"Return Loan" is Unresponsive and Freezes System When Loan is Accessed via Preparations Form

[bhumikaguptaa]

Describe the bug

The "Return Loan" functionality on the Loan form becomes unresponsive and can cause the browser to slow down or freeze entirely. This issue occurs specifically when the Loan record is opened from the "Show Loans" button within a Collection Object's "Preparations" section.

If the same Loan record is accessed directly through a Loan Query, the "Return Loan" button and subsequent actions work correctly and without delay.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

Workflow 1: (Failing)

• Navigate to a Collection Object record that has at least one preparation on loan.
• Scroll down to the Preparations section.
• Click the "Show Loans" button associated with the loaned preparation.
• In the window that appears, click to open the full Loan record.
• On the Loan record screen, click the "Return Loan" button.

Workflow 2: (Working)

• Navigate to the Query builder.
• Create and execute a query for the same Loan record from Workflow 1 (e.g., query by Loan Number).
• Open the Loan record from the query results.
• On the Loan record screen, click the "Return Loan" button.

Expected behavior

When the "Return Loan" button is clicked, the "Loan Preparation" return modal should appear immediately, allowing the user to process the return. This functionality should be consistent regardless of how the user navigated to the Loan record.

Please fill out the following information manually:

• OS: Windows 10
• Browser: Firefox
• Specify 7 Version: v7.11.1
• Database Name: uw geo collection
• Collection name: Fossil vertebrates
• User Name: Lvietti
• URL: https://uw-geo-collections.specifycloud.org/specify/simple-search/?q=16781

Reported By
University of Wyoming

[specifysoftware]

This issue has been mentioned on Specify Community Forum. There might be relevant details there:

https://discourse.specifysoftware.org/t/unresponsive-return-loan-button-from-co-show-interactions/2915/1

[bhumikaguptaa]

Philippe Verley, IRD, also reported the same issue!

Link to the Speciforum: https://discourse.specifysoftware.org/t/unresponsive-return-loan-button-from-co-show-interactions/2915

[specifysoftware]

This issue has been mentioned on Specify Community Forum. There might be relevant details there:

https://discourse.specifysoftware.org/t/unresponsive-return-loan-button-from-co-show-interactions/2915/2

[grantfitzsimmons]

Reported by: Garth at the University of Michigan on BoldDesk:

Hello Specify Support,

We’re seeing a repeatable UI freeze (“Page Unresponsive”) in Specify 7 when returning a loan from the nested popup path:

Collection Object >

Preparations subform >

Show Loans button .

Loan popup form >

Return Loan button

Behavior: the browser window hangs and eventually shows “Page Unresponsive.”
Workaround: opening the Loan record directly (Search > Loan), then using Return Loan works normally.

Repro details

S7 version: both 7.9.6.2 and 7.11.2.1 tried

Browsers tried: Chrome 141.0.7390.66

Multiple databases and multiple loans — same result

Network tab shows several API calls; the return call appears to complete, then the UI stalls

In the meantime we’re using the direct-Loan workflow as a workaround.

Best,

Garth