[$250] Reports - Violation is not visible on preview on "Reports" if expenses are held offline.

[nlemma]

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Version Number: 9.2.72-2
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: Yes
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: #74541
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): ibellicotest+2154@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Device used: Motorola MotoG60 / Android 12 / Chrome ( mWeb / Hybrid app) - Windows 11 / Chrome
App Component: Search

Action Performed:

Prerequisite: Account has at least one workspace.

1. Open the Expensify app.
2. Navigate to “Reports” > “Reports” (so page is already loaded for next steps)
3. Open any workspace chat.
4. Create two manual expenses.
5. Turn off internet connection.
6. Open the report of the just created expenses.
7. Long tap and select both expenses.
8. Tap on the dropdown menu and select "Hold"
9. Enter any reason and hold the expenses.
10. Note that a "This expense was put on hold" message appears on both previews.
11. Navigate to "Reports" > "Reports"
12. Note that report preview doesn´t show any violation.
13. Turn on internet connection.
14. Note that violation is still not visible.
15. Open report and return.
16. Note that violation is still not visible.
17. Navigate to "Inbox" and return to "Reports".
18. Note that violation is now displayed on report preview.

Expected Result:

When expenses are held while in offline mode, violation should be automatically visible on expenses preview on chat and also on "Reports".

Actual Result:

When expenses are held while in offline mode, violation is not visible on report preview on "Reports". Violation is still not visible when user returns to online mode. User has to navigate to "Inbox" and return to "Reports" to make the violation appear on report preview.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

• Android: App
• Android: mWeb Chrome
• iOS: App
• iOS: mWeb Safari
• iOS: mWeb Chrome
• Windows: Chrome
• MacOS: Chrome / Safari
• MacOS: Desktop

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7021139_1764889562673.V.mp4

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• cretadn22 | Contributor | 110014406

Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @mallenexpensify

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @mallenexpensify (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.

[ashu75575]

Proposal

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

When expenses are put on hold while in offline mode from a workspace chat, the violation indicator doesn't appear on the report preview in the "Reports" page. The violation remains hidden even after reconnecting to the internet. Users must navigate to "Inbox" and back to "Reports" for the violation to finally appear.

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What is the root cause of that problem?

The Reports page displays data from a cached search snapshot stored in Onyx. When we hold expenses, there are two different code paths:

1. General search flow - Uses holdMoneyRequestOnSearch() which properly updates the search snapshot
2. Workspace chat flow - Uses putTransactionsOnHold() which does NOT update the search snapshot

The bug occurs in the workspace chat flow:

When holding expenses from a workspace chat (route: SCREENS.SEARCH.MONEY_REQUEST_REPORT_HOLD_TRANSACTIONS), the code calls putTransactionsOnHold():

// SearchHoldReasonPage.tsx - Line ~27
if (route.name === SCREENS.SEARCH.MONEY_REQUEST_REPORT_HOLD_TRANSACTIONS) {
    putTransactionsOnHold(context.selectedTransactionIDs, comment, reportID);
    context.clearSelectedTransactions(true);
}

This function updates the transaction violations in Onyx, but doesn't update the search snapshot. The Reports page continues reading from the stale snapshot cache, so the violation never appears until something else triggers a refresh (like navigating to Inbox).

---

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

Solution: Use holdMoneyRequestOnSearch() for both flows, since both routes are in the search context and need the snapshot updated.

Change in SearchHoldReasonPage.tsx (around line 27):

Before:

const onSubmit = useCallback(
    ({comment}: FormOnyxValues<typeof ONYXKEYS.FORMS.MONEY_REQUEST_HOLD_FORM>) => {
        if (route.name === SCREENS.SEARCH.MONEY_REQUEST_REPORT_HOLD_TRANSACTIONS) {
            putTransactionsOnHold(context.selectedTransactionIDs, comment, reportID);
            context.clearSelectedTransactions(true);
        } else {
            holdMoneyRequestOnSearch(context.currentSearchHash, Object.keys(context.selectedTransactions), comment, allTransactions, allReportActions);
            context.clearSelectedTransactions();
        }

        Navigation.goBack();
    },
    [route.name, context, reportID, allTransactions, allReportActions],
);

After:

const onSubmit = useCallback(
    ({comment}: FormOnyxValues<typeof ONYXKEYS.FORMS.MONEY_REQUEST_HOLD_FORM>) => {
        // Use holdMoneyRequestOnSearch for both flows to ensure snapshot is updated
        holdMoneyRequestOnSearch(
            context.currentSearchHash,
            route.name === SCREENS.SEARCH.MONEY_REQUEST_REPORT_HOLD_TRANSACTIONS 
                ? context.selectedTransactionIDs 
                : Object.keys(context.selectedTransactions),
            comment,
            allTransactions,
            allReportActions
        );
        context.clearSelectedTransactions(route.name === SCREENS.SEARCH.MONEY_REQUEST_REPORT_HOLD_TRANSACTIONS);

        Navigation.goBack();
    },
    [route.name, context, allTransactions, allReportActions],
);

Additional change in libs/actions/Search.ts - holdMoneyRequestOnSearch() function:

Currently, holdMoneyRequestOnSearch() only updates the child action count but doesn't add optimistic violation updates. We need to add the violation to show the UI changes immediately while offline:

function holdMoneyRequestOnSearch(hash: number, transactionIDList: string[], comment: string, allTransactions: OnyxCollection<Transaction>, allReportActions: OnyxCollection<ReportActions>) {
    const {optimisticData, finallyData} = getOnyxLoadingData(hash);
    
    transactionIDList.forEach((transactionID) => {
        const transaction = allTransactions?.[`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.TRANSACTION}${transactionID}`];
        const reportActions = allReportActions?.[`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT_ACTIONS}${transaction?.reportID}`] ?? {};
        const iouReportAction = getIOUActionForTransactionID(Object.values(reportActions ?? {}), transactionID);
        
        if (iouReportAction) {
            optimisticData.push({
                key: `${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.REPORT_ACTIONS}${transaction?.reportID}`,
                onyxMethod: Onyx.METHOD.MERGE,
                value: {
                    [iouReportAction.reportActionID]: {
                        childVisibleActionCount: (iouReportAction?.childVisibleActionCount ?? 0) + 1,
                    },
                },
            });
        }

        // Add optimistic violation update for immediate UI feedback
        const transactionViolations = allTransactionViolations[`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.TRANSACTION_VIOLATIONS}${transactionID}`] ?? [];
        const newViolation = {name: CONST.VIOLATIONS.HOLD, type: CONST.VIOLATION_TYPES.VIOLATION, showInReview: true};
        const updatedViolations = [...transactionViolations, newViolation];
        
        optimisticData.push({
            onyxMethod: Onyx.METHOD.MERGE,
            key: `${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.TRANSACTION_VIOLATIONS}${transactionID}`,
            value: updatedViolations,
        });

        // Add pending action for grayed-out UI
        optimisticData.push({
            onyxMethod: Onyx.METHOD.MERGE,
            key: `${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.TRANSACTION}${transactionID}`,
            value: {
                pendingAction: CONST.RED_BRICK_ROAD_PENDING_ACTION.UPDATE,
            },
        });

        // Update snapshot to show violation in Reports page
        optimisticData.push({
            onyxMethod: Onyx.METHOD.MERGE,
            key: `${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.SNAPSHOT}${hash}`,
            value: {
                data: {
                    [`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.TRANSACTION_VIOLATIONS}${transactionID}`]: updatedViolations,
                },
            },
        } as OnyxUpdate);
    });

    API.write(WRITE_COMMANDS.HOLD_MONEY_REQUEST_ON_SEARCH, {hash, transactionIDList, comment}, {optimisticData, finallyData});
}

Note: You'll need to ensure allTransactionViolations is accessible in this function (either passed as a parameter or imported).

---

What alternative solutions did you explore?

N/A

[imadirtydog]

Proposal

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

Violation is not visible on preview on "Reports" if expenses are held offline. #76816

What is the root cause of that problem?

When we hold the expense offline, the search snapshot does not get updated with the violation.

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

We could update the snapshot optimistically around here

App/src/libs/actions/IOU.ts

Line 12347 in d34df44

 if (currentSearchQueryJSON?.hash) {
        // @ts-expect-error - will be solved in https://github.com/Expensify/App/issues/73830
        optimisticData.push({
            onyxMethod: Onyx.METHOD.MERGE,
            key: `${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.SNAPSHOT}${currentSearchQueryJSON.hash}`,
            value: {
                data: {
                    [`${ONYXKEYS.COLLECTION.TRANSACTION_VIOLATIONS}${transactionID}`]: updatedViolations,
                },
            },
        });
    }

We could also apply similar logic to unholdRequest, mergeDuplicates, resolveDuplicates etc.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

It could be possible to pull in violation data straight from onyx in

App/src/components/SelectionListWithSections/Search/ExpenseReportListItem.tsx

Line 23 in d34df44

function ExpenseReportListItem<TItem extends ListItem>({

instead of relying on snapshot data for violations, but I think this would be pretty wasteful.

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[mallenexpensify]

Can't stop thinking about how 'batching' or 'bucketing' related issues could help fix them more efficiently, espec for offline-related issues (and... ones that are edge cases).
I think it might be a better approach than just closing them (or... fixing one-off too).
More soon....

[melvin-bot]

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