Return AttributeKey as number

[akasunil]

Description

getSelectionStart() function of block editor return attributeKey as number in Gutenberg file block. is it expected behavior? Shouldn’t it return selected attribute key from available attributes of file block instead of number ? what does this number represent ?

Step-by-step reproduction instructions

Execute wp.data.select("core/block-editor").getSelectionStart() after selecting file block in editor

Screenshots, screen recording, code snippet

Environment info

No response

Please confirm that you have searched existing issues in the repo.

Yes

Please confirm that you have tested with all plugins deactivated except Gutenberg.

Yes

[talldan]

I believe it returns the identifier prop set on the RichText. The file block doesn't have an identifier set, so a numeric id seems to be used instead.

It could be fixed by adding identifiers in the block, which I think might be best practice when a block contains more than one RichText element.

[gziolo]

@ellatrix, should we make identifier a required prop when using RichText in the context of block edit?

[Mamaduka]

@gziolo, I think it's only "required' when RichText is bound to the attribute. @jsnajdr added the documentation in #60036.

[jsnajdr]

Site Title and Site Tagline are examples of blocks where there's no reasonable identifier for the RichText. The editable field is bound to the editEntityRecord( 'root', 'site' ) entity, not to a block attribute.

It's bit of an unsolved problem what the identifier should be in this case, and what the Redux state (getSelectionStart()) should contain as attributeKey. I posted a comment about it (#58913 (comment)) demonstrating a few little bugs that are caused by this.