[HOLD for payment 2023-07-26] [$1000] Web - Chat - Inconsistent behaviour while entering emails in chat

[kbecciv]

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Action Performed:

1. Login to ND
2. Click on any chat
3. Send test+1@gmail.com@gmail.com
4. Send test@gmail.com@gmail.com

Expected Result:

The formatting in first message is similar to the 2nd message or vice versa

Actual Result:

Behaviour is inconsistent

Workaround:

Unknown

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?: yes

Reproducible in production?: yes

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

Recording.2949.mp4

Expensify/Expensify Issue URL:

Issue reported by: @aman-atg

Slack conversation: https://expensify.slack.com/archives/C049HHMV9SM/p1684776832487869

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[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @alexpensify (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

[alexpensify]

I'll test soon

[tienifr]

Proposal

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

When sending emails in chat, it may display inconsistently as a mention or as an email.

What is the root cause of that problem?

Let's look at the replace rules from ExpensiMark.js in the expensify-common package.

The current replace logic is prioritizing replacing userMentions to autoEmail. While both test@gmail.com@gmail.com and test+1@gmail.com@gmail.com match the userMentions rule, only the latter is considered valid by the isValidMention() function since it starts with @. The invalid one (starting with a character t) is then replaced with the autoEmail rule.

Because of this, test@gmail.com@gmail.com is being rendered with email link, and test+1@gmail.com@gmail.com is being rendered with mention.

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

IMO, we should display the texts as emails instead of mentions. It can be achieved by moving the autoEmail rule to before the userMentions and hereMentions rule. This ensures that the email will always be replaced first, then if no email matches then it should be replaced with mentions.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Alternatively, we could prioritize rendering the texts as mentions by changing the userMentions rule. Something like this would work

            {
                name: 'userMentions',
                regex: new RegExp(`([\`.a-zA-Z])?(@+${CONST.REG_EXP.EMAIL_PART})(?![^<]*(<\\/pre>|<\\/code>|<\\/a>))`, 'gm'),
                replacement: (match, g1, g2) => {
                    if (!Str.isValidMention(g2)) {
                        return match;
                    }
                    return `${g1 || ''}<mention-user>${g2}</mention-user>`;
                },
            },

Another way is that although I'm not aware of the context of why it should be there, we could remove the [\'.a-zA-Z]? part from the mention pattern so that it can match all texts that start with @ and follow by an email address.

Result

Working well after the fixes

Rendered as email

Screen.Recording.2023-06-03.at.15.59.08.mov

Rendered as mention

Screen.Recording.2023-06-03.at.16.13.05.1.mov

[alexpensify]

I'll test tomorrow

[alexpensify]

@kbecciv - could you please double-check if this is happening on other platforms?

I tested in Chrome like the GH suggested:

I noticed that the issue happens in MacOS/Desktop too:

Thanks!

[alexpensify]

@kbecciv any news here? Thank you!

[melvin-bot]

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