Bugfix Issue 631 Workframe Target Stray Tabs

Bugfix — Issue #631: Dashio shell has no workframe frame — legacy target="workframe" links/forms open stray tabs

Date: 2026-08-28 · Branch: fix/issue-631 · Commit: (see issue #631 Fixes PR)

Summary

Modernized screens run inside the single-content-pane Dashio shell, but legacy screens loaded in the mainframe still carry classic two-pane navigation markers: links and forms with target="workframe", and JavaScript that writes to parent.workframe.location. The Dashio shell registers no frame named workframe/treeframe, so browsers open these navigations in new browser tabs instead of the content pane, and legacy JS threw a TypeError dereferencing the missing frame. A shell-level shim now retargets those navigations onto the mainframe while leaving the classic layout untouched.

Symptom

• Login → open any legacy report screen (e.g. lib/results/resultsNavigator.php?format=0&tproject_id=1&tplan_id=6) in the Dashio mainframe.
• Click any report link (first anchor carries target="workframe", href lib/results/resultsGeneral.php?...).
• Bug: the report opens in a NEW browser tab; the mainframe still shows the navigator.
• Console: Uncaught TypeError: Cannot set properties of undefined (setting 'location') from resultsNavigator.tpl:86.

Root Cause

• The classic layout builds a nested frameset via lib/general/frmWorkArea.php → gui/templates/dashio/frmInner.tpl which declares real <frame name="treeframe"> and <frame name="workframe"> (frmInner.tpl:26-27).
• The modernized shell gui/templates/dashio/main.tpl only declares titlebar, asidebar, mainframe.
• Per the HTML spec a target="_top"/named target resolves through named browsing contexts; a target naming a non-existent frame makes the browser open a new top-level window/tab.
• Affected code paths (verified by grep):
  • target="workframe" links: resultsNavigator.tpl:72, reqSpecSearchForm.tpl:25, requirements/reqSearchForm.tpl:30, testcases/tcSearchForm.tpl:25, search/searchForm.tpl:25, searchForm.tpl:24
  • parent.workframe JS: resultsNavigator.tpl:15-16,20,86, plan/planTCNavigator.tpl:65,77,100, plan/planAddTCNavigator.tpl:83, include/inc_filter_panel_js.tpl:111,125
• Why now: the Dashio shell is the modern layout; nothing re-mapped the legacy workframe/treeframe target onto the single mainframe content pane.

Fix

Two layers, both minimal:

1. Shell shim gui/javascript/frameTargetShim.js (new)

Loaded once in main.tpl before </body> ({$basehref}gui/javascript/frameTargetShim.js). It binds capture-phase click and submit listeners into the mainframe's content document — on load and on every subsequent mainframe load event — and dedupes the binding per Document (__tlFrameShimBound on the document, precisely so a fresh document after navigation is re-bound; a Window-scoped marker would wrongly persist across navigations).

For each candidate a[target] / form[target] the shim resolves whether a named browsing context with that name actually exists anywhere up the ancestor chain (hasNamedBrowsingContext(name, docWin) — walks each window's name and frames[name], treating cross-origin as exists so the shim never intercepts then). Only when NO such frame exists:

• workframe/treeframe target → the target attribute is removed.
• The browser's default action then navigates the document that owns the element — the mainframe, the single content pane.

When a real frame matches (the classic frmWorkArea/frmInner.tpl layout), the attribute is left alone and native frame resolution is preserved unchanged.

Why removeAttribute instead of rewriting the target? Dropping the attribute makes the navigation land in the element's own browsing context (the mainframe) with zero page-rewriting logic; rewriting to mainframe would break when the same template is served inside the classic nested layout. Only links/forms whose target names a truly-missing frame are touched.

Safety rails: ignores default-prevented events and click chords (ctrl/alt/shift/meta, non-left buttons); only workframe/treeframe are candidates; CSRF guard is unaffected (TestLink's server-side csrfguard_replace_forms only injects hidden inputs inside forms — untouched by attribute removal).

2. resultsNavigator.tpl hardening

• reportPrint() and pre_submit() now guard parent["workframe"] / parent.workframe with a null-check; in the flat shell the print becomes a no-op and called_url falls back to window.location.href instead of throwing.
• The initial-load parent.workframe.location='{$gui->workframe}' block is wrapped in if (parent && parent.workframe).

Approach — alternatives considered and rejected

1. Patch every template's target — huge blast radius across ~9 templates plus generated JS; would break classic layout which still legitimately uses the frames. Rejected.
2. Register a real workframe frame in the shell — would reintroduce a hidden second pane in an intentionally single-pane shell; layout and iframe weight for nothing. Rejected.
3. Shell-document-only listeners — empirically, browser click events do not cross the frame boundary, so a pure parent-document listener never sees mainframe clicks; submit events do cross. Hence the shim binds into the mainframe document (both click and submit), plus harmless shell-document fallbacks. This is the method chosen for #1 above.

Files Changed

• gui/javascript/frameTargetShim.js — new; shell shim (document-scoped binding, named-browsing-context resolution, click+submit retargeting).
• gui/templates/dashio/main.tpl — includes the shim script before </body>.
• gui/templates/dashio/results/resultsNavigator.tpl — guards on reportPrint(), pre_submit(), initial parent.workframe.location.

Verification

Full browser regression suite in tmp/TLU_Test_Cases.md (Regression — Issue #631, cases 631.1–631.6):

• Flat shell: report link → opens in mainframe, no new tab; repeated navigations keep retargeting (document-scoped rebind); format-select form submit → mainframe; Print → no TypeError.
• Classic layout (frmWorkArea.php?feature=showMetrics): report still opens in the right workframe pane, treeframe/mainframe unchanged, no new tab — shim does not intercept.
• Event Viewer: no new Error/Warning rows from the fix lifecycle.

Known pre-existing (out of scope): cosmetic 404 for gui/themes/dashio/images/navbar.gif referenced by the dashio theme CSS — present before this fix, unrelated to frame targets.