Non-static method requires a target July 1, 2020
SitecoreSitecore 9
0 Comment

There was way too much time spent debugging this issue today. We were working on some custom facet data in xDB and our Sitecore.Tracker.Current was continuing to come up null. Not fun.

Here’s the code we were using:

 public class XConnectFormDataModel
    {
        public XdbModel Model { get; } = BuildModel();

        private static XdbModel BuildModel()
        {
            var builder = new XdbModelBuilder(nameof(XConnectFormDataModel), new XdbModelVersion(1, 0));
            builder.DefineFacet<Contact, FormDataFacet>(FormDataFacet.FacetKey);
            builder.ReferenceModel(Sitecore.XConnect.Collection.Model.CollectionModel.Model);
            return builder.BuildModel();

            Sitecore.Analytics.Tracker.Current.Interaction.GeoData
        }
    }

We validated that the Facet name was right. It matched the config. The class name matched as well. Everything seemed to be in line, but we kept seeing the following in the log files:

41968 16:29:22 ERROR Cannot create tracker.
Exception: System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException
Message: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.
Source: mscorlib
   at System.RuntimeMethodHandle.InvokeMethod(Object target, Object[] arguments, Signature sig, Boolean constructor)
   at System.Reflection.RuntimeConstructorInfo.Invoke(BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture)
   at Sitecore.Reflection.ReflectionUtil.CreateObject(Type type, Object[] parameters)
   at Sitecore.Configuration.DefaultFactory.CreateFromTypeName(XmlNode configNode, String[] parameters, Boolean assert)
   at Sitecore.Configuration.DefaultFactory.CreateObject(XmlNode configNode, String[] parameters, Boolean assert, IFactoryHelper helper)
   at Sitecore.Configuration.DefaultFactory.CreateObject(XmlNode configNode, String[] parameters, Boolean assert)
   at Sitecore.Configuration.DefaultFactory.GetInnerObject(XmlNode paramNode, String[] parameters, Boolean assert)
   at Sitecore.Configuration.DefaultFactory.AssignProperties(XmlNode configNode, String[] parameters, Object obj, Boolean assert, Boolean deferred, IFactoryHelper helper)
   at Sitecore.Configuration.DefaultFactory.CreateObject(XmlNode configNode, String[] parameters, Boolean assert, IFactoryHelper helper)
   at Sitecore.Configuration.DefaultFactory.CreateObject(XmlNode configNode, String[] parameters, Boolean assert)
   at Sitecore.Configuration.DefaultFactory.CreateObject(String configPath, String[] parameters, Boolean assert)
   at Sitecore.Configuration.DefaultFactory.CreateFromReference(XmlNode configNode, String[] parameters, Boolean assert)
   at Sitecore.Configuration.DefaultFactory.CreateObject(XmlNode configNode, String[] parameters, Boolean assert, IFactoryHelper helper)
   at Sitecore.Configuration.DefaultFactory.CreateObject(XmlNode configNode, String[] parameters, Boolean assert)
   at Sitecore.Configuration.DefaultFactory.GetInnerObject(XmlNode paramNode, String[] parameters, Boolean assert)
   at Sitecore.Configuration.DefaultFactory.GetConstructorParameters(XmlNode configNode, String[] parameters, Boolean assert)
   at Sitecore.Configuration.DefaultFactory.CreateFromTypeName(XmlNode configNode, String[] parameters, Boolean assert)
   at Sitecore.Configuration.DefaultFactory.CreateObject(XmlNode configNode, String[] parameters, Boolean assert, IFactoryHelper helper)
   at Sitecore.Configuration.DefaultFactory.CreateObject(XmlNode configNode, String[] parameters, Boolean assert)
   at Sitecore.Configuration.DefaultFactory.CreateObject(String configPath, String[] parameters, Boolean assert)
   at Sitecore.XConnect.Client.Configuration.SitecoreXConnectClientConfiguration.GetClient(String clientConfigPath)
   at Sitecore.Analytics.XConnect.DataAccess.XConnectDataAdapterProvider.ExecuteWithExceptionHandling[T](Func`2 func)
   at Sitecore.Analytics.XConnect.DataAccess.XConnectDataAdapterProvider.<>c__DisplayClass16_0.<LoadContact>b__0()
   at Sitecore.Analytics.XConnect.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounters.OperationPerformanceMonitorExtensions.Monitor[T](OperationPerformanceMonitorBase monitor, Func`1 operation)
   at Sitecore.Analytics.Data.ContactRepository.LoadContact(ID contactId)
   at Sitecore.Analytics.Tracking.ContactManager.LoadContact(Guid contactId, Boolean exclusive)
   at Sitecore.Analytics.Pipelines.EnsureSessionContext.LoadContact.GetContact(Guid contactId, DeviceData device, Boolean exclusive)
   at Sitecore.Analytics.Pipelines.EnsureSessionContext.LoadContact.Process(InitializeTrackerArgs args)
   at (Object , Object )
   at Sitecore.Pipelines.CorePipeline.Run(PipelineArgs args)
   at Sitecore.Pipelines.DefaultCorePipelineManager.Run(String pipelineName, PipelineArgs args, String pipelineDomain, Boolean failIfNotExists)
   at Sitecore.Pipelines.DefaultCorePipelineManager.Run(String pipelineName, PipelineArgs args, String pipelineDomain)
   at Sitecore.Analytics.Pipelines.EnsureSessionContext.EnsureSessionContextPipeline.<>c__DisplayClass4_0.<Run>b__0()
   at Sitecore.Analytics.XConnect.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounters.OperationPerformanceMonitorExtensions.<>c__DisplayClass1_0.<Monitor>b__0()
   at Sitecore.Analytics.XConnect.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounters.OperationPerformanceMonitorExtensions.Monitor[T](OperationPerformanceMonitorBase monitor, Func`1 operation)
   at Sitecore.Analytics.DefaultTracker.EnsureSessionContext()
   at Sitecore.Analytics.Pipelines.CreateTracker.GetTracker.Process(CreateTrackerArgs args)
   at (Object , Object )
   at Sitecore.Pipelines.CorePipeline.Run(PipelineArgs args)
   at Sitecore.Pipelines.DefaultCorePipelineManager.Run(String pipelineName, PipelineArgs args, String pipelineDomain, Boolean failIfNotExists)
   at Sitecore.Pipelines.DefaultCorePipelineManager.Run(String pipelineName, PipelineArgs args, String pipelineDomain)
   at Sitecore.Analytics.Tracker.Initialize()

Nested Exception

Exception: System.Reflection.TargetException
Message: Non-static method requires a target.
Source: mscorlib
   at System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.CheckConsistency(Object target)
   at System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.InvokeArgumentsCheck(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture)
   at System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.Invoke(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture)
   at System.Reflection.RuntimePropertyInfo.GetValue(Object obj, Object[] index)
   at Sitecore.XConnect.Client.Configuration.StaticModelConfiguration..ctor(String modeltype, String staticproperty)


41968 16:29:22 ERROR Cannot start tracking.
Exception: System.InvalidOperationException
Message: Tracker.Current is not initialized
Source: Sitecore.Analytics
   at Sitecore.Analytics.Pipelines.StartAnalytics.StartTracking.Process(PipelineArgs args)
   at (Object , Object )
   at Sitecore.Pipelines.CorePipeline.Run(PipelineArgs args)
   at Sitecore.Analytics.XConnect.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounters.OperationPerformanceMonitorExtensions.<>c__DisplayClass1_0.<Monitor>b__0()
   at Sitecore.Analytics.XConnect.Diagnostics.PerformanceCounters.OperationPerformanceMonitorExtensions.Monitor[T](OperationPerformanceMonitorBase monitor, Func`1 operation)
   at Sitecore.Mvc.Analytics.Pipelines.MvcEvents.RequestBegin.StartTracking.Process(RequestBeginArgs args)

After a bit of looking, we noticed the Model property of our class wasn’t static. Here’s what the working code looks like, paying attention to line 3.

 public class XConnectFormDataModel
    {
        public static XdbModel Model { get; } = BuildModel();

        private static XdbModel BuildModel()
        {
            var builder = new XdbModelBuilder(nameof(XConnectFormDataModel), new XdbModelVersion(1, 0));
            builder.DefineFacet<Contact, FormDataFacet>(FormDataFacet.FacetKey);
            builder.ReferenceModel(Sitecore.XConnect.Collection.Model.CollectionModel.Model);
            return builder.BuildModel();

            Sitecore.Analytics.Tracker.Current.Interaction.GeoData
        }
    }

It was a single word that ended up leading to a cryptic error message. It happens, though!