Dialyzer Issues in Elixir Libraries

Questions / Help
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1

I am currently facing challenges with the Dialyzer tool while working on two Elixir libraries:

  1. AnyHttp Library: This library offers a unified interface for various HTTP clients, allowing for flexibility in client selection. AnyHttp Github

  2. ElasticsearchEx Library: Overview: A client designed for Elasticsearch utilizing the AnyHttp library. ElasticsearchEx Github

Issue Overview:
During the Dialyzer analysis of the ElasticsearchEx library, I encountered a complex error involving the AnyHttp library. The error includes references to unknown_function and unknown_type and presents an unusual issue regarding missing beam files. A snippet of the error message:

Could not get Core Erlang code for: elasticsearch_ex/_build/dev/lib/any_http/ebin/Elixir.AnyHttp.beam
Example of Dialyzer run 
Finding suitable PLTs
Checking PLT...
[:any_http, :asn1, :benchee, :compiler, :crypto, :deep_merge, :elasticsearch_ex, :elixir, :inets, :jason, :kernel, :logger, :public_key, :ssl, :ssl_verify_fun, :statistex, :stdlib, :tls_certificate_check]
Looking up modules in dialyzer.plt
Looking up modules in dialyxir_erlang-24.3.4.14_elixir-1.13.4.plt
Finding applications for dialyxir_erlang-24.3.4.14_elixir-1.13.4.plt
Finding modules for dialyxir_erlang-24.3.4.14_elixir-1.13.4.plt
Checking 449 modules in dialyxir_erlang-24.3.4.14_elixir-1.13.4.plt
Finding applications for dialyzer.plt
Finding modules for dialyzer.plt
Copying dialyxir_erlang-24.3.4.14_elixir-1.13.4.plt to dialyzer.plt
Looking up modules in dialyzer.plt
Checking 449 modules in dialyzer.plt
Adding 324 modules to dialyzer.plt
:dialyzer.run error: Analysis failed with error:
Could not scan the following file(s):
  Could not get Core Erlang code for: elasticsearch_ex/_build/dev/lib/any_http/ebin/Elixir.Inspect.AnyHttp.Error.beam
  Could not get Core Erlang code for: elasticsearch_ex/_build/dev/lib/any_http/ebin/Elixir.AnyHttp.beam
  Could not get Core Erlang code for: elasticsearch_ex/_build/dev/lib/any_http/ebin/Elixir.AnyHttp.Utils.beam
  Could not get Core Erlang code for: elasticsearch_ex/_build/dev/lib/any_http/ebin/Elixir.AnyHttp.Response.beam
  Could not get Core Erlang code for: elasticsearch_ex/_build/dev/lib/any_http/ebin/Elixir.AnyHttp.Error.beam
  Could not get Core Erlang code for: elasticsearch_ex/_build/dev/lib/any_http/ebin/Elixir.AnyHttp.Client.beam
  Could not get Core Erlang code for: elasticsearch_ex/_build/dev/lib/any_http/ebin/Elixir.AnyHttp.Adapters.Httpc.beam

Last messages in the log cache:
  Reading files and computing callgraph...
done in 0m3.66s
No :ignore_warnings opt specified in mix.exs. Using default: .dialyzer_ignore.exs.

Starting Dialyzer
[
  check_plt: false,
  init_plt: 'elasticsearch_ex/priv/plts/dialyzer.plt',
  files: ['elasticsearch_ex/_build/dev/lib/elasticsearch_ex/ebin/Elixir.ElasticsearchEx.Api.Document.beam',
   'elasticsearch_ex/_build/dev/lib/elasticsearch_ex/ebin/Elixir.ElasticsearchEx.Api.Search.beam',
   'elasticsearch_ex/_build/dev/lib/elasticsearch_ex/ebin/Elixir.ElasticsearchEx.Api.Utils.beam',
   'elasticsearch_ex/_build/dev/lib/elasticsearch_ex/ebin/Elixir.ElasticsearchEx.Application.beam',
   'elasticsearch_ex/_build/dev/lib/elasticsearch_ex/ebin/Elixir.ElasticsearchEx.Client.beam',
   ...],
  warnings: [:unknown]
]
Total errors: 6, Skipped: 0, Unnecessary Skips: 0
done in 0m0.35s
lib/elasticsearch_ex/client.ex:27:unknown_function
Function AnyHttp.request/5 does not exist.
________________________________________________________________________________
lib/elasticsearch_ex/client.ex:82:unknown_function
Function Jason.decode!/1 does not exist.
________________________________________________________________________________
lib/elasticsearch_ex/client.ex:140:unknown_function
Function Jason.encode!/1 does not exist.
________________________________________________________________________________
lib/elasticsearch_ex/ndjson.ex:24:unknown_function
Function Jason.encode!/1 does not exist.
________________________________________________________________________________
lib/elasticsearch_ex/ndjson.ex:41:unknown_function
Function Jason.decode!/1 does not exist.
________________________________________________________________________________
lib/elasticsearch_ex/error.ex:22:unknown_type
Unknown type: AnyHttp.Response.t/0.
________________________________________________________________________________
done (warnings were emitted)
Halting VM with exit status 2

Despite verifying the presence of the beam files in the specified location, I continue to encounter this issue. Additionally, when ElasticsearchEx is utilized as a dependency in any application and Dialyzer is executed, an extensive number of errors, exceeding 1,000, are generated. These errors appear to be related to missing dependencies such as elixir and mix and much more.

Partial extract of Dialyzer errors 
________________________________________________________________________________
Callback info about the Oban.Pro.Worker behaviour is not available.
________________________________________________________________________________
Callback info about the Oban.Worker behaviour is not available.
________________________________________________________________________________
Function Oban.Pro.Worker.init_stage!/2 does not exist.
________________________________________________________________________________
Function Oban.Pro.Worker.fetch_recorded/1 does not exist.
________________________________________________________________________________
Function Ecto.Changeset.add_error/3 does not exist.
________________________________________________________________________________
Function Oban.Job.new/2 does not exist.
________________________________________________________________________________
Function Oban.Pro.Worker.before_new/2 does not exist.
________________________________________________________________________________
Function Oban.Worker.merge_opts/2 does not exist.
________________________________________________________________________________
Function Oban.Pro.Worker.process/3 does not exist.
________________________________________________________________________________
Function Logger.__do_log__/4 does not exist.
________________________________________________________________________________
Function Logger.__should_log__/2 does not exist.
________________________________________________________________________________
Function Logger.__do_log__/4 does not exist.
________________________________________________________________________________
Function Logger.__should_log__/2 does not exist.
________________________________________________________________________________

Request for Assistance:
Given the complexity of the error messages and my attempts to resolve the issue using different Elixir versions (1.13 to 1.16) without success, I would greatly appreciate any insights or guidance you might have on resolving this issue.

Thank you by advance.

1 Like
2

Can you provide some more detail about the steps you took? The messages here suggest that Dialyzer’s metadata is severely confused, but it’s hard to guess how that could have happened.

3

Hi,

Thank you @al2o3cr for you reply.

I’ve created a branch on ElasticsearchEx with the content of .dialyzer_ignore.exs disabled. You can see the Dialyzer run here.

Warning: Function AnyHttp.request/5 does not exist.
Warning: Function Jason.decode!/1 does not exist.
Warning: Function Jason.encode!/1 does not exist.
Warning: Function Jason.encode!/1 does not exist.
Warning: Function Jason.decode!/1 does not exist.
Warning: Unknown type: AnyHttp.Response.t/0.

If you need an application with ElasticsearchEx as dependency, I can provide it later today.

Let me know if you need anything else.

4

The root cause appears to be one line in AnyHttp’s configuration:

elixirc_options: [debug_info: Mix.env() == :dev],

This setting has caused exactly the behavior you observed (“Could not get Core Erlang code for …etc…”) in other projects:

I tested this locally with the chore/broken-dialyzer branch:

  • Running mix dialyzer on the code as-is fails with the previously-discussed errors about missing functions.
  • Commenting out the elixirc_options line in AnyHttp’s mix.exs and rebuilding from scratch (after removing _build and priv/plts) gives a successful result with no errors.
1 Like
5

It worked!

I spent hours searching for the cause without. Actually, I thought that option was needed as it’s mentioned in some places remotely related to my error message, For instance, I found a thread where you actually provided the solution.

Thank you so much for replies and the prompt resolution.