Truncating and Limiting the Value's class toString() to 36 characters

[gauravpurohit06]

In java class Value for 3 data types which includes String, JSON, PGJSONB we are truncating the response of method valueToString to 36 characters. Method valueToString is called internally by toString() method.

The toString() method is designed to return a string representation of an object, and it's expected to provide a complete and meaningful representation of the object's state. Truncating it may lead to loss of information and make debugging and logging more difficult.

[gauravpurohit06]

Context
While working on Dataflow Integration Tests, I am converting mutation object to map and then using toString() to get a valid string but the string is truncated as it's internally using the above method.

[olavloite]

You should call Value#getAsString() for that

[gauravpurohit06]

@olavloite, yes we can use it but the thing is we are not calling it directly on any particular Value instance. We are using Mutation.toString() which internally calls toString method for all the Value objects.

[olavloite]

For that, we should add a method to Mutation (e.g. Mutation#getStringRepresentation()) that calls Value#getAsString(). Changing the toString() implementation of either Value or Mutation could be considered a breaking change, as it could risk that someone who is currently logging the outcome of those methods would all of a sudden see a log size explosion.

[gauravpurohit06]

Thanks @olavloite, it makes sense. Client Library owners to take the call, if it's helpful to add.