[bug][rslight] disabled menu.conf entries cause blank HTML links output in page header

config/menu.conf looks like this:

```
# Add your sections below:
rocksolid:1:1
USENET:1:1
NEWS:1:1
:BLUEWORLDHOSTING:1:1
:MIXMIN:1:1
```

The two tail entries are disabled using the leading colon character.

Although disabled, Rocksolid Light still outputs blank html table cells and hyperlinks in the header button bar for those disabled entries. The pasted code here demonstrates:

```
<p align="center" class="np_header_button_bar">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<form target="_self" action="../rocksolid">
<button class="np_header_button_link" type="submit">
rocksolid</button>
</form>
</td>
<td>
<form target="_self" action="../USENET">
<button class="np_header_button_link" type="submit">
USENET</button>
</form>
</td>
<td>
<form target="_self" action="../NEWS">
<button class="np_header_button_link" type="submit">
NEWS</button>
</form>
</td>
#### DISABLED ENTRY CODE ####
<td>
<form target="_self" action="../">
<button class="np_header_button_link" type="submit">
</button>
</form>
</td>
#### DISABLED ENTRY CODE ####
<td>
<form target="_self" action="../">
<button class="np_header_button_link" type="submit">
</button>
</form>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</p>
```

In some themes these blank links in the header bar are not visible because of the lack of text. But they still take up screen real estate and are clickable links. If theme colors are changed to create border or background color the elements become visible and break visual appearance.

If I add more colon-disabled entries then one new table cell and link is output for each such entry.

Expected behavior is for the engine to skip disabled entries so they have no effect on the generated page source.

--
Byrl Raze Buckbriar . OCTADE . < https://octade.net >
Hacker Hotline . voice & SMS . (781) OCT-AGON
KeyOxide . < https://keyoxide.org/keyoxide0@octade.net >

On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:15:47 +0000, Byrl Raze Buckbriar wrote:

> [bug][rslight] disabled menu.conf entries cause blank HTML links output in page header
>
> config/menu.conf looks like this:
>
> ```
> # Add your sections below:
> rocksolid:1:1
> USENET:1:1
> NEWS:1:1
>:BLUEWORLDHOSTING:1:1
>:MIXMIN:1:1
> ```
>
> The two tail entries are disabled using the leading colon character.
>
> Although disabled, Rocksolid Light still outputs blank html table cells and hyperlinks in the header button bar for those disabled entries. The pasted code here demonstrates:
>
> ```
> <p align="center" class="np_header_button_bar">
> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
> <tbody>
> <tr>
> <td>
> <form target="_self" action="../rocksolid">
> <button class="np_header_button_link" type="submit">
> rocksolid</button>
> </form>
> </td>
> <td>
> <form target="_self" action="../USENET">
> <button class="np_header_button_link" type="submit">
> USENET</button>
> </form>
> </td>
> <td>
> <form target="_self" action="../NEWS">
> <button class="np_header_button_link" type="submit">
> NEWS</button>
> </form>
> </td>
> #### DISABLED ENTRY CODE ####
> <td>
> <form target="_self" action="../">
> <button class="np_header_button_link" type="submit">
> </button>
> </form>
> </td>
> #### DISABLED ENTRY CODE ####
> <td>
> <form target="_self" action="../">
> <button class="np_header_button_link" type="submit">
> </button>
> </form>
> </td>
> </tr>
> </tbody>
> </table>
> </p>
> ```
>
> In some themes these blank links in the header bar are not visible because of the lack of text. But they still take up screen real estate and are clickable links. If theme colors are changed to create border or background color the elements become visible and break visual appearance.
>
> If I add more colon-disabled entries then one new table cell and link is output for each such entry.
>
> Expected behavior is for the engine to skip disabled entries so they have no effect on the generated page source.

This has been fixed, but it's in devel. I only noticed that a couple of
days ago.

On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:24:40 +0000, Retro Guy wrote:

> On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:15:47 +0000, Byrl Raze Buckbriar wrote:
>
>> [bug][rslight] disabled menu.conf entries cause blank HTML links output
>> in page header
>>
>> config/menu.conf looks like this:
>>
>> ```
>> # Add your sections below:
>> rocksolid:1:1
>> USENET:1:1
>> NEWS:1:1
>>:BLUEWORLDHOSTING:1:1
>>:MIXMIN:1:1
>> ```
<snip>
>> In some themes these blank links in the header bar are not visible
>> because of the lack of text. But they still take up screen real estate
>> and are clickable links. If theme colors are changed to create border or
>> background color the elements become visible and break visual
>> appearance.
>>
>> If I add more colon-disabled entries then one new table cell and link is
>> output for each such entry.
>>
>> Expected behavior is for the engine to skip disabled entries so they
>> have no effect on the generated page source.
>
> This has been fixed, but it's in devel. I only noticed that a couple of
> days ago.

devel has now been merged into master and pushed to gitlab.

--
Retro Guy

On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 23:06:00 +0000
Retro Guy <retroguy@novabbs.com> wrote:

> On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:24:40 +0000, Retro Guy wrote:
>
> > On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:15:47 +0000, Byrl Raze Buckbriar wrote:
> >
> >> [bug][rslight] disabled menu.conf entries cause blank HTML links output
> >> in page header
> >>
> >> config/menu.conf looks like this:
> >>
> >> ```
> >> # Add your sections below:
> >> rocksolid:1:1
> >> USENET:1:1
> >> NEWS:1:1
> >>:BLUEWORLDHOSTING:1:1
> >>:MIXMIN:1:1
> >> ```
> <snip>
> >> In some themes these blank links in the header bar are not visible
> >> because of the lack of text. But they still take up screen real estate
> >> and are clickable links. If theme colors are changed to create border or
> >> background color the elements become visible and break visual
> >> appearance.
> >>
> >> If I add more colon-disabled entries then one new table cell and link is
> >> output for each such entry.
> >>
> >> Expected behavior is for the engine to skip disabled entries so they
> >> have no effect on the generated page source.
> >
> > This has been fixed, but it's in devel. I only noticed that a couple of
> > days ago.
>
> devel has now been merged into master and pushed to gitlab.
>
> --
> Retro Guy

I pulled master from gitlab and upgraded. Then I ran cron. The extrad code generation still persists.

I rebooted and tried again. The extra code still persists.

I upgraded to rocksolid light 0.9.159.

If I prefix the lines with a hashtag the extraneous code is no longer produced in the web pages. If I remove the lines the bug is also resolved. But if I prefix them with a colon it stays the same. I assumed that menu.conf uses the same prefix syntax as groups.txt. Was my assumption wrong?

--
Byrl Raze Buckbriar . OCTADE . < https://octade.net >
Hacker Hotline . voice & SMS . (781) OCT-AGON
KeyOxide . < https://keyoxide.org/keyoxide0@octade.net >

On Thu, 17 Oct 2024 3:28:44 +0000, Byrl Raze Buckbriar wrote:

> On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 23:06:00 +0000
> Retro Guy <retroguy@novabbs.com> wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:24:40 +0000, Retro Guy wrote:
>>
>>> On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:15:47 +0000, Byrl Raze Buckbriar wrote:
>>>
>>>> [bug][rslight] disabled menu.conf entries cause blank HTML links output
>>>> in page header
>>>>
>>>> config/menu.conf looks like this:
>>>>
>>>> ```
>>>> # Add your sections below:
>>>> rocksolid:1:1
>>>> USENET:1:1
>>>> NEWS:1:1
>>>>:BLUEWORLDHOSTING:1:1
>>>>:MIXMIN:1:1
>>>> ```
>> <snip>
>>>> In some themes these blank links in the header bar are not visible
>>>> because of the lack of text. But they still take up screen real estate
>>>> and are clickable links. If theme colors are changed to create border or
>>>> background color the elements become visible and break visual
>>>> appearance.
>>>>
>>>> If I add more colon-disabled entries then one new table cell and link is
>>>> output for each such entry.
>>>>
>>>> Expected behavior is for the engine to skip disabled entries so they
>>>> have no effect on the generated page source.
>>>
>>> This has been fixed, but it's in devel. I only noticed that a couple of
>>> days ago.
>>
>> devel has now been merged into master and pushed to gitlab.
>>
>> --
>> Retro Guy
>
> I pulled master from gitlab and upgraded. Then I ran cron. The extrad
> code generation still persists.
>
> I rebooted and tried again. The extra code still persists.
>
> I upgraded to rocksolid light 0.9.159.
>
> If I prefix the lines with a hashtag the extraneous code is no longer
> produced in the web pages. If I remove the lines the bug is also
> resolved. But if I prefix them with a colon it stays the same. I assumed
> that menu.conf uses the same prefix syntax as groups.txt. Was my
> assumption wrong?

Ah, I see now what you mean. I'm not so smart lol.

Anyway, the bug I had fixed was causing exactly the problem you mention
if there was a blank line in menu.conf. I see now that you mean starting
with a colon.

The colon in groups.txt is how Newsportal read that file. The ':Groups
Title' was how it displayed a header on a page, which RSLight does not
do, but the colon remains.

menu.conf does not recognize a colon as the start of a line to ignore.
TO remove a section from the menu you would do this:

# Add your sections below:
rocksolid:1:1
USENET:1:1
NEWS:1:1
BLUEWORLDHOSTING:0:1
MIXMIN:0:1

To completely remove them use '#' at the start of the line.

I hope that is what was your goal and that I understand correctly. If
not, let me know and I'll try harder :)

--
Retro Guy

On Thu, 17 Oct 2024 9:28:27 +0000, Retro Guy wrote:

> On Thu, 17 Oct 2024 3:28:44 +0000, Byrl Raze Buckbriar wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 23:06:00 +0000
>> Retro Guy <retroguy@novabbs.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:24:40 +0000, Retro Guy wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:15:47 +0000, Byrl Raze Buckbriar wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> [bug][rslight] disabled menu.conf entries cause blank HTML links output
>>>>> in page header
>>>>>
>>>>> config/menu.conf looks like this:
>>>>>
>>>>> ```
>>>>> # Add your sections below:
>>>>> rocksolid:1:1
>>>>> USENET:1:1
>>>>> NEWS:1:1
>>>>>:BLUEWORLDHOSTING:1:1
>>>>>:MIXMIN:1:1
>>>>> ```
>>> <snip>
>>>>> In some themes these blank links in the header bar are not visible
>>>>> because of the lack of text. But they still take up screen real estate
>>>>> and are clickable links. If theme colors are changed to create border or
>>>>> background color the elements become visible and break visual
>>>>> appearance.
>>>>>
>>>>> If I add more colon-disabled entries then one new table cell and link is
>>>>> output for each such entry.
>>>>>
>>>>> Expected behavior is for the engine to skip disabled entries so they
>>>>> have no effect on the generated page source.
>>>>
>>>> This has been fixed, but it's in devel. I only noticed that a couple of
>>>> days ago.
>>>
>>> devel has now been merged into master and pushed to gitlab.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Retro Guy
>>
>> I pulled master from gitlab and upgraded. Then I ran cron. The extrad
>> code generation still persists.
>>
>> I rebooted and tried again. The extra code still persists.
>>
>> I upgraded to rocksolid light 0.9.159.
>>
>> If I prefix the lines with a hashtag the extraneous code is no longer
>> produced in the web pages. If I remove the lines the bug is also
>> resolved. But if I prefix them with a colon it stays the same. I assumed
>> that menu.conf uses the same prefix syntax as groups.txt. Was my
>> assumption wrong?
>
> Ah, I see now what you mean. I'm not so smart lol.
>
> Anyway, the bug I had fixed was causing exactly the problem you mention
> if there was a blank line in menu.conf. I see now that you mean starting
> with a colon.
>
> The colon in groups.txt is how Newsportal read that file. The ':Groups
> Title' was how it displayed a header on a page, which RSLight does not
> do, but the colon remains.
>
> menu.conf does not recognize a colon as the start of a line to ignore.
> TO remove a section from the menu you would do this:
>
> # Add your sections below:
> rocksolid:1:1
> USENET:1:1
> NEWS:1:1
> BLUEWORLDHOSTING:0:1
> MIXMIN:0:1
>
> To completely remove them use '#' at the start of the line.
>
> I hope that is what was your goal and that I understand correctly. If
> not, let me know and I'll try harder :)

I'm now reading menu.conf in only one function, and checking that the
line starts with an alphanumeric. If it is blank, starts with '#' or
anything else non-alphanumeric, the line is ignored.

This file is read in a lot of scripts, so I want to test it for a day or
so to make sure I didn't break anything. Once done, it'll be easy to
modify just being in one function.

--
Retro Guy

On Thu, 17 Oct 2024 11:31:40 +0000, Retro Guy wrote:

> On Thu, 17 Oct 2024 9:28:27 +0000, Retro Guy wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 17 Oct 2024 3:28:44 +0000, Byrl Raze Buckbriar wrote:
>>
>>> On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 23:06:00 +0000
>>> Retro Guy <retroguy@novabbs.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:24:40 +0000, Retro Guy wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:15:47 +0000, Byrl Raze Buckbriar wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> [bug][rslight] disabled menu.conf entries cause blank HTML links output
>>>>>> in page header
>>>>>>
>>>>>> config/menu.conf looks like this:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ```
>>>>>> # Add your sections below:
>>>>>> rocksolid:1:1
>>>>>> USENET:1:1
>>>>>> NEWS:1:1
>>>>>>:BLUEWORLDHOSTING:1:1
>>>>>>:MIXMIN:1:1
>>>>>> ```
>>>> <snip>
>>>>>> In some themes these blank links in the header bar are not visible
>>>>>> because of the lack of text. But they still take up screen real estate
>>>>>> and are clickable links. If theme colors are changed to create border or
>>>>>> background color the elements become visible and break visual
>>>>>> appearance.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If I add more colon-disabled entries then one new table cell and link is
>>>>>> output for each such entry.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Expected behavior is for the engine to skip disabled entries so they
>>>>>> have no effect on the generated page source.
>>>>>
>>>>> This has been fixed, but it's in devel. I only noticed that a couple of
>>>>> days ago.
>>>>
>>>> devel has now been merged into master and pushed to gitlab.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Retro Guy
>>>
>>> I pulled master from gitlab and upgraded. Then I ran cron. The extrad
>>> code generation still persists.
>>>
>>> I rebooted and tried again. The extra code still persists.
>>>
>>> I upgraded to rocksolid light 0.9.159.
>>>
>>> If I prefix the lines with a hashtag the extraneous code is no longer
>>> produced in the web pages. If I remove the lines the bug is also
>>> resolved. But if I prefix them with a colon it stays the same. I assumed
>>> that menu.conf uses the same prefix syntax as groups.txt. Was my
>>> assumption wrong?
>>
>> Ah, I see now what you mean. I'm not so smart lol.
>>
>> Anyway, the bug I had fixed was causing exactly the problem you mention
>> if there was a blank line in menu.conf. I see now that you mean starting
>> with a colon.
>>
>> The colon in groups.txt is how Newsportal read that file. The ':Groups
>> Title' was how it displayed a header on a page, which RSLight does not
>> do, but the colon remains.
>>
>> menu.conf does not recognize a colon as the start of a line to ignore.
>> TO remove a section from the menu you would do this:
>>
>> # Add your sections below:
>> rocksolid:1:1
>> USENET:1:1
>> NEWS:1:1
>> BLUEWORLDHOSTING:0:1
>> MIXMIN:0:1
>>
>> To completely remove them use '#' at the start of the line.
>>
>> I hope that is what was your goal and that I understand correctly. If
>> not, let me know and I'll try harder :)
>
> I'm now reading menu.conf in only one function, and checking that the
> line starts with an alphanumeric. If it is blank, starts with '#' or
> anything else non-alphanumeric, the line is ignored.
>
> This file is read in a lot of scripts, so I want to test it for a day or
> so to make sure I didn't break anything. Once done, it'll be easy to
> modify just being in one function.

I'm testing this with a pretty messed up menu.conf:

# Add your sections below:
aus+uk:1:1

rocksolid:1:1
other:1:1
:deutsch:0:1
dupe:1:1
usenet:1:1

All seems to work fine. I may push this to master later today.

--
Retro Guy

On Thu, 17 Oct 2024 09:28:27 +0000
Retro Guy <retroguy@novabbs.com> wrote:

> On Thu, 17 Oct 2024 3:28:44 +0000, Byrl Raze Buckbriar wrote:
>
> > On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 23:06:00 +0000
> > Retro Guy <retroguy@novabbs.com> wrote:
> >
> >> On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:24:40 +0000, Retro Guy wrote:
> >>
> >>> On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:15:47 +0000, Byrl Raze Buckbriar wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> [bug][rslight] disabled menu.conf entries cause blank HTML links output
> >>>> in page header
> >>>>
> >>>> config/menu.conf looks like this:
> >>>>
> >>>> ```
> >>>> # Add your sections below:
> >>>> rocksolid:1:1
> >>>> USENET:1:1
> >>>> NEWS:1:1
> >>>>:BLUEWORLDHOSTING:1:1
> >>>>:MIXMIN:1:1
> >>>> ```
> >> <snip>
> >>>> In some themes these blank links in the header bar are not visible
> >>>> because of the lack of text. But they still take up screen real estate
> >>>> and are clickable links. If theme colors are changed to create border or
> >>>> background color the elements become visible and break visual
> >>>> appearance.
> >>>>
> >>>> If I add more colon-disabled entries then one new table cell and link is
> >>>> output for each such entry.
> >>>>
> >>>> Expected behavior is for the engine to skip disabled entries so they
> >>>> have no effect on the generated page source.
> >>>
> >>> This has been fixed, but it's in devel. I only noticed that a couple of
> >>> days ago.
> >>
> >> devel has now been merged into master and pushed to gitlab.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Retro Guy
> >
> > I pulled master from gitlab and upgraded. Then I ran cron. The extrad
> > code generation still persists.
> >
> > I rebooted and tried again. The extra code still persists.
> >
> > I upgraded to rocksolid light 0.9.159.
> >
> > If I prefix the lines with a hashtag the extraneous code is no longer
> > produced in the web pages. If I remove the lines the bug is also
> > resolved. But if I prefix them with a colon it stays the same. I assumed
> > that menu.conf uses the same prefix syntax as groups.txt. Was my
> > assumption wrong?
>
> Ah, I see now what you mean. I'm not so smart lol.
>
> Anyway, the bug I had fixed was causing exactly the problem you mention
> if there was a blank line in menu.conf. I see now that you mean starting
> with a colon.
>
> The colon in groups.txt is how Newsportal read that file. The ':Groups
> Title' was how it displayed a header on a page, which RSLight does not
> do, but the colon remains.
>
> menu.conf does not recognize a colon as the start of a line to ignore.
> TO remove a section from the menu you would do this:
>
> # Add your sections below:
> rocksolid:1:1
> USENET:1:1
> NEWS:1:1
> BLUEWORLDHOSTING:0:1
> MIXMIN:0:1
>
> To completely remove them use '#' at the start of the line.
>
> I hope that is what was your goal and that I understand correctly. If
> not, let me know and I'll try harder :)
>
> --
> Retro Guy

OK, I was assuming wrongly.

--
Byrl Raze Buckbriar . OCTADE . < https://octade.net >
Hacker Hotline . voice & SMS . (781) OCT-AGON
KeyOxide . < https://keyoxide.org/keyoxide0@octade.net >

On Thu, 17 Oct 2024 11:31:40 +0000
Retro Guy <retroguy@novabbs.com> wrote:

> On Thu, 17 Oct 2024 9:28:27 +0000, Retro Guy wrote:
>
> > On Thu, 17 Oct 2024 3:28:44 +0000, Byrl Raze Buckbriar wrote:
> >
> >> On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 23:06:00 +0000
> >> Retro Guy <retroguy@novabbs.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>> On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:24:40 +0000, Retro Guy wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:15:47 +0000, Byrl Raze Buckbriar wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> [bug][rslight] disabled menu.conf entries cause blank HTML links output
> >>>>> in page header
> >>>>>
> >>>>> config/menu.conf looks like this:
> >>>>>
> >>>>> ```
> >>>>> # Add your sections below:
> >>>>> rocksolid:1:1
> >>>>> USENET:1:1
> >>>>> NEWS:1:1
> >>>>>:BLUEWORLDHOSTING:1:1
> >>>>>:MIXMIN:1:1
> >>>>> ```
> >>> <snip>
> >>>>> In some themes these blank links in the header bar are not visible
> >>>>> because of the lack of text. But they still take up screen real estate
> >>>>> and are clickable links. If theme colors are changed to create border or
> >>>>> background color the elements become visible and break visual
> >>>>> appearance.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> If I add more colon-disabled entries then one new table cell and link is
> >>>>> output for each such entry.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Expected behavior is for the engine to skip disabled entries so they
> >>>>> have no effect on the generated page source.
> >>>>
> >>>> This has been fixed, but it's in devel. I only noticed that a couple of
> >>>> days ago.
> >>>
> >>> devel has now been merged into master and pushed to gitlab.
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> Retro Guy
> >>
> >> I pulled master from gitlab and upgraded. Then I ran cron. The extrad
> >> code generation still persists.
> >>
> >> I rebooted and tried again. The extra code still persists.
> >>
> >> I upgraded to rocksolid light 0.9.159.
> >>
> >> If I prefix the lines with a hashtag the extraneous code is no longer
> >> produced in the web pages. If I remove the lines the bug is also
> >> resolved. But if I prefix them with a colon it stays the same. I assumed
> >> that menu.conf uses the same prefix syntax as groups.txt. Was my
> >> assumption wrong?
> >
> > Ah, I see now what you mean. I'm not so smart lol.
> >
> > Anyway, the bug I had fixed was causing exactly the problem you mention
> > if there was a blank line in menu.conf. I see now that you mean starting
> > with a colon.
> >
> > The colon in groups.txt is how Newsportal read that file. The ':Groups
> > Title' was how it displayed a header on a page, which RSLight does not
> > do, but the colon remains.
> >
> > menu.conf does not recognize a colon as the start of a line to ignore.
> > TO remove a section from the menu you would do this:
> >
> > # Add your sections below:
> > rocksolid:1:1
> > USENET:1:1
> > NEWS:1:1
> > BLUEWORLDHOSTING:0:1
> > MIXMIN:0:1
> >
> > To completely remove them use '#' at the start of the line.
> >
> > I hope that is what was your goal and that I understand correctly. If
> > not, let me know and I'll try harder :)
>
> I'm now reading menu.conf in only one function, and checking that the
> line starts with an alphanumeric. If it is blank, starts with '#' or
> anything else non-alphanumeric, the line is ignored.
>
> This file is read in a lot of scripts, so I want to test it for a day or
> so to make sure I didn't break anything. Once done, it'll be easy to
> modify just being in one function.
>
> --
> Retro Guy

Somewhere in the bowels of the darknet, some 31337 haXor has been running a rslight server with 30 section names beginning with odd punctuation characters. When he upgrades and notices something is off he will be so frustrated that he sets an autodialer to call psychiatric hotlines for three days straight. Then he will throw his server down a well after which he will join a monastery where computers are forbidden.

You just may have saved his soul!

--
Byrl Raze Buckbriar . OCTADE . < https://octade.net >
Hacker Hotline . voice & SMS . (781) OCT-AGON
KeyOxide . < https://keyoxide.org/keyoxide0@octade.net >