How do I fix a "block context" error in 2sxc? - 2sxc

Question

I am running DNN v9.11.0 with 2sxc 13.12.1 LTS and have encountered the following error:
Block context required but not known. It was not attached.
The error comes from a custom app that I wrote that has a dropdown whose values come from a query called CountryQuery.
The particular page where the error occurs is a form that has 6 dropdowns on it. I am presuming that some particular combination of dropdowns causes this problem. Unfortunately, after trying to reproduce the error, I am finding nothing. I could find no combination of dropdown values that would cause the error. I only find it in the logs after several days of use by visitors to the website. So I'm stumped.
I'd like to fix the problem but I don't know where to start. I am appending the error below:
AbsoluteURL:/api/2sxc/app/auto/query/CountryQuery
DefaultDataProvider:DotNetNuke.Data.SqlDataProvider, DotNetNuke
ExceptionGUID:97146555-e1e2-49de-8445-c10e686077c1
AssemblyVersion:
PortalId:-1
UserId:-1
TabId:-1
RawUrl:
Referrer:
UserAgent:
ExceptionHash:BrTk2LCX6s4U2MnLCNGNgkIuE9M=
Message:Block context required but not known. It was not attached.
StackTrace:
at ToSic.Sxc.Context.ContextResolver.BlockRequired() in C:\Projects\2sxc\V13\2sxc\Src\Sxc\ToSic.Sxc\Context\ContextResolver.cs:line 35
at ToSic.Sxc.WebApi.App.AppQueryControllerReal.QueryPost(String name, QueryParameters more, Nullable1 appId, String stream, Boolean includeGuid) in C:\Projects\2sxc\V13\2sxc\Src\Sxc\ToSic.Sxc.WebApi\App\AppQueryControllerReal.cs:line 54 at lambda_method(Closure , Object , Object[] ) at System.Web.Http.Controllers.ReflectedHttpActionDescriptor.ActionExecutor.<>c__DisplayClass6_2.<GetExecutor>b__2(Object instance, Object[] methodParameters) at System.Web.Http.Controllers.ReflectedHttpActionDescriptor.ExecuteAsync(HttpControllerContext controllerContext, IDictionary2 arguments, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
at System.Web.Http.Tracing.ITraceWriterExtensions.d__171.MoveNext() --- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown --- at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw() at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task) at System.Web.Http.Controllers.ApiControllerActionInvoker.<InvokeActionAsyncCore>d__1.MoveNext() --- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown --- at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw() at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task) at System.Web.Http.Tracing.ITraceWriterExtensions.<TraceBeginEndAsyncCore>d__171.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
at System.Web.Http.Filters.ActionFilterAttribute.d__6.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
at System.Web.Http.Filters.ActionFilterAttribute.d__6.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
at System.Web.Http.Filters.ActionFilterAttribute.d__5.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
at System.Web.Http.Controllers.ActionFilterResult.d__5.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
at System.Web.Http.Filters.AuthorizationFilterAttribute.d__3.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
at System.Web.Http.Filters.AuthorizationFilterAttribute.d__3.MoveNext()
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
at System.Web.Http.Controllers.ExceptionFilterResult.d__6.MoveNext()
InnerMessage:
InnerStackTrace:
Source:ToSic.Sxc
FileName:
FileLineNumber:0
FileColumnNumber:0
Method:
Server Name: DNN4LESS11
My app appears to work properly for all the values I have tested. Obviously, visitors to the website are trying some combination that is causing trouble. I have had no reports of the website not working properly.

Answer 1

The Content Block is the "record" which says "here I show the template so-and-so and it will use the data so-and-so". Check out the docs: https://docs.2sxc.org/basics/cms/content-blocks/index.html
DNN will add a module to the page and in the module settings it will store the app-id and the content-block guid to find the stuff to show. Docs: https://docs.2sxc.org/basics/cms/content-blocks/content-blocks-in-dnn.html
One more thing: When you add an app, it doesn't actually store the app-id/content-block yet, because once it does that it's "final" so the user can't switch to another app any more. So it doesn't get "finalized" until the the user starts editing data on the newly-added-app.
If 2sxc can't find the content block, I guess one of these things are off:
The data in DNN pointing to the app/content-block is missing
The data in DNN pointing to the app/content-block is defect
For unknown reasons, the content-block was deleted (which is super uncommon, as they are never deleted)
You could see the exact values used in Insights.
But my gut feeling is that it's DNN Search. My guess is you have some module added to the page without "finalizing" and DNN search tries to index it. This is super likely because when you see Portal = -1 in the log, it's usually triggered by search.