temporalio / temporalio/sdk-java

Child Workflow creation API should allow user to specify a custom data converter

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enhancement
Dominant language
Java
Stars
433
Forks
249
Avg merge
5d 6h
Merged PRs (30d)
26

Description

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
The user starts a child workflow on a different namespace or task queue, so it will be handled by a different worker.
This different worker may have a completely different configuration of data converters.
Such a situation is pretty legit if we have two different teams developing different modules listening on different task queues.
Right now there is no way for a parent workflow to specify a different data converter for such a child workflow invocation.

Describe the solution you'd like

ChildWorkflowOptions should allow specifying a custom data converter that may be different from the data converter of the current worker.

Describe alternatives you've considered
Currently, users may work around this problem by creating a PayloadConverter that applies only to an input class of the child workflow. This approach is hacky and has limitations.

Additional context
The same applies to ActivityOptions. Activities can't be scheduled on another namespace but could be on a different task queue.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

No file or test is named in the issue. Start by locating ChildWorkflowOptions and ActivityOptions, then trace how the worker's data converter is selected for child workflow and activity invocations; done means the relevant options can specify a converter independently and coverage verifies that selection.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
java
Domain
backend-api-design, distributed-systems
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
39/100

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