#
# Contributor(s): Eli Goldberg <eli@prometheus-music.com>
# Gervase Markham <gerv@gerv.net>
+ # Vera Horiuchi
# Claudius Gayle
# Peter Mock
# Chris Pratt
# Tom Schutter
# Chris Yeh
#%]
-
-[% PROCESS global/variables.none.tmpl %]
-[% INCLUDE global/header.html.tmpl title = "$terms.Bug Writing Guidelines" %]
-<h3>Why You Should Read This</h3>
+[% PROCESS "global/field-descs.none.tmpl" %]
+
+[% INCLUDE global/header.html.tmpl title = "$terms.Bug Writing Guidelines" %]
+
+<h3>Contents</h3>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#why">Why You Should Read This</a></li>
+<li><a href="#useful">What Makes [% terms.aBug %] Report Useful?</a></li>
+<li><a href="#before">Before You Start...</a></li>
+<li><a href="#reporting">Reporting a New [% terms.Bug %]</a></li>
+<li><a href="#more">More Information on Writing Good [% terms.Bugs %]</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<h3><a name="why">Why You Should Read This</a></h3>
<blockquote>
<p>Simply put, the more effectively you report [% terms.abug %], the more
- likely an
- engineer will actually fix it.</p>
-
- <p>These guidelines are a general tutorial to teach novice and
- intermediate [% terms.bug %] reporters how to compose effective
- [% terms.bug %] reports. Not
- every sentence may precisely apply to your software project.</p>
+ likely an engineer will actually fix it. This tutorial teaches novice and
+ intermediate [% terms.bug %] reporters how to write effective
+ [% terms.bug %] reports.</p>
</blockquote>
-<h3>How to Write a Useful [% terms.Bug %] Report</h3>
+<h3><a name="useful">What Makes [% terms.aBug %] Report Useful?</a></h3>
<blockquote>
- <p>Useful [% terms.bug %] reports are ones that get [% terms.bugs %] fixed.
- A useful [% terms.bug %] report normally has two qualities:</p>
-
- <ol>
- <li><b>Reproducible.</b> If an engineer can't see the [% terms.bug %]
- herself to prove that it exists, she'll probably stamp your [% terms.bug %]
- report "WORKSFORME" or "INVALID" and move on to the next [% terms.bug %].
- Every detail you can provide helps.<br>
+ <p>Useful [% terms.bug %] reports get [% terms.bugs %] fixed.
+ A useful [% terms.bug %] report has two qualities:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li><b>It's Reproducible.</b> Engineers usually prefer to fix [% terms.bugs %]
+ they can actually see. If an engineer can't reproduce the [% terms.bug %],
+ it'll probably be stamped "[% resolution_descs.WORKSFORME %]" or
+ "[% resolution_descs.INVALID %]".<br>
<br>
</li>
- <li><b>Specific.</b> The quicker the engineer can isolate the
- [% terms.bug %] to a specific area, the more likely she'll expediently
- fix it. (If a programmer or tester has to decipher [% terms.abug %],
- they may spend more time cursing the submitter than solving the
- problem.)<br>
- <br>
- [ <a href="#tips" name="Anchor">Tell Me More</a> ]</li>
- </ol>
-
- <p>Let's say the application you're testing is a web browser. You crash
- at foo.com, and want to write up a [% terms.bug %] report:</p>
+ <li><b>It's Specific.</b> The quicker an engineer isolates the
+ [% terms.bug %] to a specific area, the more likely it'll be fixed. (If the
+ engineer must decipher your [% terms.bug %],
+ he or she will waste time cursing you instead.)<br>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
- <blockquote>
- <p><b>BAD:</b> "My browser crashed. I think I was on www.foo.com. I
- play golf with Bill Gates, so you better fix this problem, or I'll
- report you to him. By the way, your Back icon looks like a squashed
- rodent. UGGGLY. And my grandmother's home page is all messed up in your
- browser. Thx 4 UR help."</p>
-
- <p><b>GOOD:</b> "I crashed each time I went to www.foo.com, using the
- 2002-02-25 build on a Windows 2000 system. I also rebooted into Linux,
- and reproduced this problem using the 2002-02-24 Linux build.</p>
-
- <p>It again crashed each time upon drawing the Foo banner at the top of
- the page. I broke apart the page, and discovered that the following
- image link will crash the application reproducibly, unless you remove
- the "border=0" attribute:</p>
-
- <p><tt><IMG SRC="http://www.foo.com/images/topics/topicfoos.gif"
- width="34" height="44" border="0" alt="News"></tt></p>
- </blockquote>
</blockquote>
-<h3>How to Enter your Useful [% terms.Bug %] Report
- into [% terms.Bugzilla %]:</h3>
+<h3><a name="before">Before You Start...</a></h3>
-<blockquote>
- <p>Before you enter your [% terms.bug %], use [% terms.Bugzilla %]'s
- <a href="query.cgi">search page</a> to determine whether the defect
- you've discovered is a known, already-reported [% terms.bug %]. If
- your [% terms.bug %] is the 37th duplicate of a known issue,
- you're more likely to annoy the engineer. (Annoyed engineers fix fewer
- [% terms.bugs %].)</p>
-
- <p>Next, be sure to reproduce your [% terms.bug %] using a recent build.
+<ol>
+ <li>Before you enter your [% terms.bug %], use [% terms.Bugzilla %]'s
+ <a href="query.cgi?format=specific">search page</a> to determine whether
+ your [% terms.bug %] is known.</li>
+
+ <li>Reproduce your [% terms.bug %] using a recent build.
Engineers tend to be most interested in problems affecting the code base
- that they're actively working on. After all, the [% terms.bug %] you're
- reporting may already be fixed.</p>
+ on which they're actively working. The [% terms.bug %] you're
+ reporting may already be fixed.</li>
+</ol>
- <p>If you've discovered a new [% terms.bug %] using a current build, report
- it in [% terms.Bugzilla %]:</p>
+<blockquote>
+Can't find your [% terms.bug %] in [% terms.Bugzilla %]? And you can reproduce
+it in a recent build? Let's report it.
+</blockquote>
- <ol>
- <li>From your [% terms.Bugzilla %] main page, choose
- "<a href="enter_bug.cgi">Enter a new [% terms.bug %]</a>".</li>
+<h3><a name="reporting">Reporting a New [% terms.Bug %]</a></h3>
- <li>Select the product that you've found a [% terms.bug %] in.</li>
+<ol>
+ <li>From [% terms.Bugzilla %]'s main page, choose
+ "<a href="enter_bug.cgi">Enter a new [% terms.bug %]</a>".</li>
- <li>Enter your e-mail address, password, and press the "Log in" button.
- (If you don't yet have a password, enter your email address below and
- press the "Submit Request" button instead. You'll quickly receive
- an e-mail message with your password.)</li>
- </ol>
+ <li>Select the product in which you've found [% terms.abug %].</li>
+
+ <li>Log into [% terms.Bugzilla %].</li>
+
+ <li>Fill out the form. Here's what it all means:</li>
+
+</ol>
- <p>Now, fill out the form. Here's what it all means:</p>
<p><b>Where did you find the [% terms.bug %]?</b></p>
<blockquote>
- <p><b>Product: In which product did you find the [% terms.bug %]?</b><br>
+ <p><b>Product:</b> In which product did you find it?<br>
You just specified this on the last page, so you can't edit it
here.</p>
- <p><b>Version: In which product version did you find
- the [% terms.bug %]?</b><br>
+ <p><b>Version:</b> In which product version did you find
+ it?<br>
(If applicable)</p>
- <p><b>Component: In which component does the [% terms.bug %]
- exist?</b><br>
+ <p><b>Component:</b> In which component does it
+ exist?<br>
[% terms.Bugzilla %] requires that you select a component to enter
- a [% terms.bug %]. (Not sure which to choose? Click on the Component link.
- You'll see a description of each component, to help you make the best
- choice.)</p>
-
- <p><b>OS: On which Operating System (OS) did you find
- this [% terms.bug %]?</b>
- (e.g. Linux, Windows 2000, Mac OS 9.)<br>
- If you know the [% terms.bug %] happens on all OSs, choose 'All'.
- Otherwise, select the OS that you found the [% terms.bug %] on, or
- "Other" if your OS isn't listed.</p>
+ [% terms.abug %]. (Click the Component link to see a description of each
+ component.)</p>
+
+ <p><b>OS:</b> On which operating system (OS) did you find
+ it?
+ (e.g. Linux, Windows XP, Mac OS X.)<br>
+ If the [% terms.bug %] happens on all operating systems, choose "All".
+ Otherwise, select the OS, or "Other" if your OS isn't listed.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><b>How important is the [% terms.bug %]?</b></p>
<blockquote>
- <p><b>Severity: How damaging is the [% terms.bug %]?</b><br>
- This item defaults to 'normal'. If you're not sure what severity your
- [% terms.bug %] deserves, click on the Severity link. You'll see a
- description of each severity rating.<br>
+ <p><b>Severity:</b> How damaging is it?<br>
+ The default is 'normal' severity. (Click on the Severity link to see
+ a description of each severity rating.<br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p><b>Who will be following up on the [% terms.bug %]?</b></p>
<blockquote>
- <p><b>Assigned To: Which engineer should be responsible for fixing
- this [% terms.bug %]?</b><br>
- [% terms.Bugzilla %] will automatically assign the [% terms.bug %] to a
+ <p><b>Assigned To:</b> Which engineer should be responsible for fixing
+ it?<br>
+ [% terms.Bugzilla %] automatically assigns the [% terms.bug %] to a
default engineer upon submitting [% terms.abug %] report. If you'd prefer
- to directly assign the [% terms.bug %] to someone else, enter their e-mail
- address into this field. (To see the list of default engineers for each
- component, click on the Component link.)</p>
-
- <p><b>Cc: Who else should receive e-mail updates on changes to this
- [% terms.bug %]?</b><br>
- List the full e-mail addresses of other individuals who should receive
- an e-mail update upon every change to the [% terms.bug %] report. You can
- enter as many e-mail addresses as you'd like, separated by spaces or
- commas, as long as those people have [% terms.Bugzilla %] accounts.</p>
+ to directly assign the [% terms.bug %] to someone else, enter the person's
+ e-mail address. (To see the list of default engineers for each
+ component, click the Component link.)</p>
+
+ <p><b>Cc:</b> Who else should receive e-mail updates on changes to this
+ [% terms.bug %]?<br>
+ List the e-mail addresses of other people who should receive
+ an update whenever the [% terms.bug %] report changes. Enter as many e-mail
+ addresses as you'd like, separating them by spaces or
+ commas. Important: You can only enter people who have
+ [% terms.Bugzilla %] accounts.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><b>What else can you tell the engineer about the [% terms.bug %]?</b></p>
<blockquote>
- <p><b>Summary:</b> <b>How would you describe the [% terms.bug %], in
- approximately 60 or fewer characters?</b><br>
+ <p><b>Summary:</b> How would you describe the [% terms.bug %], in
+ approximately 60 or fewer characters?<br>
A good summary should <b>quickly and uniquely identify [% terms.abug %]
- report</b>. Otherwise, an engineer cannot meaningfully identify your
- [% terms.bug %] by its summary, and will often fail to pay attention to
- your [% terms.bug %] report when skimming through a 10
- page [% terms.bug %] list.<br>
+ report</b>. If an engineer can't identify your
+ [% terms.bug %] by its summary, it may be ignored when skimming through a
+ 10-page list.<br>
<br>
- A useful summary might be "<tt>PCMCIA install fails on Tosh Tecra
- 780DVD w/ 3c589C</tt>". "<tt>Software fails</tt>" or "<tt>install
- problem</tt>" would be examples of a bad summary.<br>
- <br>
- [ <a href="#summary">Tell Me More</a> ]<br>
+ A useful summary is "<tt>Cancelling a File Copy dialog crashes Nautilus</tt>".
+ Examples of bad summaries would be "<tt>Software crashes</tt>" or "<tt>copy problem</tt>".<br>
<br>
<b>Description:</b><br>
- Please provide a detailed problem report in this field. Your
- [% terms.bug %]'s recipients will most likely expect the following
- information:</p>
+ Provide a detailed problem report. [% terms.aBug %]'s recipients usually
+ expect the following information:</p>
<blockquote>
- <p><b>Overview Description:</b> More detailed expansion of
+ <p><b>Overview Description:</b> More detailed restatement of
summary.</p>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<pre>
-1) View any web page. (I used the default sample page,
-resource:/res/samples/test0.html)
+1) View any web page. (I used the default sample page, resource:/res/samples/test0.html)
2) Drag-select the page. (Specifically, while holding down
the mouse button, drag the mouse pointer downwards from any
point in the browser's content region to the bottom of the
-browser's content region.)
+browser's content region.)
</pre>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<pre>
-The application crashed. Stack crawl appended below from MacsBug.
+The application crashed.
</pre>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<p><b>Build Date & Platform:</b> Date and platform of the build
- that you first encountered the [% terms.bug %] in.</p>
+ in which you first encountered the [% terms.bug %].</p>
<blockquote>
<pre>
-Build 2002-03-15 on Mac OS 9.0
+Build 2006-08-10 on Mac OS 10.4.3
</pre>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<pre>
-- Also Occurs On
-Mozilla (2002-03-15 build on Windows NT 4.0)
-
-- Doesn't Occur On
-Mozilla (2002-03-15 build on Red Hat Linux; feature not supported)
-Internet Explorer 5.0 (shipping build on Windows NT 4.0)
-Netscape Communicator 4.5 (shipping build on Mac OS 9.0)
+- Doesn't Occur On Build 2006-08-10 on Windows XP Home (Service Pack 2)
</pre>
</blockquote>
For crashing [% terms.bugs %]:</p>
<ul>
- <li><b>Win32:</b> if you receive a Dr. Watson error, please note
- the type of the crash, and the module that the application crashed
- in. (e.g. access violation in apprunner.exe)</li>
+ <li><b>Windows:</b> Note the type of the crash, and the module that the
+ application crashed in (e.g. access violation in apprunner.exe).</li>
+
+ <li><b>Mac OS X:</b> Attach the "Crash Reporter" log that appears upon crash.
+ Only include the section directly below the crashing thread, usually titled
+ "Thread 0 Crashed". Please do not paste the entire log!</li>
- <li><b>Mac OS:</b> if you're running MacsBug, please provide the
- results of a <b>how</b> and an <b>sc</b>:</li>
</ul>
- <blockquote>
-<pre>
-*** MACSBUG STACK CRAWL OF CRASH (Mac OS)
-Calling chain using A6/R1 links
-Back chain ISA Caller
-00000000 PPC 0BA85E74
-03AEFD80 PPC 0B742248
-03AEFD30 PPC 0B50FDDC NSGetFactory+027FC
-PowerPC unmapped memory exception at 0B512BD0 NSGetFactory+055F0
-</pre>
- </blockquote>
</blockquote>
- </blockquote>
<p>You're done!<br>
<br>
After double-checking your entries for any possible errors, press the
- "Commit" button, and your [% terms.bug %] report will now be in
+ "Commit" button. Your [% terms.bug %] report will now be in
the [% terms.Bugzilla %] database.<br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
-<h3>More Information on Writing Good [% terms.Bugs %]</h3>
+<h3><a name="more">More Information on Writing Good [% terms.Bugs %]</a></h3>
<blockquote>
<p><b><a name="tips"></a> 1. General Tips for a Useful [% terms.Bug %]
<blockquote>
<p><b>Use an explicit structure, so your [% terms.bug %] reports are easy
to skim.</b> [% terms.Bug %] report users often need immediate access to
- specific sections of your [% terms.bug %]. If your [% terms.Bugzilla %]
- installation supports the [% terms.Bugzilla %] Helper, use it.</p>
+ specific sections of your [% terms.bug %]. Follow the structure
+ recommended above.</p>
<p><b>Avoid cuteness if it costs clarity.</b> Nobody will be laughing
at your funny [% terms.bug %] title at 3:00 AM when they can't remember how
<p><b>One [% terms.bug %] per report.</b> Completely different people
typically fix, verify, and prioritize different [% terms.bugs %]. If you
mix a handful of [% terms.bugs %] into a single report, the right people
- probably won't discover your [% terms.bugs %] in a timely fashion, or at
+ probably won't discover your [% terms.bugs %] in a timely fashion, if at
all. Certain [% terms.bugs %] are also more important than others. It's
impossible to prioritize [% terms.abug %] report when
it contains four different issues, all of differing importance.</p>
time opening up your [% terms.bug %] to determine whether it matters.</p>
<p><b>Your [% terms.bug %] will often be searched by its summary.</b> Just
- as you'd find web pages with Google by searching by keywords through
- intuition, so will other people locate your [% terms.bugs %].
- Descriptive [% terms.bug %] summaries are
- naturally keyword-rich, and easier to find.</p>
+ as you'd find web pages with Google by searching with keywords, so will other
+ people locate your [% terms.bugs %]. Descriptive [% terms.bug %] summaries are
+ naturally keyword-rich and easier to find.</p>
- <p>For example, you'll find a [% terms.bug %] titled "<tt>Dragging icons
+ <p>For example, you'll find [% terms.abug %] titled "<tt>Dragging icons
from List View to gnome-terminal doesn't paste path</tt>" if you search on
"List", "terminal", or "path". Those search keywords wouldn't have
- found a [% terms.bug %] titled "<tt>Dragging icons doesn't paste</tt>".</p>
+ found [% terms.abug %] titled "<tt>Dragging icons doesn't paste</tt>".</p>
<p>Ask yourself, "Would someone understand my [% terms.bug %] from just
- this summary?" If so, you've written a fine summary.</p>
+ this summary?" If so, you've succeeded.</p>
<p><b>Don't write titles like these:</b></p>
<p><b>Good [% terms.bug %] titles:</b></p>
<ol>
- <li>"1.0 upgrade installation fails if Mozilla M18 package present" -
- Explains problem and the context.</li>
+ <li>"Save button disabled after failed post attempt" -
+ Explains the problem and context.</li>
- <li>"RPM 4 installer crashes if launched on Red Hat 6.2 (RPM 3)
- system" - Explains what happens, and the context.</li>
+ <li>"Enter & Escape have no effect in 'Upload Photos' dialog" -
+ Also explains the problem and context.</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
projects / thirdparty / bugzilla.git / commitdiff
