Suspend 20 Iterations Error in Soap Assess Response (ODS)

Question

OPA Experts,
I'm trying to replace the default error message you receive when the inferencing cycle has errored-out after 20 iterations. I'm restricted to using ODS and none of the features of OWD. Using Java framework.
I've encountered this several times before and was able to stop via error() in the rules, but for this particular instance (see below), I can throw the error and view both this and the 20 iterations message in OPM (20 iterations in red box at top of OPM interface and custom error message in output window), but the soap assess response presents the 20 iterations (ThinkException) message and nothing else.
"This particular instance" means an illegal attribute value and relationship population in the same entity. E.g. TaxReturn entity --> <attribute>tax_filing_status = "Single" and <relationship>tax_filing_spouse populated. A person filing a tax return can only have a tax_filing_spouse populated when they have a tax_filing_status of "Married Filing Jointly".
What I've tried so far:
Catching and throwing the error via rules
OnReturnResultEvent
InferencingListener
SoapServerException
ThinkException override (which isn't really possible but I thought I'd try anyway )
OnBeforeThinkEvent
The request, in all of the above cases, only touches my empty constructors and none of my methods.
Here's one example (among many) of my log4j log (edited for space and readability purposes):
========================================================================================
388 [http-127.0.0.1-9000-Processor4] INFO  com.oracle.util.plugins.PluginRegistry  - Successfully created plugin factory: handleIllegalTaxRequest.HandleIllegalTaxRequest
8509 [http-127.0.0.1-9000-Processor2] INFO  com.oracle.determinations.engine.Session  - User setting attribute i_return_filing-status, entity taxreturn, instance name 54f63ed31435527aebb709fac1417c00, session 1 to value 1
21080 [http-127.0.0.1-9000-Processor2] INFO  com.oracle.determinations.engine.Session  - Engine inferring attribute o_per_pend-person, entity person, instance name SELF1120128911, session 1 to value true
21080 [http-127.0.0.1-9000-Processor2] INFO  com.oracle.determinations.engine.Session  - Finishing inferencing on session 1
21081 [http-127.0.0.1-9000-Processor2] TRACE com.oracle.determinations.ocs.UnknownMemberListener  - In UnknownMemberListener
21083 [http-127.0.0.1-9000-Processor2] ERROR com.oracle.determinations.server.services.AbstractNativeService  - Could not reach a determination for rulebase 'FakeNameOfRulebase'. Reason: Think cycle has not stabilised after 20 iterations.  This is probably due to a fault in the inferencing listener.
com.oracle.determinations.server.exceptions.ThinkException: Could not reach a determination for rulebase 'FakeNameOfRulebase'. Reason: Think cycle has not stabilised after 20 iterations.  This is probably due to a fault in the inferencing listener.
  at com.oracle.determinations.server.assess.AssessEngine.assess(AssessEngine.java:147)
  at com.oracle.determinations.server.services.assess.AssessAction.process(AssessAction.java:67)
  at com.oracle.determinations.server.services.AbstractNativeService.processRequest(AbstractNativeService.java:119)
  at com.oracle.determinations.server.DSServlet.doPost(DSServlet.java:103)
  at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:647)
  at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:729)
  at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:269)
  at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:188)
  at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:213)
  at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:172)
  at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:127)
  at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:117)
  at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:108)
  at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:174)
  at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.process(Http11Processor.java:879)
  at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11BaseProtocol$Http11ConnectionHandler.processConnection(Http11BaseProtocol.java:665)
  at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.PoolTcpEndpoint.processSocket(PoolTcpEndpoint.java:528)
  at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.LeaderFollowerWorkerThread.runIt(LeaderFollowerWorkerThread.java:81)
  at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.ThreadPool$ControlRunnable.run(ThreadPool.java:689)
  at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:722)
========================================================================================
None of the inferencing responses in any of my logs present "tax_filing_spouse" relationship...so I must assume it's getting hung up on this. If I change the tax filing status in the request, I get the correct assess response with 0 errors. I tried getDecisionReport() of InferencingEvent to verify, but as mentioned above, only my constructors are being touched and none of my methods.
Now, I could be approaching this incorrectly in my Java code, or there could be a way to catch and suspend this in the rules, but I've extended the capacity of my efforts and am about ready to throw my laptop out of the window. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I really need it!!!!
v/r
Mike

Answer 1

Hi Mike,
I'm not really sure what you want to achieve, this error message means that your assessment results are invalid and none of the conclusions can be relied upon so you really need to fix the rules themselves. This error can be caused by a loop in the rule logic as well as a a problem with an inferrencing listener (as suggested in the error message). You can check for rule loops in OPM and / or use visual inspection as you know which attribute / value triggers the problem.
If you could share your rulebase and the source code for your UnknownMemberListener that may shed some light on the issue.
If you really need to change the error message to you SOAP clients you may need to implement a custom service but this is unlikely to be trivial.