[HOLD for payment 2023-06-28] [$1000] When sending h_ello_ , only _ello_ is sent

[kavimuru]

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Action Performed:

1. Open ND
2. Open any chat and send message h_ello_

Expected Result:

Normal text h_ello_ is sent

Actual Result:

Italic text ello is sent

Workaround:

Can the user still use Expensify without this being fixed? Have you informed them of the workaround?

Platforms:

Which of our officially supported platforms is this issue occurring on?

• Android / native
• Android / Chrome
• iOS / native
• iOS / Safari
• MacOS / Chrome / Safari
• MacOS / Desktop

Version Number: 1.3.22-0
Reproducible in staging?: y
Reproducible in production?: y
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from TestRail:
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers):
Logs: https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/4856
Notes/Photos/Videos: Any additional supporting documentation

Video_2023-06-01_124931.mp4

Recording.861.mp4

Expensify/Expensify Issue URL:
Issue reported by: @s-alves10
Slack conversation: https://expensify.slack.com/archives/C049HHMV9SM/p1685635565083259

View all open jobs on GitHub

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~0182558b3d97b80b80
• Upwork Job ID: 1665793077552652288
• Last Price Increase: 2023-06-05

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @tjferriss (Bug), see https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/14418 for more details.

[melvin-bot]

Bug0 Triage Checklist (Main S/O)

• This "bug" occurs on a supported platform (ensure Platforms in OP are ✅)
• This bug is not a duplicate report (check E/App issues and #expensify-bugs)
  • If it is, comment with a link to the original report, close the issue and add any novel details to the original issue instead
• This bug is reproducible using the reproduction steps in the OP. S/O
  • If the reproduction steps are clear and you're unable to reproduce the bug, check with the reporter and QA first, then close the issue.
  • If the reproduction steps aren't clear and you determine the correct steps, please update the OP.
• This issue is filled out as thoroughly and clearly as possible
  • Pay special attention to the title, results, platforms where the bug occurs, and if the bug happens on staging/production.
• I have reviewed and subscribed to the linked Slack conversation to ensure Slack/Github stay in sync

[eh2077]

Proposal

Please re-state the problem that we are trying to solve in this issue.

When sending h_ello_ , only ello is sent. After comparing this feature on other Apps, like Slack and Github, I found that they don't parse it. So I tend to think that we shouldn't parse it also.

What is the root cause of that problem?

The root cause of this issue is that the regex

/(?!_blank")[^\W_]?_((?![\s_])[\s\S]*?[^\s_])_(?![^\W_])(?![^<]*(<\/pre>|<\/code>|<\/a>|_blank))/g

of italic rule matches a character of [a-zA-Z0-9] through regex piece [^\W_]? before the italic syntax.

See regex test screenshot below

What changes do you think we should make in order to solve the problem?

To fix this issue, we should ensure the preceding of the starting underscore _ is either

1. a word boundary \b or
2. a word boundary followed by underscores \b_+

To achieve it, we can change the regex

/(?!_blank")[^\W_]?_((?![\s_])[\s\S]*?[^\s_])_(?![^\W_])(?![^<]*(<\/pre>|<\/code>|<\/a>|_blank))/g

of italic rule to

/(\b_+|\b)(?!_blank")_((?![\s_])[\s\S]*?[^\s_])_(?![^\W_])(?![^<]*(<\/pre>|<\/code>|<\/a>|_blank))/g

by removing [^\W_]? and adding capturing group (\b_+|\b) to the beginning.

So, the group 1 is underscores before italic syntax and the group 2 is the text of italic syntax, see regex test screenshot

We also change the replacement method from

replacement: (match, g1) => (g1.includes('<pre>') || this.containsNonPairTag(g1) ? match : `<em>${g1}</em>`),

to

// We add g1 which is underscores or empty string back before the <em> tag
replacement: (match, g1, g2) => (g2.includes('<pre>') || this.containsNonPairTag(g2) ? match : `${g1}<em>${g2}</em>`),

By doing so, the input

h_ello_

won't be translated into html and won't break existing unit test cases of expensify-common.

Below test cases will be helpful to verify the solution

hello_world
hello__world
_hello_
___hello_
___hello______

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

To fix this issue we can use a capture group to wrap [^\W_]? and skip rendering if the capturing is not empty.

We can change the regex

/(?!_blank")[^\W_]?_((?![\s_])[\s\S]*?[^\s_])_(?![^\W_])(?![^<]*(<\/pre>|<\/code>|<\/a>|_blank))/g

of italic rule to

/(?!_blank")([^\W_]?)_((?![\s_])[\s\S]*?[^\s_])_(?![^\W_])(?![^<]*(<\/pre>|<\/code>|<\/a>|_blank))/g

So, the group 1 is the legal character before italic syntax and the group 2 is the text of italic syntax.

We also change the replacement method from

replacement: (match, g1) => (g1.includes('<pre>') || this.containsNonPairTag(g1) ? match : `<em>${g1}</em>`),

to

replacement: (match, g1, g2) => (g1 || g2.includes('<pre>') || this.containsNonPairTag(g2) ? match : `<em>${g2}</em>`),

But there's a drawback of this solution because the regex doesn't skip matching early. For example, for following input

hello_world
_hello_

_hello_ won't be rendered as italic because it's consumed and skipped, see

[dummy-1111]

@eh2077 We shouldn't parse h_ello_. It should be sent as is.

[eh2077]

@s-alves10 Yes, I was just doing markdown syntax comparing on other Apps. Many of them, like Slack and Github don’t parse it. So I covered it if we don't want to parse it also.

[melvin-bot]

📣 @code2learn! 📣
Hey, it seems we don’t have your contributor details yet! You'll only have to do this once, and this is how we'll hire you on Upwork.
Please follow these steps:

1. Get the email address used to login to your Expensify account. If you don't already have an Expensify account, create one here. If you have multiple accounts (e.g. one for testing), please use your main account email.
2. Get the link to your Upwork profile. It's necessary because we only pay via Upwork. You can access it by logging in, and then clicking on your name. It'll look like this. If you don't already have an account, sign up for one here.
3. Copy the format below and paste it in a comment on this issue. Replace the placeholder text with your actual details.
   
   Format:

Contributor details
Your Expensify account email: <REPLACE EMAIL HERE>
Upwork Profile Link: <REPLACE LINK HERE>

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~0182558b3d97b80b80

[melvin-bot]

Current assignee @tjferriss is eligible for the External assigner, not assigning anyone new.

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to Contributor-plus team member for initial proposal review - @mollfpr (External)

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @amyevans (External), see https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/7972 for more details.

[aidear3]

Contributor details
Your Expensify account email: javsfdev323@gmail.com
Upwork Profile Link: https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~01b7fc496875b2b3dd

[melvin-bot]

✅ Contributor details stored successfully. Thank you for contributing to Expensify!

[tjferriss]

Reproduced and added External label.

[tjferriss]

@mollfpr what do you think about @eh2077 proposal? #20111 (comment)

[mollfpr]

@tjferriss thanks for the ping! I’ll give it feedback soon!

[mollfpr]

@tjferriss @amyevans I have tested the @eh2077 and the proposal looks good to me!

🎀 👀 🎀 C+ reviewed!

[mollfpr]

Bump @tjferriss @amyevans

[amyevans]

Shouldn't the automated tests be sufficient to catch any regressions in this case, instead of introducing a manual regression test?

[mollfpr]

@amyevans Yes! I forgot about that. I guess we could skip the regression step.

[mollfpr]

Friendly bump @tjferriss

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @flaviadefaria (Bug), see https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/14418 for more details.

[melvin-bot]

Bug0 Triage Checklist (Main S/O)

• This "bug" occurs on a supported platform (ensure Platforms in OP are ✅)
• This bug is not a duplicate report (check E/App issues and #expensify-bugs)
  • If it is, comment with a link to the original report, close the issue and add any novel details to the original issue instead
• This bug is reproducible using the reproduction steps in the OP. S/O
  • If the reproduction steps are clear and you're unable to reproduce the bug, check with the reporter and QA first, then close the issue.
  • If the reproduction steps aren't clear and you determine the correct steps, please update the OP.
• This issue is filled out as thoroughly and clearly as possible
  • Pay special attention to the title, results, platforms where the bug occurs, and if the bug happens on staging/production.
• I have reviewed and subscribed to the linked Slack conversation to ensure Slack/Github stay in sync

[amyevans]

@flaviadefaria This is just due payment, if you could please handle (since TJ is OOO). Thanks!

[flaviadefaria]

@s-alves10 = $250
@mollfpr = $1000 (no bonus based on this)
@eh2077 = $1000 (no bonus based on this)

I'll send out the offers in UW.

[flaviadefaria]

@mollfpr and @eh2077 I can't find you in UW can you send me your profile name here? Thanks!

[eh2077]

Based on my calculations, the pull request did not get merged within 3 working days of assignment. Please, check out my computations here:

• when @eh2077 got assigned: 2023-06-12 17:23:34 Z
• when the PR got merged: 2023-06-15 14:24:40 UTC
• days elapsed: 3

On to the next one 🚀

@flaviadefaria Thanks for checking the payment. I think bonus should be applicable based the timeline above. It looks like Kelvin had a bug then. Can you search Eric Han for my UW profile?

[flaviadefaria]

Can you search Eric Han for my UW profile?

I did and couldn't find it, can you link it here?

[mollfpr]

https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~01de3ccafd86e0bce0

[flaviadefaria]

Offers sent, I'll add the bonus once the offer is accepted.

[mollfpr]

Accepted the offer, thank you @flaviadefaria

[eh2077]

@flaviadefaria Accepted the offer thanks!

[flaviadefaria]

Paid!

[dummy-1111]

@flaviadefaria

I wasn't paid for this issue. I'm the issue reporter

[flaviadefaria]

Oh @s-alves10 I thought I had already paid you, sorry about that! I just sent you the offer in UW!

[flaviadefaria]

I'll close this again now and will pay you as soon as you accept the offer :)

[dummy-1111]

@flaviadefaria
Offer accepted. thanks