Unity async/await and IO operations with Firestore (Firebase) - firebase

Question

I've developed a Unity App that uses Firebase as a BaaS and Firestore as a Database.
Firebase has a Client SDK to make calls that are usually called from client to server by an URL endpoint.
My concern is how my methods should be implemented to correctly work on client without blocking the user experience, cause if I made a heavy request, my Unity App is blocked, and no interaction is allowed to the user.
This is the code of my client DatabaseManager with the methods to retrieve a User from Firestore:
public class DatabaseManager
{
public DatabaseManager(FirebaseFirestore db)
{
this.db = db;
}
public async Task<User> GetUserByUIDAsync(string uid)
{
string documentID = uid;
return await AsyncGetDocumentFromCollection<User, User_FirestoreData>(COL_ID_USERS, documentID);
}
public async Task<PlainData> AsyncGetDocumentFromCollection<PlainData, FirestoreData>(string collectionID, string documentID) where PlainData : IConvertToFirestore<FirestoreData> where FirestoreData : IConvertToPlainData<PlainData>
{
try
{
DocumentReference docRef = db.Collection(collectionID).Document(documentID);
DocumentSnapshot documentSnapshot = await docRef.GetSnapshotAsync();
if (documentSnapshot.Exists)
{
Debug.Log("Get Document data for document:" + documentSnapshot.Id);
FirestoreData firestoreData = documentSnapshot.ConvertTo<FirestoreData>();
return firestoreData.ToPlainData();
}
else
{
Debug.Log($"Document {documentSnapshot.Id} does not exist!");
}
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Debug.Log(e);
}
return default(PlainData);
}
}
This is a simple call and when it's called from any MonoBehaviouryou couldn't notice the load difference when you call it like:
using UnityEngine.UI;
public class MyMono : MonoBehaviour
{
private void DatabaseManager db;
[SerializedField] private Button button = null;
private void Awake()
{
button.onClick.AddListener(async ()=> await CustomAwakeAsync(db));
}
private async Task CustomAwakeAsync(DatabaseManager db)
{
//if this Async method is heavier, this will block the main UI thread when the button is pressed
await db.GetUserByUIDAsync("xdfipñfajrfiñar");
}
}
But if instead of GetUserByUIDAsync I make a heavy call, or multiple recursive calls my application UI will freeze until it's finished...which is bad.
How should I build my code to avoid these case?
Note:
My easy way to test if it's blocking UI thread is having this class attached to a GameObject with Image component:
using UnityEngine;
public class InfiniteRotate : MonoBehaviour
{
public float speed = 1;
// Update is called once per frame
private void Update()
{
this.gameObject.transform.Rotate(0, 0, 1 * Time.deltaTime * speed);
}
}
If the image stop spinning, means that async/await is blocking the UI thread.

Answer 1

Your code as shown:
private void CustomAwake(DatabaseManager db)
{
await db.GetUserByUIDAsync("xdfipñfajrfiñar");
}
...should be producing the following error:
error CS4033: The 'await' operator can only be used within an async method. Consider marking this method with the 'async' modifier and changing its return type to 'Task'.
Even if somehow you managed to silence this error the method signature private void CustomAwake(DatabaseManager db) clearly indicates that this method is synchronous to the caller.
OP:
But if instead of GetUserByUIDAsync I make a heavy call, my application UI will freeze until it's finished...which is bad.
So if you are calling this from the same thread as Update, FixedUpdate etc (which by the looks of it you are) then you are going to block Unity and thus slow down your game.
If you are going to use async/await then you need to do so all the way back to the original caller.
Make it asynchronous
Change the method to:
private async Task<User> CustomAwake(DatabaseManager db) // Note the async Task
{
return await db.GetUserByUIDAsync("xdfipñfajrfiñar");
}
...and ensure that whatever calls it uses await in order to get the User.