[HOLD for payment 2023-12-12] [$500] mWeb/Safari- Chat - Focus is in the start of the message when opening a report with a draft message

[izarutskaya]

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Issue found when executing PR: #31295

Version Number: 1.4.2-0
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
Expensify/Expensify Issue URL:
Issue reported by: Applause-Internal Team
Slack conversation: @

Action Performed:

1. Open any chat and enter a message without sending it
2. Go back to LHN and open the same chat

Expected Result:

The focus is on the end of the message so user can continue typing

Actual Result:

The focus is on the start of the message. User needs to manually move the cursor to the end to continue

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

• Android: Native
• Android: mWeb Chrome
• iOS: Native
• iOS: mWeb Safari
• MacOS: Chrome / Safari
• MacOS: Desktop

Screenshots/Videos

Bug6287152_1700658449599.RPReplay_Final1700650930.mp4

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• bernhardoj | Contributor | 27867013

[melvin-bot]

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

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~01fc3a996f2399bc80

[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

[melvin-bot]

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

[PiyushChandra17]

@izarutskaya Not reproducible on latest main

[erquhart]

Proposal

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

For mobile Safari, when a draft message is opened, the cursor is at the beginning of the message instead of the end.

What is the root cause of that problem?

The only time we don't set the initial selection is for mobile Safari if shouldAutoFocus is truthy, otherwise we always set the initial selction.

App/src/pages/home/report/ReportActionCompose/ComposerWithSuggestions/ComposerWithSuggestions.js

Lines 130 to 138 in f1e085b

	const shouldAutoFocus = !modal.isVisible && (shouldFocusInputOnScreenFocus || (isEmptyChat && !ReportActionsUtils.isTransactionThread(parentAction))) && shouldShowComposeInput;
	const valueRef = useRef(value);
	valueRef.current = value;
	const [selection, setSelection] = useState(() => ({
	start: isMobileSafari && !shouldAutoFocus ? 0 : value.length,
	end: isMobileSafari && !shouldAutoFocus ? 0 : value.length,
	}));

But we're not using shouldAutoFocus to set focus, we're intentionally setting it to false for mobile:

App/src/pages/home/report/ReportActionCompose/ComposerWithSuggestions/ComposerWithSuggestions.js

Lines 58 to 60 in f1e085b

	// We want consistent auto focus behavior on input between native and mWeb so we have some auto focus management code that will
	// prevent auto focus on existing chat for mobile device
	const shouldFocusInputOnScreenFocus = canFocusInputOnScreenFocus();

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

Remove the conditionals from the initial selection state - we should always set it. It won't have impact if the the composer isn't focused, so any dependency between autofocus logic and initial selection state is just added complexity.

const [selection, setSelection] = useState({ start: value.length, end: value.length })

[bernhardoj]

Proposal

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

If we have a composer draft in a chat with existing messages and reopen that chat, the composer will auto-focus and put the cursor at the front of the input text.

What is the root cause of that problem?

When we open a chat with existing messages on a mobile screen, the autofocus shouldn't work (it fails on isEmptyChat).

App/src/pages/home/report/ReportActionCompose/ComposerWithSuggestions/ComposerWithSuggestions.js

Line 130 in 704f3f7

const shouldAutoFocus = !modal.isVisible && (shouldFocusInputOnScreenFocus || (isEmptyChat && !ReportActionsUtils.isTransactionThread(parentAction))) && shouldShowComposeInput;

And if autofocus is false, we will set the input selection to 0, only on Safari.

App/src/pages/home/report/ReportActionCompose/ComposerWithSuggestions/ComposerWithSuggestions.js

Lines 135 to 138 in 704f3f7

	const [selection, setSelection] = useState(() => ({
	start: isMobileSafari && !shouldAutoFocus ? 0 : value.length,
	end: isMobileSafari && !shouldAutoFocus ? 0 : value.length,
	}));

It is added in this PR #19293 to fix #15105.

The reason we want to set it to 0 if autofocus is false is because if we set it to > 0, the input will be autofocused regardless of the autofocus attribute and we want to avoid that.

The selection here is 0 and we pass it to Composer, but somehow the composer is still autofocused and it is because, in the Composer component, we have a selection state that has an initial value of the draft length.

App/src/components/Composer/index.js

Lines 176 to 179 in 704f3f7

	const [selection, setSelection] = useState({
	start: initialValue.length,
	end: initialValue.length,
	});

Thus, the composer is autofocused. Then, we have a useEffect that will update the selection state if selection prop is changed.

App/src/components/Composer/index.js

Lines 193 to 200 in 704f3f7

	useEffect(() => {
	setSelection((prevSelection) => {
	if (!!prevSelection && selectionProp.start === prevSelection.start && selectionProp.end === prevSelection.end) {
	return;
	}
	return selectionProp;
	});
	}, [selectionProp]);

In our case, the selection props is 0.

There is also another code that caused the unwanted autofocus.

App/src/pages/home/report/ReportActionCompose/ComposerWithSuggestions/ComposerWithSuggestions.js

Lines 511 to 513 in 704f3f7

	useEffect(() => {
	// Scrolls the composer to the bottom and sets the selection to the end, so that longer drafts are easier to edit
	updateMultilineInputRange(textInputRef.current, shouldAutoFocus);

The code above will (run on mount) set the selection to the end of the composer and scroll the composer to the bottom. This means we have 2 selection logic, 1 with the fix of #15105 (with a state), and 1 without the fix (with a native method).

That's why the composer is always autofocused and the selection is at the start of the text.

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

First, we should move the mWeb Safari fix to updateMultilineInputRange. In updateMultilineInputRange, we already pass shouldAutoFocus, so we can use the same logic as in ComposerWithSuggestion, that is don't set the selection if it's an mWeb Safari and the autofocus is false.

const shouldSetSelection = !(Browser.isMobileSafari() && !shouldAutoFocus);
if (shouldSetSelection) {
    input.setSelectionRange(length, length);
}

Now, update the selection initial value in ComposerWithSuggestion to 0.

const [selection, setSelection] = useState(() => ({start: 0, end: 0}));

Next, initialize the selection state in Composer based on the selection prop.

const [selection, setSelection] = useState({
    start: selectionProp.start,
    end: selectionProp.end,
});

This will make sure the input won't be autofocused when it shouldn't (the real issue) on mWeb Safari but the input is still scrolled to the bottom.

[conorpendergrast]

I have reproduced on iOS, in Safari 👍

[melvin-bot]

@conorpendergrast, @burczu Uh oh! This issue is overdue by 2 days. Don't forget to update your issues!

[burczu]

Not overdue, I'll be reviewing this issue soon.

[burczu]

First of all, I've checked how this works on Android mWeb and it does not focus the input when we get back to the chat that is in edit mode, so I think this is the expected behaviour of this issue (not putting the cursor at the end, just not focusing the input at all).

That being said, the solution from @bernhardoj solves the issue this way and make the app on iOS and Android mWeb working consistently, so I believe we should proceed with it.

The solution from @erquhart indeed moves the cursor at the end, but only on iOS and does not change the behaviour on Android so the outcome is inconsistent on both devices.

🎀 👀 🎀 C+ reviewed

[melvin-bot]

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

[dangrous]

This sounds good to me! That conditional (!(Browser.isMobileSafari() && !shouldAutoFocus);)is a bit confusing to parse through so please add a comment there. Will assign you now!

[melvin-bot]

📣 @bernhardoj 🎉 An offer has been automatically sent to your Upwork account for the Contributor role 🎉 Thanks for contributing to the Expensify app!

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[bernhardoj]

PR is ready

cc: @burczu

[melvin-bot]

Reviewing label has been removed, please complete the "BugZero Checklist".

[melvin-bot]

The solution for this issue has been 🚀 deployed to production 🚀 in version 1.4.7-4 and is now subject to a 7-day regression period 📆. Here is the list of pull requests that resolve this issue:

• Fix composer in mWeb safari is always auto focused #32168

If no regressions arise, payment will be issued on 2023-12-12. 🎊

After the hold period is over and BZ checklist items are completed, please complete any of the applicable payments for this issue, and check them off once done.

• External issue reporter
• Contributor that fixed the issue
• Contributor+ that helped on the issue and/or PR

For reference, here are some details about the assignees on this issue:

• @burczu does not require payment (Contractor)
• @bernhardoj requires payment offer (Contributor)

[melvin-bot]

BugZero Checklist: The PR fixing this issue has been merged! The following checklist (instructions) will need to be completed before the issue can be closed:

• [@burczu] The PR that introduced the bug has been identified. Link to the PR:
• [@burczu] The offending PR has been commented on, pointing out the bug it caused and why, so the author and reviewers can learn from the mistake. Link to comment:
• [@burczu] A discussion in #expensify-bugs has been started about whether any other steps should be taken (e.g. updating the PR review checklist) in order to catch this type of bug sooner. Link to discussion:
• [@burczu] Determine if we should create a regression test for this bug.
• [@burczu] If we decide to create a regression test for the bug, please propose the regression test steps to ensure the same bug will not reach production again.
• [@conorpendergrast] Link the GH issue for creating/updating the regression test once above steps have been agreed upon:

[burczu]

BugZero Checklist: The PR fixing this issue has been merged! The following checklist (instructions) will need to be completed before the issue can be closed:

• [@burczu] The PR that introduced the bug has been identified. Link to the PR:

#21371

• [@burczu] The offending PR has been commented on, pointing out the bug it caused and why, so the author and reviewers can learn from the mistake. Link to comment:

#21371 (comment)

• [@burczu] A discussion in #expensify-bugs has been started about whether any other steps should be taken (e.g. updating the PR review checklist) in order to catch this type of bug sooner. Link to discussion:

n/a

• [@burczu] Determine if we should create a regression test for this bug.

I'm not sure about regression test here - it didn't block the App from being usable, it was just a small inconvenience only in one of the environments we support.

• [@burczu] If we decide to create a regression test for the bug, please propose the regression test steps to ensure the same bug will not reach production again.
• [@conorpendergrast] Link the GH issue for creating/updating the regression test once above steps have been agreed upon:

[conorpendergrast]

@burczu This was a bug identified by Applause, so we likely don't need a new regression test. Thanks!

[conorpendergrast]

Payouts due:

• Contributor: $500 @bernhardoj - contract

Upwork job is here.

[conorpendergrast]

All done, thanks everyone