Bugs FAQ

If you believe you've found a bug, then you can help by reporting it to the OpenCLAWS development team. But before you do, there are a few guidelines we'd like you to know about and follow.

• Please make sure to search existing tickets to see if the bug has already been reported. If it has, then you're welcome to add your comments or experience. Duplicate bug tickets will be closed as Duplicate so it makes life easier if you look before you submit a new ticket.

• When you submit a bug report, please be descriptive. Comments like "it's broken" or "feature X is not working" are not helpful. Tell us specifically what module or component seems to be broken, what you expect it to do, and what it's actually doing. Can you reproduce it? If yes, then set your log level to 6 (debug) and try again. Then copy the log output and paste it into the ticket. Including screenshots when appropriate can also be very helpful.

• By default all tickets are created as an Issue. You can choose Defect for bugs or leave it alone if you're not sure.

• Choose a priority that describes the urgency of the request. Critical says "this bug could destroy my whole environment, fires, death, chaos, etc" and Trivial says "it really doesn't matter, I'm just being picky". Usually something in between is what you want, but if you're not sure then select Major.

• In general, you should not select a milestone. Doing so could delay a fix for your bug.

• Remember we asked you to tell us what component you're having trouble with? Well the Component option is where you can do that. If you're not sure which to pick, then select General and describe where you're having a problem in the ticket details.

• Select the version of the OpenCLAWS release that you have.

• You should either add your e-mail address to your preferences or put it in the CC field. This way you'll receive notification when the ticket is updated.

• We may close your ticket with a status of Invalid. If you see this then don't take it personally but whatever you're requesting is not a bug/is already a feature/doesn't work the way you think it does/etc. We'll usually explain the reasoning in the closing comments.

• If we've decided not to implement your suggestion or a bug is actually a design choice then we'll close with a status of WontFix. Sometimes requests are out of the project scope and we can't devote any time to it. If you still wish to have whatever you're asking for, then you're free to implement it. You can even give us a patch to put in the user contributions folder so others can take advantage of it.

• A closing status of Duplicate means that your issue has already been reported. If that happens, then we'll include a reference to the other ticket so you can follow along.

• If we close your ticket with a status of WorksForMe, then we were unable to reproduce your problem. Generally this will only happen after we're certain (read: many many tries). If you're able to provide steps to reproduce and maybe a core dump, then you're free to re-open the ticket.

• Do re-open tickets when a previously reported bug shows up again. If you create a new ticket, we'll close it as Duplicate and re-open the old ticket.

• Do not re-open tickets just because you don't like the result. If you're not satisfied with the resolution of a ticket, then you can discuss it on the OpenCLAWS-Dev mailing list.

• If you think you fixed a bug and would like to contribute a patch (awesome), then you still need a ticket. You can attach the patch to the ticket and we'll take a look.

Now that you know what to do, login to Trac (or register) and then create a new ticket. Thanks for contributing!