# Bug report: Newlines duplicated within fields **URL:** \ **Category:** Help\ **Created:** [February 8, 2024, 10:18am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/bug-report-newlines-duplicated-within-fields/40884 "2024-02-08T10:18:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bugman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@bugman](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/bugman)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2024, 10:18am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/bug-report-newlines-duplicated-within-fields/40884/1 "2024-02-08T10:18:05Z")
Hi, I’m new here. I have a bug to report, but I’m not sure which subforum to post on. So mods, please shift this to the correct place! I have a frustrating bug, in that newlines are appear to be duplicated during field replacement. For example I have a card with the field {{Wiktionary}} with the contents: ```html 挑战 Verb
  1. (literally) to challenge (to a fight); to throw down the gauntlet
  2. (figuratively) to challenge (invite someone to take part in a contest)
  3. (figuratively) to challenge (put demands on); to test
  4. (figuratively) to challenge (dispute the validity of something)
Noun
  1. challenge; difficulty
``` I create this within AnkiDroid. If I have on the back: ```html
  1. A
  2. B
{{Wiktionary}} ``` The result is: ```none 1. A 2. B 挑战 Verb 1. (literally) to challenge (to a fight); to throw down the gauntlet 2. (figuratively) to challenge (invite someone to take part in a contest) 3. (figuratively) to challenge (put demands on); to test 4. (figuratively) to challenge (dispute the validity of something) Noun 1. challenge; difficulty ``` This shows that field replacement doesn’t simply insert the HTML code so that it matches the ordered list format of the HTML code above it. If I open this card in AnkiWeb, I can see the newlines inserted when editing the card. If I remove them, then in AnkiDroid the {{Wiktionary}} field has had all newlines removed. Is this a real bug or a design feature? How can I avoid it? I’m currently using CSS to set top and bottom margins to -20px to avoid the ugliness. Cheers, Edward ---
**Author:** ![bugman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@bugman](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/bugman)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2024, 10:22am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/bug-report-newlines-duplicated-within-fields/40884/2 "2024-02-08T10:22:57Z")
I forgot to mention, but after field replacement the HTML code is obviously: ```html
  1. A
  2. B
挑战 Verb
  1. (literally) to challenge (to a fight); to throw down the gauntlet
  2. (figuratively) to challenge (invite someone to take part in a contest)
  3. (figuratively) to challenge (put demands on); to test
  4. (figuratively) to challenge (dispute the validity of something)
Noun
  1. challenge; difficulty
``` ---
**Author:** ![Danika\_Dakika](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/danika_dakika/32/17815_2.png) [@Danika\_Dakika](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Danika_Dakika)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2024, 9:42pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/bug-report-newlines-duplicated-within-fields/40884/3 "2024-02-08T21:42:29Z")
[If this is AnkiDroid-specific, you may want to move it to the AnkiDroid category.] ---
**Author:** ![bugman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@bugman](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/bugman)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 9:01am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/bug-report-newlines-duplicated-within-fields/40884/4 "2024-02-09T09:01:44Z")
Maybe it is AnkiDroid’s conversion of HTML in fields to the Anki internal HTML format. I tried creating cards on Anki Desktop (Linux) and AnkiWeb with the following in a field: ```html
  1. x
  2. y
``` But in both of those, the HTML was not recognised as HTML and the output included the HTML tags! Edit: Using AnkiDroid to open the AnkiWeb card with HTML in the field, the field content ends up as: ```html
<div class="test">
  <ol>
    <li>x</li>     <li>y</li>
  </ol>
</div>
``` ---
**Author:** ![Danika\_Dakika](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/danika_dakika/32/17815_2.png) [@Danika\_Dakika](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Danika_Dakika)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2024, 11:24pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/bug-report-newlines-duplicated-within-fields/40884/5 "2024-02-09T23:24:01Z")
Are you putting your HTML in the right type of field? When editing in AnkiDroid, you directly see the HTML. But when editing in AnkiWeb, you see the parsed/formatted version of the field. In AnkiDesktop, you can see either/both the HTML and the formatted version. If you’re putting HTML in a formatted field (on AnkiWeb or AnkiDesktop), that definitely won’t work. As you can see, all of the `<` and `>` that mark the tags are encoded with their entity names (like `>`), so that it won’t be mistaken for parsable HTML – it’s just text. ---
**Author:** ![dae](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/dae/32/65_2.png) [@dae](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/dae)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 4:22am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/bug-report-newlines-duplicated-within-fields/40884/6 "2024-02-11T04:22:07Z")
Possibly related: [Editing a note turns insignificant newlines into explicit line breaks · Issue #3304 · ankidroid/Anki-Android · GitHub](https://github.com/ankidroid/Anki-Android/issues/3304) ---
**Author:** ![bugman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@bugman](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/bugman)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2024, 2:39pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/bug-report-newlines-duplicated-within-fields/40884/7 "2024-02-12T14:39:46Z")
Ah, I now see that I can see the HTML in AnkiDesktop! My newlines input into the field in AnkiDroid have been bizarrely converted to `
`. That’s why exactly the same HTML list added to the Back Template and a field end up being rendered differently! For reference, the HTML field that I manually input into AnkiDroid as ```html Verb
  1. (literally) to challenge (to a fight); to throw down the gauntlet
  2. (figuratively) to challenge (invite someone to take part in a contest)
  3. (figuratively) to challenge (put demands on); to test
  4. (figuratively) to challenge (dispute the validity of something)
Noun
  1. challenge; difficulty
``` is converted internally to: ```html Verb

  1. (literally) to challenge (to a fight); to throw down the gauntlet

  2. (figuratively) to challenge (invite someone to take part in a contest)

  3. (figuratively) to challenge (put demands on); to test

  4. (figuratively) to challenge (dispute the validity of something)


Noun

  1. challenge; difficulty

``` If I manually replace `
` on AnkiDesktop with newlines, then the newlines are accepted and the list becomes normal! ---
**Author:** ![bugman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@bugman](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/bugman)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 1:56pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/bug-report-newlines-duplicated-within-fields/40884/8 "2024-02-13T13:56:33Z")
Thanks, that is clearly the same issue. For a permanent record, I’ll repost my response on that bug report. * * * I think I have encountered the same bug - or more like logic issue - and reported it on the Anki forum at: ``` https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/bug-report-newlines-duplicated-within-fields/40884 ``` Newlines input into AnkiDroid fields are being converted to `
`. This is in the file: `AnkiDroid/src/main/java/com/ichi2/anki/servicelayer/NoteService.kt` Specifically in the function `convertToHtmlNewline()`. The argument `replaceNewlines` appears be set to `true`. So all newlines in fields are converted to `
`. For reference, the code is: ```kt /** * @param replaceNewlines Converts [FieldEditText.NEW_LINE] to HTML linebreaks */ @VisibleForTesting @CheckResult fun getFieldsAsBundleForPreview(editFields: List?, replaceNewlines: Boolean): Bundle { val fields = Bundle() // Save the content of all the note fields. We use the field's ord as the key to // easily map the fields correctly later. if (editFields == null) { return fields } for (e in editFields) { if (e?.fieldText == null) { continue } val fieldValue = convertToHtmlNewline(e.fieldText!!, replaceNewlines) fields.putString(e.ord.toString(), fieldValue) } return fields } fun convertToHtmlNewline(fieldData: String, replaceNewlines: Boolean): String { return if (!replaceNewlines) { fieldData } else { fieldData.replace(FieldEditText.NEW_LINE, "
") } } ``` This is being called from: `AnkiDroid/src/main/java/com/ichi2/anki/NoteEditor.kt` The code is: ```kt private fun shouldReplaceNewlines(): Boolean { return AnkiDroidApp.instance.sharedPrefs() .getBoolean(PREF_NOTE_EDITOR_NEWLINE_REPLACE, true) } ``` Looking through the interface, I found this option buried under: `Settings -> Advanced -> Workarounds -> Replace newlines with HTML` The text of this option is: `In the Note Editor, convert any instances of
to newlines when editing a card` Turing this off fixes the problem! But the logic seems reversed, as newlines are instead being converted to `
` **and vice versa**. As a solution, could this option please be turned off by default? Having this option on by defaut is frighteningly confusing. And maybe the text of the option clarified by changing to: `In the Note Editor, convert all newlines to be stored internally within the card as
(HTML line breaks)` ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/anki2/original/1X/8f1279ababc5879d54e4838989f606cfe55af8c7.jpeg) [@system](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/system)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 1:57pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/bug-report-newlines-duplicated-within-fields/40884/9 "2024-03-14T13:57:01Z")
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