WifiClient has no setConnectionTimeout

[lomithrani]

Hello,

First and foremost thanks for your amazing library !

Just a small issue (I solved doing an ugly fix for now) when trying to connect to a server that doesn't exist or isn't responding connect hangs. It would be nice to have an option to setConnectionTimeout.

[JAndrassy]

there is no AT command or parameter to set a connect timeout and the library must always wait until the AT firmware finishes the command with OK or ERROR.

[lomithrani]

@JAndrassy thanks for the answer ! Could you elaborate why this should be a requirement ? For instance I'm using WifiClient with HttpClient arduino and every 10 seconds I post some data. If for some reason the server is down I can't have my connect function holding my program for 30 (?) seconds

[JAndrassy]

because until the AT firmware didn't finish the execution of an AT command, it will not accept any other command. there is no way to abort execution of the current command.
it would require additional state and logic to recover from unknown state of then communication with the AT firmware. the next function of the library would still have to wait or fail.

[JAndrassy]

you could use WiFi.ping to check if the IP is up

[lomithrani]

@JAndrassy Doesnt't the Maintain() in Wifi.ping which calls EspAtDrvClass::readRX result in the exact same issue ? I've added a simple :

    currentMillis = millis();

    if (timeoutOn && (currentMillis - startMillis >= 1000)) // TODO REMOVE THIS ATROCITY
    {
      return false;
    }

In the while loop of EspAtDrvClass::readRX for now. If I find time to do it properly with recovery I'll hit you up with a PR !

[JAndrassy]

I would expect ping to return faster than connect if the server is not reachable.

readRX is where it waits. there is a timeout, but if that timeout happens, next library function calls may fail too.