No longer able to create an entity using the dev_appserver admin console - google-app-engine

Question

I cleared all entities from the datastore and cleared the memcache, created an entity using the API Explorer and then attempted to create another one of the same kind in the Datastore console running on localhost:
Internal Server Error
The server has either erred or is incapable of performing the requested operation.
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/tom/work/google-cloud-sdk/platform/google_appengine/lib/webapp2-2.5.1/webapp2.py", line 1536, in __call__
rv = self.handle_exception(request, response, e)
File "/home/tom/work/google-cloud-sdk/platform/google_appengine/lib/webapp2-2.5.1/webapp2.py", line 1530, in __call__
rv = self.router.dispatch(request, response)
File "/home/tom/work/google-cloud-sdk/platform/google_appengine/lib/webapp2-2.5.1/webapp2.py", line 1278, in default_dispatcher
return route.handler_adapter(request, response)
File "/home/tom/work/google-cloud-sdk/platform/google_appengine/lib/webapp2-2.5.1/webapp2.py", line 1102, in __call__
return handler.dispatch()
File "/home/tom/work/google-cloud-sdk/platform/google_appengine/google/appengine/tools/devappserver2/admin/admin_request_handler.py", line 97, in dispatch
super(AdminRequestHandler, self).dispatch()
File "/home/tom/work/google-cloud-sdk/platform/google_appengine/lib/webapp2-2.5.1/webapp2.py", line 572, in dispatch
return self.handle_exception(e, self.app.debug)
File "/home/tom/work/google-cloud-sdk/platform/google_appengine/lib/webapp2-2.5.1/webapp2.py", line 570, in dispatch
return method(*args, **kwargs)
File "/home/tom/work/google-cloud-sdk/platform/google_appengine/google/appengine/tools/devappserver2/admin/datastore_viewer.py", line 760, in get
count=20)
File "/home/tom/work/google-cloud-sdk/platform/google_appengine/google/appengine/tools/devappserver2/admin/datastore_viewer.py", line 121, in _get_entities
query = datastore.Query(kind, _namespace=namespace)
File "/home/tom/work/google-cloud-sdk/platform/google_appengine/google/appengine/api/datastore.py", line 1361, in __init__
datastore_errors.BadArgumentError)
File "/home/tom/work/google-cloud-sdk/platform/google_appengine/google/appengine/api/datastore_types.py", line 181, in ValidateString
raise exception('%s must not be empty.' % name)
BadArgumentError: kind must not be empty.
Here's the gcloud version info:
$ gcloud --version
Google Cloud SDK 157.0.0
app-engine-python 1.9.54
beta 2017.03.24
bq 2.0.24
core 2017.05.30
gcloud
gsutil 4.26
Any hints as to what might be wrong?

Answer 1

I think it's a bug in the Datastore console.
I was able to replicate the same error on my machine. If you look at the traceback in the exception, you see (fourth from the bottom):
File "/.../google-cloud-sdk/platform/google_appengine/google/appengine/tools/devappserver2/admin/datastore_viewer.py", line 760, in get
count=20)
If you look at that file from line 735, you see:
def get(self, entity_key_string=None):
super(DatastoreEditRequestHandler, self).get(entity_key_string)
if entity_key_string:
entity_key = datastore.Key(entity_key_string)
entity_key_name = entity_key.name()
entity_key_id = entity_key.id()
namespace = entity_key.namespace()
kind = entity_key.kind()
entities = [datastore.Get(entity_key)]
parent_key = entity_key.parent()
if parent_key:
parent_key_string = _format_datastore_key(parent_key)
else:
parent_key_string = None
else:
entity_key = None
entity_key_string = None
entity_key_name = None
entity_key_id = None
namespace = self.request.get('namespace')
kind = self.request.get('kind')
entities, _ = _get_entities(kind,
namespace,
order=None,
start=0,
count=20) ### line 760 #######
...
In that last line, kind is supposed to be string containing the model name of the model you are working with. Instead, if you follow the traceback down into that function call, you see that kind is an empty string. I don't think there's much you can do to fix it at this time. I'd recommend using the interactive console for now to create/edit your Datastore entities, and just use the viewer to view them. I'm sure Google will fix this with an update soon.
Edit: I actually found a hacky fix if you really want the Datastore console to work, but I would still recommend just using the interactive console. The hacky fix is you manually enter the kind variable into the URL sent by the Datastore console.
When you click "Create New Entity" and get the error you show in your question, look at the url:
http://localhost:8000/datastore/edit?kind=&next=http%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%3A8000%2Fdatastore%3Fkind%3DUnique
You see ...:8000/datastore/edit?kind=&.... Right there, just type in the model name. For example, let's say your model name is User:
http://localhost:8000/datastore/edit?kind=User&next=http%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%3A8000%2Fdatastore%3Fkind%3DUnique
This brought me to the "Create new entity" form for class User (one of my models), and I was able to create a user with that form.
P.S. You may want to also change the model name on the very end of that url (where mine says Unique) to match the kind you are creating, because that model name is the kind that will be displayed after you create your new entity. So mine created a User, but then displayed the Unique entities (Unique is one of my model names).