how to get xmlToList() to retry if http fails

Hi,

Hi,

I am using xmlToList() in a loop with a call to a webservice, per the code below.  

 # Loop thru target locs
 for(i in 1:num.target.locs) {
   url <- paste(sep="/", "http://www.earthtools.org/timezone", lat[i], lon[i])
   tmp <- xmlToList(url)
   df$time.offset[i] <- tmp$offset
   system("sleep 1")  # wait 1 second per requirements of above web service
 }  # end loop thru target locations

Failure struck midway through my loop, with the message below.

failed to load HTTP resource
Error: 1: failed to load HTTP resource

You can wrap it in a try function as in the following (untested).  I have made the thing stop if the second try fails, but you may want to do something more useful.  Check out tryCatch, too.

 for(i in 1:num.target.locs) {
   url <- paste(sep="/", "http://www.earthtools.org/timezone", lat[i], lon[i])
   tmp <- try(xmlToList(url))
   if (inherits(tmp, "try-error")) {
	Sys.sleep(2)
	tmp <- try(xmlToList(url))
	if (inherits(tmp, "try-error")) stop("Error fetching data")
   }
   df$time.offset[i] <- tmp$offset
   system("sleep 1")  # wait 1 second per requirements of above web service
 }  # end loop thru target locations

Cheers,
Ben
I presume that the webservice failed to respond in this instance.  How can I trap the error and have it retry after waiting a second or two, instead of exiting?

Thanks.  --Scott Waichler
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Richland, WA, USA
scott.waichler at pnnl.gov

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Ben Tupper
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
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East Boothbay, Maine 04544
http://www.bigelow.org

how to get xmlToList() to retry if http fails

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