AEM's Rich Text (RTE) prepends Author domain to links?

Question

On a newly built AEM 6.3 Author server (Service Pack 2), the RTE component automatically prepends our Author URL to any asset selected through the Asset Selector.

The domain is prepended only after selecting the asset and clicking OK. Before clicking okay, the relative path is the only thing there.

But immediately after selecting the asset, it's possible to confirm from the JCR that the path contains the Author domain.

And if you open back up the asset selector, the prepended path is visible there, too.

I'm not sure it's the root of the issue, but the first time I see an absolute link show up during processing is when the Link.js file (/libs/clientlibs/granite/richtext/core/js/commands/Link.js) creates a the HTML node for the tag. Even though url is relative, childNodes[0].href is absolute:

var helperSpan = context.createElement('span');
helperSpan.innerHTML = '<a href=\"' + url + '\"></a>';
attributes.href = helperSpan.childNodes[0].href;
attributes[CUI.rte.Common.HREF_ATTRIB] = helperSpan.childNodes[0].href;

Prepending our Author URL is obviously not what we want. Any ideas why this would be happening?

I don't think the dialog affects anything, but here's the touch dialog XML for reference:

<dialog xmlns:DICOM="http://ns.adobe.com/DICOM/" xmlns:ExtensisFontSense="http://www.extensis.com/meta/FontSense/" xmlns:GCamera="http://ns.google.com/photos/1.0/camera/" xmlns:GettyImagesGIFT="http://xmp.gettyimages.com/gift/1.0/" xmlns:Iptc4xmpCore="http://iptc.org/std/Iptc4xmpCore/1.0/xmlns/" xmlns:Iptc4xmpExt="http://iptc.org/std/Iptc4xmpExt/2008-02-29/" xmlns:MP="http://ns.microsoft.com/photo/1.2/" xmlns:MicrosoftPhoto="http://ns.microsoft.com/photo/1.0" xmlns:MicrosoftPhoto_1_="http://ns.microsoft.com/photo/1.0/" xmlns:Z="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:" xmlns:aas="http://ns.apple.com/adjustment-settings/1.0/" xmlns:acdsee="http://ns.acdsee.com/iptc/1.0/" xmlns:adhocwf="http://ns.adobe.com/AcrobatAdhocWorkflow/1.0/" xmlns:adobe_dam="http://www.adobe.com/adobe_dam/1.0" xmlns:ag="http://www.acquitygroup.com" xmlns:album="http://ns.adobe.com/album/1.0/" xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/" xmlns:apple-fi="http://ns.apple.com/faceinfo/1.0/" xmlns:attr="http://ns.swcc.com/attr/1.0/" xmlns:author="http://springernature.com/ns/xmpExtensions/2.0/authorInfo/" xmlns:bext="http://ns.adobe.com/bwf/bext/1.0/" xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" xmlns:cq="http://www.day.com/jcr/cq/1.0" xmlns:creatorAtom="http://ns.adobe.com/creatorAtom/1.0/" xmlns:crossmark="http://crossref.org/crossmark/1.0/" xmlns:crs="http://ns.adobe.com/camera-raw-settings/1.0/" xmlns:crx="http://www.day.com/crx/1.0" xmlns:dam="http://www.day.com/dam/1.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:def="http://mediabeacon.com/ns/default/1.0/" xmlns:desc="http://ns.adobe.com/xfa/promoted-desc/" xmlns:dex="http://ns.optimasc.com/dex/1.0/" xmlns:drone-dji="http://www.dji.com/drone-dji/1.0/" xmlns:exif="http://ns.adobe.com/exif/1.0/" xmlns:exifEX="http://cipa.jp/exif/1.0/" xmlns:fd="http://www.adobe.com/aemfd/fd/1.0" xmlns:granite="http://www.adobe.com/jcr/granite/1.0" xmlns:idPriv="http://ns.adobe.com/xmp/InDesign/private" xmlns:illustrator="http://ns.adobe.com/illustrator/1.0/" xmlns:jav="http://www.niso.org/schemas/jav/1.0/" xmlns:jcr="http://www.jcp.org/jcr/1.0" xmlns:lr="http://ns.adobe.com/lightroom/1.0/" xmlns:mb="http://brightech.com/ns/mb" xmlns:mediapro="http://ns.iview-multimedia.com/mediapro/1.0/" xmlns:mix="http://www.jcp.org/jcr/mix/1.0" xmlns:mwg-rs="http://www.metadataworkinggroup.com/schemas/regions/" xmlns:nt="http://www.jcp.org/jcr/nt/1.0" xmlns:oak="http://jackrabbit.apache.org/oak/ns/1.0" xmlns:oauth="http://oauth.net/" xmlns:panorama="http://ns.adobe.com/photoshop/1.0/panorama-profile" xmlns:pdf="http://ns.adobe.com/pdf/1.3/" xmlns:pdfaExtension="http://www.aiim.org/pdfa/ns/extension/" xmlns:pdfaField="http://www.aiim.org/pdfa/ns/field#" xmlns:pdfaProperty="http://www.aiim.org/pdfa/ns/property#" xmlns:pdfaSchema="http://www.aiim.org/pdfa/ns/schema#" xmlns:pdfaType="http://www.aiim.org/pdfa/ns/type#" xmlns:pdfaid="http://www.aiim.org/pdfa/ns/id/" xmlns:pdfx="http://ns.adobe.com/pdfx/1.3/" xmlns:pdfxid="http://www.npes.org/pdfx/ns/id/" xmlns:photomechanic="http://ns.camerabits.com/photomechanic/1.0/" xmlns:photoshop="http://ns.adobe.com/photoshop/1.0/" xmlns:plus="http://ns.useplus.org/ldf/xmp/1.0/" xmlns:pmtm="http://www.hdrsoft.com/photomatix_settings01" xmlns:prefix0="MSImagingV1" xmlns:prism="http://prismstandard.org/namespaces/basic/2.1/" xmlns:prism_1_="http://prismstandard.org/namespaces/basic/3.0/" xmlns:prismusagerights="http://prismstandard.org/namespaces/prismusagerights/2.1/" xmlns:prl="http://prismstandard.org/namespaces/prl/2.1/" xmlns:psAux="http://ns.adobe.com/exif/1.0/aux/" xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlns:rep="internal" xmlns:s7sitecatalyst="http://www.day.com/s7sitecatalyst/1.0/" xmlns:s7userdata="http://www.day.com/s7userdata/1.0/" xmlns:scg="http://www.adobe.com/social/scg/1.0" xmlns:sling="http://sling.apache.org/jcr/sling/1.0" xmlns:slingevent="http://sling.apache.org/jcr/event/1.0" xmlns:sn="http://springernature.com/ns/xmpExtensions/2.0/" xmlns:social="http://www.adobe.com/social/1.0" xmlns:stArea="http://ns.adobe.com/xmp/sType/Area#" xmlns:stDim="http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/sType/Dimensions#" xmlns:stEvt="http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/sType/ResourceEvent#" xmlns:stFNT="http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/sType/Font#" xmlns:stMfs="http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/sType/ManifestItem#" xmlns:stRef="http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/sType/ResourceRef#" xmlns:sv="http://www.jcp.org/jcr/sv/1.0" xmlns:swf="http://ns.adobe.com/swf/1.0/" xmlns:tiff="http://ns.adobe.com/tiff/1.0/" xmlns:viewerpreset="http://www.day.com/viewerpreset/1.0/" xmlns:vlt="http://www.day.com/jcr/vault/1.0" xmlns:xmp="http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/" xmlns:xmpBJ="http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/bj/" xmlns:xmpDM="http://ns.adobe.com/xmp/1.0/DynamicMedia/" xmlns:xmpG="http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/g/" xmlns:xmpGImg="http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/g/img/" xmlns:xmpMM="http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/mm/" xmlns:xmpNote="http://ns.adobe.com/xmp/note/" xmlns:xmpPLUS="http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/PLUS/" xmlns:xmpRights="http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/rights/" xmlns:xmpTPg="http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/t/pg/" xmlns:xmp_1_="http://ns.abobe.com/xap/1.0/" jcr:primaryType="cq:Dialog" height="625" helpPath="en/cq/current/wcm/default_components.html#Text" xtype="dialog">
   <items jcr:primaryType="cq:WidgetCollection">
      <tab1 jcr:primaryType="cq:Widget" anchor="100%" title="Text" xtype="panel">
         <items jcr:primaryType="cq:WidgetCollection">
            <text jcr:primaryType="cq:Widget" height="500" hideLabel="true" name="./text" xtype="richtext">
               <rtePlugins jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured">
                  <links jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured">
                     <linkDialogConfig jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" height="316">
                        <linkAttributes jcr:primaryType="cq:WidgetCollection">
                           <linkAdvanced jcr:primaryType="cq:Widget" collapsed="true" collapsible="true" inputValue="advanced" name="./linkdialog/cq:adhocLinkTrackingTab" title="Link tracking" xtype="dialogfieldset">
                              <items jcr:primaryType="cq:WidgetCollection">
                                 <enable jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" attribute="enabletracking" fieldDescription="override analytics framework settings" fieldLabel="Custom link tracking" name="./linkdialog/cq:adhocLinkTrackingEnableTracking" xtype="checkbox">
                                    <listeners jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" check="function(component){var dlg=component.findParentByType('rtelinkdialog');dlg.enableSCFields(component.checked);}" />
                                 </enable>
                                 <events jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" attribute="adhocevents" fieldDescription="e.g.: event2, event7" fieldLabel="Include SiteCatalyst events" name="./linkdialog/cq:adhocLinkTrackingEvents" xtype="textfield" />
                                 <evars jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" attribute="adhocevars" fieldDescription="e.g.: eVar1: pagedata.url, prop4: 'const'" fieldLabel="Include SiteCatalyst variables" name="./linkdialog/cq:adhocLinkTrackingEvars" xtype="textfield" />
                              </items>
                           </linkAdvanced>
                        </linkAttributes>
                     </linkDialogConfig>
                  </links>
                  <paraformat jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" features="*">
                     <formats jcr:primaryType="cq:WidgetCollection">
                        <paragraph jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" description="paragraph" tag="p" />
                        <h2 jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" description="heading 2" tag="h2" />
                        <h3 jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" description="heading 3" tag="h3" />
                        <h4 jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" description="heading 4" tag="h4" />
                        <blockquote jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" description="quote" tag="blockquote" />
                     </formats>
                  </paraformat>
                  <styles jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" features="*">
                     <styles jcr:primaryType="cq:WidgetCollection">
                        <picLeft jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" cssName="float-left" text="Left Align Picture" />
                        <picRight jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" cssName="float-right" text="Right Align Picture" />
                        <picCenter jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" cssName="float-center" text="Center Align Picture" />
                        <button jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" cssName="button" text="Button" />
                        <largeButton jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" cssName="button large" text="Large Button" />
                     </styles>
                  </styles>
                  <edit jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" defaultPasteMode="wordhtml" stripHtmlTags="true" />
                  <justify jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" />
                  <spellcheck jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" features="*" />
                  <subsuperscript jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" features="*" />
                  <undo jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" features="*" />
                  <misctools jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" />
                  <format jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" />
                  <findreplace jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" features="*" />
               </rtePlugins>
               <htmlRules jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured">
                  <docType jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured">
                     <typeConfig jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" useSemanticMarkup="false" />
                  </docType>
                  <links jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured">
                     <targetConfig jcr:primaryType="nt:unstructured" mode="none" />
                  </links>
               </htmlRules>
            </text>
            <isRichTextFlag jcr:primaryType="cq:Widget" ignoreData="true" name="./textIsRich" value="true" xtype="hidden" />
         </items>
      </tab1>
   </items>
</dialog>

Answer 1

We were on AEM Service Pack 6.3.2. Installing cumulative service pack 6.3.3.3 fixed the problem.

Specifically, it was updates to the Coral RTE component in the com.adobe.granite.ui.coralui3-rte-0.0.32-CQ630-B0022 package. ("A content package that provides the ExtJS-compatible version of the RTE Core and Coral RTE as clientlibs.")

It turns out that the Link.js file (libs/clientlibs/granite/richtext/core/js/commands/Link.js) did contain the bug, as we suspected.

The code used to read:

var helperSpan = context.createElement('span');
helperSpan.innerHTML = '<a href=\"' + url + '\"></a>';
...
attributes[CUI.rte.Common.HREF_ATTRIB] = helperSpan.childNodes[0].href;

And now it's:

var helperSpan = context.createElement('span');
helperSpan.innerHTML = '<a href=\"' + url + '\"></a>';
...
attributes[CUI.rte.Common.HREF_ATTRIB] = url;