Number: #1686 Status: Fixed (verified — the fix was already in the default branch; this run pinned it with a regression suite and closed the issue) Component: gui/templates/requirements/reqTreeReorder.html Area: Requirements / Specification Tree Reordering Fixing commit (code): 983c9179c — fix(reqtreereorder): back link was a dead self-reload on the error path (Refs #1681) Verification commit (this run): 6588d4a18

Two defects in one control.

1. In the error / no-rights state the link pointed at itself. The markup shipped href="#" and the only code that set a real target ran inside the success handler of the init AJAX call. On the 403 path ("You are not authorized to view requirements") the href was never written, so the Back to specification management button reloaded the forbidden page in the same tab. The observed URL was literally the current page with a trailing #.
2. With data loaded the label lied. When a specification was selected the link was pointed at reqSpecView.html (the specification viewer) while the label said Back to specification management, leaving the management screen unreachable from the toolbar.

target="_blank" additionally made a back link open a new tab, unlike the sibling #mgmtLink in reqSpecView.html.

The root cause is a design error, not a typo: the href of a navigation control was produced as a side effect of a successful data load. A static .html template cannot server-render the id (it is not PHP), so the assignment was placed in the AJAX success handler — which means the control is broken in exactly the state where the user most needs an escape hatch (403/404).

Root cause chain, as originally shipped:

Hop	Location	What was wrong
1	reqTreeReorder.html (markup)	<a class="btn-ghost" id="backLink" href="#" target="_blank"> — # is "same document", i.e. a self-reload; target="_blank" opens a back link in a new tab.
2	the only assignment, inside the success: handler of $.ajax(...) in load()	The href was never written when the call failed → the 403/404 dead end kept href="#".
3	same success handler	On success it rewrote the href to reqSpecView.html?id=<SPEC_ID>&tproject_id=<TP> — the viewer — contradicting the "management" label.

Both defects were fixed by the #1681 modernization run in commit 983c9179c, an ancestor of the default branch. The implementing run left the issue OPEN (its own body documents the fix under "Fix applied in the Refs #1681 branch"), so triage kept surfacing it as the oldest open bug. Nothing was lost in the code; what was lost was the closure step. This run verified the fix, pinned it with a regression suite and closed the issue.

• markup :77 — the href is now a real page in the static markup, href="/gui/templates/requirements/reqSpecMgmt.html", and target="_blank" is gone.
• :181-186 buildBackLink() — derives the target synchronously from the URL query string, with a comment stating the intent ("the escape hatch must work on the error path").
• :189 — buildBackLink() runs on DOM-ready, before TLi18n.load() and before load(false) → before any $.ajax. This is the structural guarantee: the href no longer depends on an API response. The :0 branch still yields a valid management-screen URL, never '#'; the rewrite is only a refinement that adds tproject_id.
• :196-199 + :417-424 — the dropped "open this specification" target was not lost: it moved to the spec document chip in the Context card, whose data-href points at reqSpecView.html?id=<spec>&tproject_id=<tp> and opens in a new tab.

1. Touch the file to have a diff — rejected: the code is already correct and verified; any edit is churn and risks re-introducing the defect being certified.
2. Make the fallback project-aware without tproject_id — rejected: both entry points (reqSpecMgmt.html:954, :964) always pass it, and the target degrades gracefully without it (renders Test Project: -, API answers a clean 400, no fatal).
3. Harden reqSpecMgmt.html against tproject_id=0 — out of scope, it already degrades cleanly.

Case	Measured result
Static markup, before any JS runs (curl + grep -o 'id="backLink"[^>]*')	id="backLink" href="/gui/templates/requirements/reqSpecMgmt.html" — a real destination, so the link survives a total JS failure
target="_blank" on the back link	grep -c _blank → 0
Error / 404 state	href=/gui/templates/requirements/reqSpecMgmt.html?tproject_id=13, target=null, applyDisabled=true, drag hint hidden — never a self-reload
Success state	href_points_at_viewer:false, rows=2, rowsDraggable=["true","true"] — the href matches its label
Real .click() on the back link	navigated in place to …/reqSpecMgmt.html?tproject_id=13, same tab
Spec chip click (tproject_id=14, spec 17)	new page opened at reqSpecView.html?id=17&tproject_id=14 — the viewer target survived
Second test project	href=…reqSpecMgmt.html?tproject_id=14, uses_wrong_project:false — tproject_id follows the URL, never hardcoded
No project in context	href=/gui/templates/requirements/reqSpecMgmt.html, "No test project in context.", target renders Test Project: -, API 400 — no fatal, no blank page
Event Viewer / events	1 row total, the login audit (log_level=16, audit_login_succeeded) — zero Error/Warning rows

Regression suite: ## Regression — Issue #1686 in tmp/TLU_Test_Cases.md (cases TC-1686-01..09). Merge-base gate TLU_REQUIRE_SUITE="Issue #1686" bash ai/verify_test_suites.sh → 7 PASS / 0 FAIL (suite headings 65 → 66, nothing lost).

• This run: tmp/TLU_Test_Cases.md (append-only regression suite), docs/Bugfix-Issue-1686-reqtreereorder-Back-Link-Dead-Self-Reload.md, wiki mirror + screenshot.
• No production code change in this run — the code fix is 983c9179c.

• 983c9179c — the actual code fix (Refs #1681), already on the default branch
• 6588d4a18 — regression suite for this run
• docs + wiki mirror commit for this run

See also: Reorder Requirements Tree (reqTreeReorder) Modernized and Bugfix #1685 — drag & drop dirty flag.

Sibling issues from the same #1681 browser-testing pass, all in the same screen, all verified fixed in the default branch and covered by the same fixture set: #1687 (hardcoded - "Modified by" tile), #1688 (toolbar stayed live on the 403/404 page), #1689 (rows draggable in read-only mode), #1690 (hardcoded tproject_id in the back link).