the **same handle GUID** as GETHI (confirmed: the GUID equals the Open2 `outBuff`
|
||
storage-session id at `[5..21]`, the value the managed `ParseOpenConnectionResponse`
|
||
already extracts as `StorageSessionId`).
|
||
|
||
Yet GETRP **works from the pure-managed client** — live-verified, returns the runtime
|
||
`HistorianVersion` value `20,0,000,000`. The only material difference from the failed
|
||
GETHI probe is the **handle string format**: the native client sends the GUID
|
||
**UPPERCASE, dash-separated, no braces** (format example
|
||
`XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX`, all hex upper), i.e.
|
||
`storageSessionId.ToString("D").ToUpperInvariant()`. `.NET Guid.ToString("D")` is
|
||
lowercase, so a probe that passed the GUID without upcasing would not byte-match what
|
||
the server's session table is keyed on.
|
||
|
||
**Implication / open lead (not yet retested):** the GETHI/ExeC/QTB/QTG family failures
|
||
may be (at least partly) a **handle-format** issue, not (only) a missing native
|
||
registration step. The highest-value cheap follow-up is to **re-probe GETHI and ExeC
|
||
with the uppercased storage-session GUID** before assuming the registration wall. If
|
||
they also return data, the "wall" collapses to a formatting bug and R1.4/R1.5/R1.6/R1.1
|
||
may be reachable without any new RE. This has **not** been done yet — do not reclassify
|
||
those items until it is. GETRP is shipped because it was directly captured + live-verified
|
||
end-to-end; the rest remain `ProtocolEvidenceMissingException`/unprobed until tested.
|
||
|
||
See `HistorianRuntimeParameterProtocol`, `IStatusServiceContract2.GetRuntimeParameter`,
|
||
golden `WcfRuntimeParameterProtocolTests`, and capture tooling
|
||
`scripts/Capture-RuntimeParam.ps1` + `scripts/decode-runtime-param-capture.py`.
|