[$1000] Dev: Cannot split money in DM group chat

[kbecciv]

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Action Performed:

1. Create new group chat with existing contacts
2. Click + on composer and Split bill
3. Enter amount and click Next
4. Click Split xxx button

Expected Result:

Money is split correctly

Actual Result:

hows console error

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

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

• [ ] Android / native
• [ ] Android / Chrome
• [ ] iOS / native
• [ ] iOS / Safari
• [x] MacOS / Chrome / Safari
• [ ] MacOS / Desktop

Version Number: Dev 1.3.37-6 Reproducible in staging?: n/a Reproducible in production?: n/a 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

https://github.com/Expensify/App/assets/93399543/98b81d9b-68a8-4c59-be1f-9691bdc4fa7c

Expensify/Expensify Issue URL: Issue reported by: @0xmiroslav Slack conversation: https://expensify.slack.com/archives/C049HHMV9SM/p1688715731926879

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[melvin-bot[bot]]

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

[melvin-bot[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

[chiragxarora]

PROPOSAL

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

Cannot split money in DM group chat (where there is a non logged in user)

What is the root cause of that problem?

Root cause of the issue is in IOU.js, createSplitsAndOnyxData method where it fails at the line

https://github.com/Expensify/App/blob/58f663a2ff05bd06be3dd9a438cad8ad86d3ac68/src/libs/actions/IOU.js#L465-L465

It does so because if the group has a member who is not an actual logged in user, his login field is undefined which causes the failure of the arrayToString method since it does not expect an undefined. As a result we fail to get formatted participants list which we use in the system message in the chat report after splitting the bill

Upon further investigation, I found the main root cause to be the optimistic data being used when we split bill from FAB, and while splitting the bill from chat report, we are using the data stored in onyx.

See for the same account, we have different data upon spliting bill from different places

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

Simple fix:

We can get their login field from some other key, and for this we already have alternateText that we can use. Or can use accountID to fetch it via PersonalDetailsUtils's method getPersonalDetailsByIDs

Otherwise, expected behavior considering all the cases should be known, then we can decide how to approach this

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

we can also restrict split bill functionality for the logged in users only

[isabelastisser]

I'm unable to reproduce this.

[0xmiros]

@isabelastisser please check slack link. This bug is being actively researched on.

[melvin-bot[bot]]

Job added to Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~011a656ab6a105b57b

[melvin-bot[bot]]

Current assignee @isabelastisser is eligible for the External assigner, not assigning anyone new.

[melvin-bot[bot]]

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

[fedirjh]

I was not able to reproduce this issue.

[chiragxarora]

Refer the slack thread @fedirjh

[isabelastisser]

Discussing the next steps in Slack.

[isabelastisser]

We can't reproduce this. @chiragxarora, if you can help with reproducible steps (as per Carlo's suggestion in the Slack discussion), please follow up on this issue.

I am closing this for now.

[0xmiros]

@isabelastisser please create new group with any random users (mix of existing contacts and non-existing contacts)

[0xmiros]

Also test with new account

[kbecciv]

Slack conversation: https://expensify.slack.com/archives/C049HHMV9SM/p1690404444868009 Posting a clear reproduction steps:

1. Create a group with 2 unknown users
2. Create Split bill in this group

https://github.com/Expensify/App/assets/93399543/9478c33e-3c48-45f8-a2e0-a58503a5024c

[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]]

@isabelastisser @fedirjh this issue is now 3 weeks old. There is one more week left before this issue breaks WAQ and will need to go internal. What needs to happen to get a PR in review this week? Please create a thread in #expensify-open-source to discuss. Thanks!

[fedirjh]

Awaiting on proposals.

[isabelastisser]

Still waiting for proposals.

[StevenKKC]

Proposal

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

Cannot split money in DM group chat.

What is the root cause of that problem?

The root cause is that new user does not have login field. This is expected if another user has never interaction with you and is the purpose of login => accountID migration.

After create a group chat with new users, BE responds personalDetailsList as below.

If split money success, BE responds as below.

In MoneyRequestConfirmPage page, participants will be retrieved as below. https://github.com/Expensify/App/blob/89dfb7788ed3a533da5d5e2c9e55335028570d82/src/pages/iou/steps/MoneyRequestConfirmPage.js#L71 https://github.com/Expensify/App/blob/89dfb7788ed3a533da5d5e2c9e55335028570d82/src/libs/OptionsListUtils.js#L207-L234 So the login field of participants is set to undefined.

In these line, because login field is undefined, so the console error will be shown, and cannot split money. https://github.com/Expensify/App/blob/89dfb7788ed3a533da5d5e2c9e55335028570d82/src/libs/actions/IOU.js#L452 https://github.com/Expensify/App/blob/89dfb7788ed3a533da5d5e2c9e55335028570d82/src/libs/actions/IOU.js#L574

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

We can set login field of participants as below, because displayName of new user is just email address. After split money success, the login of new user will be set correctly.

• Pass reportID to PopoverReactionList in this line.

  
  return {
      keyForList: String(detail.accountID),

• login,
• login: login || displayName, ... };

  
  ### What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)
  None.

Result

ice_video_20230801-064755.webm

[StevenKKC]

After create a group chat with new users, duplicated contacts is stored in Onyx. This will be fixed in https://github.com/Expensify/App/issues/21706

[isabelastisser]

@fedirjh it seems like we only have one proposal above, can you please review it and let me know if we should move forward with that? Thanks!

[fedirjh]

@chiragxarora @StevenKKC The root cause needs further investigation. The participants are generated optimistically, so we should have the required data for making the split request. The issue doesn’t seem to be reproducible in offline mode, so I think the problem is in the backend.

Upon further investigation, I found the main root cause to be the optimistic data being used when we split bill from FAB, and while splitting the bill from chat report, we are using the data stored in onyx.

@chiragxarora Can you please elaborate more?

---

As for the solution, I think both solutions are not valid, for some logins we don't have any data about the emails, alternateText or displayName will not always hold the email, it will hold the display name and fallback to email: here is an example, second email is a valid account with display name:

---

Finally, I think a backend changes may be required to fix this case. I found that we still use emails in the SplitBill command, and that maybe was missed during the accountID refactor ? cc @puneetlath @Beamanator

https://github.com/Expensify/App/blob/92117c52af956e7f45c4374dbf69d06632af7601/src/libs/actions/IOU.js#L670

[isabelastisser]

We don't have a proposal yet.

[puneetlath]

I think this can probably be closed as a dupe of https://github.com/Expensify/App/issues/21268

[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? 💸

[fedirjh]

@isabelastisser Seems it will be covered in https://github.com/Expensify/App/issues/21268. Let's hold / close ?

[melvin-bot[bot]]

@isabelastisser @fedirjh this issue is now 4 weeks old and preventing us from maintaining WAQ, can you:

• Decide whether any proposals currently meet our guidelines and can be approved as-is today
• If no proposals meet that standard, please take this issue internal and treat it as one of your highest priorities
• If you have any questions, don't hesitate to start a discussion in #expensify-open-source

Thanks!

[melvin-bot[bot]]

Current assignee @fedirjh is eligible for the Internal assigner, not assigning anyone new.

[isabelastisser]

Based on the comments below, I will close this.

https://github.com/Expensify/App/issues/22440#issuecomment-1664673279

https://github.com/Expensify/App/issues/22440#issuecomment-1665866448

[isabelastisser]

Payment summary:

Issue reported by: @0xmiroslav $250

I will process the payment in Upwork now.

[0xmiros]

@isabelastisser can you please hold my payment until further notice? I am working on some stuff due to recent measurements in my region. Thanks

[0xmiros]

@isabelastisser sorry for inconvenience. I am now ready for payment as discussed in email.

[isabelastisser]

@0xmiroslav I resent the offer in Upwork now, please accept it and I will process the payment. Thanks!

[0xmiros]

@isabelastisser sorry if you haven't checked email, can you please check https://expensify.slack.com/archives/C01SKUP7QR0/p1692226249296529?thread_ts=1691559426.466079&cid=C01SKUP7QR0?

[isabelastisser]

Hey @0xmiroslav, thanks for the heads up! I reviewed the discussion now and re-sent the proposal to Volodymyr L.

All set.