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Reporting software problems

Ian Mayo edited this page Jun 10, 2015 · 7 revisions

This is guidance for Debrief users, developers, and testers.

Purpose

The whole point of reporting Debrief problems is so that they can be investigated and, if necessary, resolved. The resolution may be through a software or documentation change.

Reproducible Problem

A bug is many, many times easier to be fixed if it can be reproduced by the developer. So, there is great value in providing context to what happened.

Important information

The Title

A good title will uniquely describe an issue, helping to prevent duplication & confusion.

Instead of Sorting is not working properly, try Sorting is happening in reverse order

Actions Performed (Steps)

These steps are very valuable in allowing the developer to reproduce the problem, particularly if the issue is complex or detailed.

Expected and Actual Results

Listing the expected and actual results removes any ambiguity in the issue being reported.

Attachments

Video

Obviously, a picture paints a thousand words - and this is particularly relevant in issues related to the GUI. A video can be even more effective in explaining a sequence of events.

Error Log

On occasion the developers may ask for a copy of Debrief's error log. Do this as follows:

  1. With Debrief open, select Window/Show View/Error log Error view (note - the view may be a different size, but will contain similar content).

  2. At the top-right of the Error View will be a small toolbar of icons. Click on the button named "Export log" (it's probably the first button). Then save the content to a *.log file. GitHub issues don't allow text files to be attached, so navigate to pastebin.com, paste the text into the empty text area, submit the page, then add the pastebin URL (something like http://pastebin.com/k6LqZsEH).