[HOLD for payment 2023-12-12] [hold for payment 2023-11-16] [$500] Chat - Skeleton placeholder flickers when opening chat with IOU in offline mode

[izarutskaya]

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Issue found when executing: PR #29643

Version Number: v1.3.92-0
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:

Precondition:

• There must be a user with existing unpaid IOU.
• Log out and log in again and do not open the chat report with the user that has existing IOU.

1. Go offline.
2. Go to + > Request money > Manual.
3. Request money from the user in the precondition.
4. If there is no flickering, click on the IOU preview to open IOU report.

Expected Result:

Skeleton placeholder should not flicker.

Actual Result:

Skeleton placeholder flickers.

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

Android: Native

Bug6253007_1698395284540.Screen_Recording_20231027_094427_New_Expensify.mp4

Android: mWeb Chrome

iOS: Native

iOS: mWeb Safari

MacOS: Chrome / Safari

MacOS: Desktop

View all open jobs on GitHub

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~01caf37bfdd026bf43
• Upwork Job ID: 1717876350080266240
• Last Price Increase: 2023-10-27
• Automatic offers:
• getusha | Reviewer | 27461954
• paultsimura | Contributor | 27461958

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @joekaufmanexpensify (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

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~01caf37bfdd026bf43

[melvin-bot]

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

[paultsimura]

Proposal

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

Chat: the top skeleton loader flickers when offline

What is the root cause of that problem?

The root cause is that we run into an infinite loop of Report.getOlderActions API calls here:

App/src/pages/home/report/ReportActionsView.js

Lines 151 to 165 in 7e06bd7

	const loadOlderChats = () => {
	// Only fetch more if we are not already fetching so that we don't initiate duplicate requests.
	if (props.isLoadingOlderReportActions) {
	return;
	}
	const oldestReportAction = _.last(props.reportActions);
	// Don't load more chats if we're already at the beginning of the chat history
	if (oldestReportAction.actionName === CONST.REPORT.ACTIONS.TYPE.CREATED) {
	return;
	}
	// Retrieve the next REPORT.ACTIONS.LIMIT sized page of comments
	Report.getOlderActions(reportID, oldestReportAction.reportActionID);
	};

When the reproduction steps are met, the API call responds with the following error:

{
    "code": 666,
    "jsonCode": 666,
    "message": "No report actions returned in Auth response"
}

This leads to the isLoadingOlderReportActions being set to true as a failure data, and the Report.getOlderActions being triggered again, which results in a loop.

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

First, add the following variable:

    const isFetchedTillBeginning = useMemo(
        () => _.last(props.reportActions).actionName === CONST.REPORT.ACTIONS.TYPE.CREATED,
        [props.reportActions]
    );

Second, we should make the actual API call only if we are online:

    const loadOlderChats = () => {
        // Only fetch more if we are not already fetching so that we don't initiate duplicate requests.
-        if (props.isLoadingOlderReportActions) {
+        if (isOffline || props.isLoadingOlderReportActions) {
            return;
        }

        // Don't load more chats if we're already at the beginning of the chat history
-        const oldestReportAction = _.last(props.reportActions);
-        if (oldestReportAction.actionName === CONST.REPORT.ACTIONS.TYPE.CREATED) {
+        if (isFetchedTillBeginning) {
            return;
        }
        // Retrieve the next REPORT.ACTIONS.LIMIT sized page of comments
+        const oldestReportAction = _.last(props.reportActions);
        Report.getOlderActions(reportID, oldestReportAction.reportActionID);
    };

Third, show the loader if either the actions are being loaded via API, or we are offline and should load the actions:

    return (
        <>
            <ReportActionsList
                report={props.report}
                onLayout={recordTimeToMeasureItemLayout}
                sortedReportActions={props.reportActions}
                mostRecentIOUReportActionID={mostRecentIOUReportActionID}
                loadOlderChats={loadOlderChats}
                loadNewerChats={loadNewerChats}
                isLoadingInitialReportActions={props.isLoadingInitialReportActions}
-                isLoadingOlderReportActions={props.isLoadingOlderReportActions}
+                isLoadingOlderReportActions={props.isLoadingOlderReportActions || isOffline && !isFetchedTillBeginning}
                isLoadingNewerReportActions={props.isLoadingNewerReportActions}
                policy={props.policy}
            />
            <PopoverReactionList ref={reactionListRef} />
        </>
    );

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

[getusha]

@paultsimura do you have any explanation on why this issue is not happening on web but only on native?

[paultsimura]

@getusha this happens on the Web as well, it's just more difficult to catch: loadOlderChats is called on InvertedFlatList.onEndReached:

App/src/pages/home/report/ReportActionsList.js

Line 417 in c9f0620

onEndReached={loadOlderChats}

You need to make the screen on the web really short, so the onEndReached is triggered, and you'll see both the flickering and the loop in Network tab:

Screen.Recording.2023-10-27.at.17.17.09.mov

Also, I've updated my proposal with some extra details.

[getusha]

Thanks @paultsimura! tried applying your solution seems like i have an outdated branch, could you please your branch so i can test it?

[paultsimura]

@getusha here it is: https://github.com/paultsimura/Expensify/tree/fix/30503-report-skeleton

[getusha]

Proposal from @paultsimura works well and looks good to me.
🎀 👀 🎀 C+ Reviewed

[melvin-bot]

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

[joekaufmanexpensify]

Pending internal engineering sign off

[paultsimura]

I've recently seen a PR pending a review from @aldo-expensify for a month already. Just wanted to confirm he's not OOO at the moment

[aldo-expensify]

I was OOO for 3 weeks, but I just came back today. I'm catching up with pending stuff, I'll try to review the PR today

[joekaufmanexpensify]

TY!

[paultsimura]

Thank you @aldo-expensify, would appreciate if you could give a look on this issue as well — it's waiting for your assignment 🙏🏼

[aldo-expensify]

Thanks for pinging me again, I thought that the linked PR was all there was left to do hahaha

[melvin-bot]

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

Offer link
Upwork job

[joekaufmanexpensify]

PR is out on production. Not sure why the automation didn't work. Payment is due (assuming no regressions) on 2023-11-16

[joekaufmanexpensify]

Looks like a regression came up here, @paultsimura / @getusha could you take a look?

[joekaufmanexpensify]

Resolving regression in the above thread

[joekaufmanexpensify]

Same

[joekaufmanexpensify]

PR fixing regression is out on staging.

[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: Show top report skeleton when offline #31492

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:

• @paultsimura requires payment offer (Contributor)
• @getusha requires payment offer (Reviewer)

[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:

• [@getusha] The PR that introduced the bug has been identified. Link to the PR: Bidirectional pagination #26166
• [@getusha] 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: https://github.com/Expensify/App/pull/26166/files#r1424177004
• [@getusha] 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
• [@getusha] Determine if we should create a regression test for this bug.
• [@getusha] 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.
• [@joekaufmanexpensify] Link the GH issue for creating/updating the regression test once above steps have been agreed upon: N/A

[joekaufmanexpensify]

@getusha could you please complete the BZ checklist so we can issue payment tomorrow?

[joekaufmanexpensify]

Bumped in Slack

[getusha]

BugZero Checklist:

• The PR that introduced the bug has been identified. Link to the PR: Bidirectional pagination #26166
• 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: https://github.com/Expensify/App/pull/26166/files#r1424177004
• 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
• Determine if we should create a regression test for this bug. No, this is a minor visual issue which will not affect any user flow.
• 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.

[joekaufmanexpensify]

Great, TY! BZ checklist is complete. All set to issue payment.

[joekaufmanexpensify]

We need to make the following payments here:

• @paultsimura - $250 for PR (50% regression penalty applied). Paid via upwork.
• @getusha - $250 for C+ review (50% regression penalty applied). Paid via upwork.

[joekaufmanexpensify]

@paultsimura $250 sent and contract ended!

[joekaufmanexpensify]

@getusha $250 sent and contract ended!

[joekaufmanexpensify]

All set. TY everyone!