[$250] Document reproducible steps for "Characters missing when typing message in compose box"

[mallenexpensify]

Coming from here in #expensify-open-source

Occasionally and apparently randomly, when typing in the compose box on NewDot, characters will disappear or be removed.

I've tried to document steps that can be reliably reproduced with no luck. If you're able to, post them and we'll compensate $250.

If needed, comment in here or on the linked Slack thread above.

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~01cd323eccdbb4d53d
• Upwork Job ID: 1745951741787557888
• Last Price Increase: 2024-01-19

[melvin-bot[bot]]

Current assignee @mallenexpensify is eligible for the Bug assigner, not assigning anyone new.

[melvin-bot[bot]]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~01cd323eccdbb4d53d

[melvin-bot[bot]]

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

[mallenexpensify]

@getusha I don't think your help is needed her so I've unassigned. If we need a C+ I'll add you back in.

[wildan-m]

@mallenexpensify which platform was the last time it occurred? can you forward the mentioned Slack post to #expensify-open-source ? or cite the important info here

[Ahmed-Abdella]

Hi, @mallenexpensify

I've identified the steps to replicate a bug related to keystrokes in the composer, happens when attempting to type while the composer is not focused. In the initial video, I attempted to type the word 'fight,' but it omitted the 'i' letter. This issue is not limited to a particular letter; it occurred for me with the second letter as well. It appears to be a bug associated with typing when the composer is not in focus."

1. Lose focus on the composer
2. Try typing fast and notice
3. you need to type fast

https://github.com/Expensify/App/assets/77763699/6c667944-042a-473b-8bec-217cc64a5828

Another issue related to this and I think it has the same root cause

steps to reproduce

1. Lose focus on the composer
2. write only one letter

result the letter will appear twice. and if you noticed immediately after typing the letter it appears twice for a moment then disappear and then it appears twice

https://github.com/Expensify/App/assets/77763699/1228070f-db23-4492-a5ba-37e3ceb17ac6

[wildan-m]

Here is my reproduction step. No need to type fast.

One

1. Open report, and make sure the composer is focused and the text pointer blinking
2. Press Tab, the focus will be on the emoji icon
3. Type any character e.g. P

Two

1. Open report, and make sure the composer is focused and the text pointer blinking
2. Press Tab twice, the focus will be on the arrow icon
3. Type any character e.g. P

https://github.com/Expensify/App/assets/11847279/c32e5cc1-ca89-4d9a-a3c0-7e2d7d722c50

[Ahmed-Abdella]

this is the second issue in my comment and I didn't say you have to type fast in this you don't have to press tab you just lose the focus on the composer by doing this. you did the same as my second issue

[wildan-m]

@Ahmed-Abdella you didn't specify to which component the focus should be lost, I specified using the tab key and to emoji icon or arrow icon, I think that can be considered different

[Ahmed-Abdella]

Sorry @wildan-m but it is not specific to any component it just happened when you type while the compose is not focused. emoji icon and arrow icon have nothing to do here. and they are not different.

[bernhardoj]

FYI, the double character input is being handled here

[mallenexpensify]

which platform was the last time it occurred?

I'm on Desktop, Mac app. I'm unsure if it happens on web, I'll try to use that more to test. Just did two tests on web with no luck (which isn't surprising because it's really hard for me to reproduce on desktop)

@Ahmed-Abdella , the issue you're running into is different. That's this GH issue coming from this Slack thread That's a big pet peeve of mine, especially using chat switcher.

@wildan-m the issue we're wanting repro steps here for is specially for characters not being recognized when typing in the compose box (and not just at the very beginning of a chat). I haven't encountered the bug when using emoji or tabbing while in typing.

[Ahmed-Abdella]

the issue you're running into is different. That's https://github.com/Expensify/App/issues/31286 coming from this Slack thread That's a big pet peeve of mine, especially using chat switcher.

@mallenexpensify The issue you mentioned here is not the same as mine, The keystrokes are actually recorded and typed, but there is a delay in the process.

My issue is that keystrokes are not being recorded or typed. ( characters missing ) like the issue you descriped. And this happens just when start typing while the composer is not focused. And this didn't happen in the issue you mentioned, the delay happens even the composer is focused

[mallenexpensify]

@Ahmed-Abdella can you elaborate on 'composer is not focused'?

I just had it happen... twice! One hunch I have is that it happens more frequently after waking up your computer from sleeping, especially if the lid has been closed (I'm convinced there is a difference between putting your computer to sleep and closing the lid).

[Ahmed-Abdella]

@mallenexpensify just click outside the composer, and then start typing. 'composer is not focused' means that the composer doesn't have the green border, just click outside the composer, and start typing. like my first video above

This app feature shifts the focus to the composer when typing while the composer is not focused.

[wildan-m]

Agree that the lost focus issue might be the same with https://github.com/Expensify/App/issues/33710

[melvin-bot[bot]]

📣 It's been a week! Do we have any satisfactory proposals yet? Do we need to adjust the bounty for this issue? 💸

[melvin-bot[bot]]

❌ There was an error making the offer to @getusha for the Contributor role. The BZ member will need to manually hire the contributor.

[mallenexpensify]

Thanks @Ahmed-Abdella , I didn't know I could click outside of the compose box, start typing, then have text show up in the compose box. When I tried that, I did notice that characters were missing, very often the second character (or... one of the first). Do you think this is related to characters randomly not being recognized after someone has been typing for a while (and not navigating outside of the compose box at all)?

@getusha bringing you back in for 👀 and help plz

[mallenexpensify]

Another thought/idea/consideration. I've def noticed that it sometimes takes a second for a keystroke to be recognized and appear. I wonder if the bug where characters are missing is related to characters not immediately showing up then there's some sort of 'override' where, instead of adding the missing keystroke, NewDot skips it and shows the next letter you typed.

[getusha]

This issue is probably related to the composer being unfocused, yet the green border is displayed. I am trying to reproduce it.

[mallenexpensify]

What makes me think it's NOT related to the compose box being unfocused is that the bug often happens while I'm in the middle of typing a lot of text, when I'm focused (and actively typing) in the compose box. Here's an example that just happened. I never left focus when typing this yet the sp at the end, where I typed spot don't show

Maybe something is happening in the background that's causing the glitch, what kind of events would be occuring while someone is typing in the compose box?

[Ahmed-Abdella]

I am not sure, but It can be the same root cause.

[wildan-m]

@mallenexpensify, has anyone else experienced this issue? Have you tried using another keyboard? If you're using a wireless one, there might be a delay or a hardware issue with the keyboard.

[mallenexpensify]

Not sure if linked before but @tgolen is also experiencing. Slack chat here in #expensify-bugs

I'm using the native keyboard on mac. The issue is persistent on native and the same on wireless apple keyboard. It's been happening for many weeks and it's happened 100+ times for me. The weirdest part is that the timing of when it happens is totally random to me. I can type 100 characters fine then one will get missed. Other times, like mentioned above, it'll happen near the beginning of composing a chat.

[tgolen]

Yeah, I just had this happen again last week, totally out of the blue. Mine was in the middle of a two-sentence comment. I use staging/web with an external keyboard (that is hard-wired through a docking station). It seems to happen much more rare now.

If it was a hardware or keyboard issue, I would expect the problem to show up in any application, but it only happens to NewDot, so I do not think it is hardware related.

[tgolen]

OK, I just had it happen twice for me today, and I think I figured something out. I think it's related to the chat history loading. For example, this was the flow that caused a noticeable glitch for me:

1. Access a chat you haven't opened for a while (and therefore a lot of history has to be loaded)
2. While the chat is loading, begin typing your comment
3. Once the chat finishes loading, all I had typed so far just disappeared (about a full word or two)

I suspect this can happen on a smaller scale with chats you visit frequently where something having to do with the chat loading ends up destroying some of what you've typed.

[tgolen]

Note: I cannot reliably reproduce this, even if I throttle my network to 3G speed :(

[mallenexpensify]

I've also experienced it, at least, twice today. One, I think, was at/after tapping the delete key. What I find interesting is it semi-frequently happens after I've typed a couple sentences, 100+ character. After the initial load of a chat, are we periodically fetching or checking for more data?

[mallenexpensify]

I was able to capture the bug in action. In the vid, I typed blurps and the b was removed or not recognized.

Also, bumped the post in #expensify-open-source and shared with the room, and.... with the vid.

https://github.com/Expensify/App/assets/22508304/c5998f49-d786-489a-9481-a2675e07f557