1296934 - _generated_background_page.html appears in browsing history

Status: VERIFIED FIXED

(WebExtensions :: Untriaged, defect)

Description

[M8R-p7]

STR:
0. Create a fresh profile.
1. Install a WebExtension that uses a background script [0][1]
2. Check the History menu/sidebar/Library.

Actual results:
'moz-extension://(Addon GUID)/_generated_background_page.html' is added to the History when the add-on loads.

Expected results:
Background pages shouldn't be added to the user's browsing history.

[0] definition: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Add-ons/WebExtensions/manifest.json/background
[1] example: https://github.com/mdn/webextensions-examples/tree/master/apply-css

Comment 1

[Kris Maglione [:kmag]]

Attachment: Bug 1296934: Prevent background pages from showing up in global history.

Review commit: https://reviewboard.mozilla.org/r/73178/diff/#index_header
See other reviews: https://reviewboard.mozilla.org/r/73178/

Comment 2

[Gabor Krizsanits (INACTIVE)]

Comment on attachment 8783332 [details]
Bug 1296934: Prevent background pages from showing up in global history.

https://reviewboard.mozilla.org/r/73178/#review70980

Comment 3

[Kris Maglione [:kmag]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/mozilla-inbound/rev/d87ce8e5c2df95cd9b8391ca01c045101632b44d
Bug 1296934: Prevent background pages from showing up in global history. r=gabor

Comment 4

[Kris Maglione [:kmag]]

Comment on attachment 8783332 [details]
Bug 1296934: Prevent background pages from showing up in global history.

Approval Request Comment
[Feature/regressing bug #]: Bug 1234677
[User impact if declined]: The (somewhat cryptic) URL of an internal, hidden extension page will appear in browsing history, and sometimes even in the new tab page. If users actually load these pages, they're likely to cause serious runtime errors in the extensions they belong to, and unpredictable user-facing behavior. The URLs of background pages did appear in browser history prior to bug 1234677, as well, but at that point they simply appeared as blank pages except when explicitly loaded by the extension runtime.
[Describe test coverage new/current, TreeHerder]: This patch adds tests to make sure that we don't see this behavior.
[Risks and why]: Very low. This patch simply sets a flag on a hidden docshell that prevents it from participating in global history, which has been the expected and intended behavior all along.
[String/UUID change made/needed]: None.

Comment 5

[Ryan VanderMeulen [:RyanVM]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/d87ce8e5c2df

Comment 6

[Ritu Kothari (:ritu) (Inactive, please n-i to RyanVM, jcristau, or pascal)]

Hello, could you please verify this issue is fixed as expected on a latest Nightly build? Thanks!

Comment 7

[Ritu Kothari (:ritu) (Inactive, please n-i to RyanVM, jcristau, or pascal)]

Comment on attachment 8783332 [details]
Bug 1296934: Prevent background pages from showing up in global history.

One-liner, has automated tests, seems low risk, Aurora50+

Comment 8

[M8R-p7]

Yes, confirming that in Nightly 2016-08-26 I now get the Expected Results when performing the Steps.
Thank you, everyone!

Comment 9

[Ryan VanderMeulen [:RyanVM]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla-aurora/rev/eb26f80b9dc8