Invalid "success" response from book_changes (possible race condition)

[mDuo13]

Issue Description

When querying for a recent ledger by index, sometimes the result doesn't match the expected format.

Steps to Reproduce

Make WebSocket API requests such as the following, replacing the ledger index with the most recent one:

{
  "id": "example_book_changes",
  "command": "book_changes",
  "ledger_index": 88376663
}

The problem is intermittent, so it may take some tries to reproduce. Be sure to keep updating the ledger index with the most recent one as new ledgers are closed.

Expected Result

The API should either return a response in the expected format or an error message.

Example valid response (with non-empty changes):

{
  "id": "example_book_changes",
  "result": {
    "changes": [
      {
        "close": "1303424095097822e-4",
        "currency_a": "XRP_drops",
        "currency_b": "rchGBxcD1A1C2tdxF6papQYZ8kjRKMYcL/BTC",
        "high": "1304070002477734e-4",
        "low": "1302405543037992e-4",
        "open": "1303084400776639e-4",
        "volume_a": "60000000",
        "volume_b": "0.000460371"
      }
    ],
    "ledger_hash": "45765B07A378A94FCB6CEDD3D498E0CC15C73468F5F15AAA779079E67A234EB9",
    "ledger_index": 88376645,
    "ledger_time": 770512422,
    "type": "bookChanges"
  },
  "status": "success",
  "type": "response"
}

Example expected error response if the ledger index is too high:

{
  "error": "invalidParams",
  "error_code": 31,
  "error_message": "Ledger index too large",
  "id": "example_book_changes",
  "request": {
    "command": "book_changes",
    "id": "example_book_changes",
    "ledger_index": 88376663
  },
  "status": "error",
  "type": "response"
}

Actual Result

In some cases the response claims to be a success but it contains the wrong data, apparently some sort of status update on the status of acquiring the requested ledger. Looks like a Ledger Request Object.

{
  "id": "example_book_changes",
  "result": {
    "hash": "63C34CA1EE6CD80B89A035E077A0266BF2AF8F4A5CC729D1B595940D304BC05A",
    "have_header": true,
    "have_state": false,
    "have_transactions": false,
    "needed_state_hashes": [],
    "needed_transaction_hashes": [],
    "peers": 8,
    "timeouts": 1
  },
  "status": "success",
  "type": "response"
}

Environment

Tested using the xrplcluster.com servers running 2.2.0-rc1, but I think this API hasn't been changed much if at all since #4212 two years ago so the problems probably exist in older versions.

The s1.ripple.com cluster mostly goes to Clio servers; I haven't been able to reproduce on there.

[ckeshava]

@mDuo13 thanks for flagging this issue. What is the correct expected response for this input?

Ledger index is not too high -- As indicated by the "have_header": true, field in the current behavior, this node is aware of the existence of this ledger. But it does not have the state or the transaction information pertaining to this ledger.

The node is in the process of acquiring this ledger from one of its peers. Hence, the specified ledger_index is not too high