[$250] Attachment - I'm navigated to "about:blank" after downloading a docx attachment

[lanitochka17]

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Version Number: 9.0.62-1
Reproducible in staging?: Y
Reproducible in production?: Y
If this was caught on HybridApp, is this reproducible on New Expensify Standalone?: N/A
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from TestRail: https://expensify.testrail.io/index.php?/tests/view/5223403&group_by=cases:section_id&group_id=292107&group_order=asc
Issue reported by: Applause - Internal Team

Action Performed:

1. Navigate to https://staging.new.expensify.com/
2. Log in with a Gmail account
3. Navigate to a 1:1 DM
4. Send a docx attachment
5. Tap on the download icom
6. Tap on "Download"

Expected Result:

1:1 DM should open after downloading

Actual Result:

I'm navigated to "about:blank" after downloading a docx attachment

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

• Android: Standalone
• Android: HybridApp
• Android: mWeb Chrome
• iOS: Standalone
• iOS: HybridApp
• iOS: mWeb Safari
• MacOS: Chrome / Safari
• MacOS: Desktop

Screenshots/Videos

Add any screenshot/video evidence

Bug6665142_1731586622942.YAST9638.mp4

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• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021859608263768238021
• Upwork Job ID: 1859608263768238021
• Last Price Increase: 2024-11-21
• Automatic offers:
• Krishna2323 | Contributor | 105027213

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @hungvu193

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @CortneyOfstad (Bug), see https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/14418 for more details. Please add this bug to a GH project, as outlined in the SO.

[Krishna2323]

Proposal


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

Attachment - I'm navigated to "about:blank" after downloading a docx attachment

What is the root cause of that problem?

• The logic in asyncOpenURL opens a new window using window.open(); but that won't be closed automatically when the file is downloaded or rejected. The logic was added to resolve this issue but I don't think we need the custom logic incase of file downloads.
  

  App/src/libs/asyncOpenURL/index.website.ts

  Lines 5 to 38 in a6f1348

  	/**
  	* Prevents Safari from blocking pop-up window when opened within async call.
  	* @param shouldSkipCustomSafariLogic When true, we will use `Linking.openURL` even if the browser is Safari.
  	*/
  	const asyncOpenURL: AsyncOpenURL = (promise, url, shouldSkipCustomSafariLogic) => {
  	if (!url) {
  	return;
  	}
  	const isSafari = /^((?!chrome|android).)*safari/i.test(navigator.userAgent);
  	if (!isSafari || shouldSkipCustomSafariLogic) {
  	promise
  	.then((params) => {
  	Linking.openURL(typeof url === 'string' ? url : url(params));
  	})
  	.catch(() => {
  	Log.warn('[asyncOpenURL] error occured while opening URL', {url});
  	});
  	} else {
  	const windowRef = window.open();
  	promise
  	.then((params) => {
  	if (!windowRef) {
  	return;
  	}
  	windowRef.location = typeof url === 'string' ? url : url(params);
  	})
  	.catch(() => {
  	windowRef?.close();
  	Log.warn('[asyncOpenURL] error occured while opening URL', {url});
  	});
  	}
  	};

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


We have several options to resolve the issue..

• We can remove this condition or the web specific file if this issue or any other similar issue isn't reproducible.
• We can pass the second param shouldSkipCustomSafariLogic of openExternalLink as true.
  

  App/src/libs/fileDownload/DownloadUtils.ts

  Line 46 in a6f1348

  Link.openExternalLink(url);

  
  

  App/src/libs/fileDownload/DownloadUtils.ts

  Line 74 in a6f1348

  Link.openExternalLink(url);

• Accept a new param shouldSkipCustomSafariLogic in fetchFileDownload and pass shouldSkipCustomSafariLogic as true when downloading a file.

Note

We will thoroughly check the behaviour after implementing the solution in asyncOpenURL or fileDownload function.
We should also check all the instances where we use asyncOpenURL or openExternalLink.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Result

[melvin-bot]

@CortneyOfstad Whoops! This issue is 2 days overdue. Let's get this updated quick!

[CortneyOfstad]

Unable to login to my test accounts 🙃 I enter the magic code and the site doesn't respond in staging. Going to create a bug report.

[CortneyOfstad]

Already reported here!

[CortneyOfstad]

Testing now!

[CortneyOfstad]

Was able to recreate. The download option provides the abount:blank link, but the view option works fine, as shown below:

RecordIt-1732199985.MP4

[melvin-bot]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~021859608263768238021

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to Contributor-plus team member for initial proposal review - @hungvu193 (External)

[hungvu193]

@Krishna2323 I don't think we should remove that specific logic for Safari.
About your second and third option, Can you make sure it won't introduce CORS issue, I think this was mentioned in here:

App/src/libs/fileDownload/DownloadUtils.ts

Lines 44 to 45 in 686b8b4

	// Different origin URLs might pose a CORS issue during direct downloads.
	// Opening in a new tab avoids this limitation, letting the browser handle the download.

[Krishna2323]

@hungvu193, I don't face any CORS and if you are asking about my second solution then it will still open the download alert on new window but we will skip our custom logic for safari mWeb. The custom logic for safari was added to resolve this issue.

safari_download.mp4

[hungvu193]

Thanks @Krishna2323. Your proposal here LGTM! Let's go with your second option.

🎀 👀 🎀 C+ reviewed

[melvin-bot]

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

[melvin-bot]

📣 @Krishna2323 🎉 An offer has been automatically sent to your Upwork account for the Contributor role 🎉 Thanks for contributing to the Expensify app!

Offer link
Upwork job
Please accept the offer and leave a comment on the Github issue letting us know when we can expect a PR to be ready for review 🧑‍💻
Keep in mind: Code of Conduct | Contributing 📖

[grgia]

Assigned!

[CortneyOfstad]

@Krishna2323 any updates on finalizing the PR? Thanks!

[Krishna2323]

@CortneyOfstad, I started a thread on Slack to discuss potential solutions. The solution I proposed in my comment isn’t working for all file types, and I completely missed testing that because I assumed all types of attachments would behave in a similar manner.

[CortneyOfstad]

Thread is still being discussed on best path forward

[melvin-bot]

This issue has not been updated in over 15 days. @CortneyOfstad, @hungvu193, @grgia, @Krishna2323 eroding to Monthly issue.

P.S. Is everyone reading this sure this is really a near-term priority? Be brave: if you disagree, go ahead and close it out. If someone disagrees, they'll reopen it, and if they don't: one less thing to do!

[Krishna2323]

UPDATE: We are still discussing about the fix on slack.

[CortneyOfstad]

Hey @Krishna2323 and @hungvu193 — just a heads up that I will be OOO starting this afternoon (December 20th) and will be returning January 6th. A handful of folks on the BZ team will be online for a few days in between the 25th and the 1st, but we'll be operating with a skeleton crew. If any action is needed during that time from a BZ perspective, please post this issue in #expensify-open-source and someone on the team will jump in. Otherwise I will review when I am back in office.

Thank you!

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @dannymcclain (Design), see these Stack Overflow questions for more details.

[grgia]

We've chatted here and decided to Do Nothing for now. Big shout out to @Krishna2323 for testing and coordinating the convo, thanks!

I'm gonna go ahead and close this one out. Cheers.

[Krishna2323]

@grgia @CortneyOfstad, I believe we should be compensated the full amount because the proposal was reviewed by @hungvu193. I raised the PR, tried multiple times to find other solutions, and also presented one on Slack, all of which have taken a considerable amount of time.