Bugfix — Issue #1021: Metrics dashboard public link (lnl.php apikey flow) bounces to login or 500

Problem

The Metrics Dashboard "Public link" (gui/templates/results/metricsDashboard.html → lnl.php?type=metricsdashboard&apikey=<project-api-key>) is broken for anonymous viewers on PHP 8.3:

1. No accessible test plans (no plan, no public plan, or none active): HTTP 500 with an empty body — array_keys(null) TypeError.
2. With accessible plans (public/active plan + executions): HTTP 500 with an empty body — hasRight() on a null user object.
3. Fresh session, direct hit of lib/results/metricsDashboard.php?apikey=...: the anonymous session is destroyed and the viewer bounced to login.php?note=logout — a dead end, because the anonymous viewer cannot authenticate (no credentials in an api-key flow).

Physical symptom measured (all three scenarios, pre-fix):

HTTP/1.1 500 Internal Server Error → empty body (scenarios 1 & 2)
HTTP/1.1 200 → location.href='../../login.php?note=logout' (scenario 3)

Root Cause

Three independent defects on the same anonymous-public-report path:

1. getAccessibleTestPlans() returns null, not [] when no plan matches (documented in tlUser.class.php docblock). getMetrics() fed it straight into array_keys($test_plans) → PHP 8 TypeError: array_keys(): Argument #1 ($array) must be of type array, null given at metricsDashboard.php:169.

2. TLSmarty::addMenuContext() built a menu for the anonymous session. Anonymous api-key sessions have $_SESSION['userID'] = -1 (and no currentUser). addMenuContext() → initUserEnv() → tlUser::get_user_by_id(0) → null, then get_accessible_for_user() calls $this->hasRight() on the null user object → PHP Fatal: Call to a member function hasRight() on null (testproject.class.php:584).

3. setUpEnvForAnonymousAccess() razed the helpful session. When $_SESSION['basehref'] was not set (fresh anonymous viewer), it did session_unset(); session_destroy(); and redirect("../../login.php?note=logout") — no exception path existed for anonymous access (the original code only handled the $rightsCheck->redirect_target branch for real users).

Plus a warning-noise defect found while verifying: 4. initEnv() didn't seed tproject_id/tplan_id into $cerbero->args for the anonymous branch, so setUpEnvForAnonymousAccess() (common.php:1342, $args->tplan_id) raised E_WARNING: Undefined property: stdClass::$tplan_id on every anonymous hit.

Fix

Committed on branch fix/issue-1021, commit 237b7ec6f:

lib/results/metricsDashboard.php

1. getMetrics() — tolerate the documented null return and degrade to the empty state:

   if( !is_array($test_plans) ) {
     $test_plans = array();
   }
   

2. initEnv() anonymous branch — seed the ids the env setup reads so no Undefined property warning is emitted:

   $cerbero->args->tproject_id = $args->tproject_id;
   $cerbero->args->tplan_id = $args->tplan_id;
   

lib/functions/tlsmarty.inc.php

3. addMenuContext() — anonymous sessions get the empty, crash-free grant set (public pages render without any menu shell — that is the correct shell for them):

   $isAnonymousSession =
     isset($_SESSION['userID']) && intval($_SESSION['userID']) <= 0;
   if( !is_object($gui) || !isset($_SESSION['currentUser']) ||
       $isAnonymousSession || null == $db ) {
     $this->assign('menuGrants',self::emptyMenuGrants());
     return;
   }
   

lib/functions/common.php

4. setUpEnvForAnonymousAccess() — when basehref is missing, rebuild the base path with setPaths() instead of destroying the session and bouncing to login:

   if(!isset($_SESSION['basehref'])) {
     setPaths();
   }
   

Why this approach: all three fixes are the smallest correct change at the crash/bounce sites; they preserve the authenticated flow byte-for-byte (session userID > 0 keeps the normal menu-context path and never enters the anonymous branch of setUpEnvForAnonymousAccess). Rejected alternatives: putting an api-key check into addMenuContext (correct but duplicated TLSMarty knowledge), and disabling setUpEnvForAnonymousAccess entirely (removes legitimate per-report param handling).

Files Changed

• lib/results/metricsDashboard.php — null-array guard + args seeding
• lib/functions/tlsmarty.inc.php — anonymous menu-context early return
• lib/functions/common.php — base path rebuild instead of login bounce

Verification

All checks on branch fix/issue-1021, commit 237b7ec6f, PHP 8.3.33:

• No accessible plans → lnl.php?type=metricsdashboard HTTP 200, 0% [0/0]
  • empty-state grid (was 500).
• With data → HTTP 200, full dashboard (Project Progress 100% [1/1], Passed 100%, Test Plan Progress grid with the plan row) (was 500).
• Fresh-session direct hit → HTTP 200, dashboard renders in an isolated incognito context, no login.php?note=logout anywhere (was bounce).
• Server log: zero Fatal/Undefined entries for all three scenarios.
• Event Viewer: no new Error/Warning rows (max id before = 14, none after).
• Logged-in admin regression: modern screen renders, "Public link" button produces the tested URL, authenticated menu context unchanged.
• Regression suite: tmp/TLU_Test_Cases.md — "Regression — Issue #1021", 5/5 PASS.
• php -l clean on all three files.