1 $gReportingHtml = <<HTML_END
2 <!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
5 <title>$gProject $gBugs - how to report a $gBug</title>
6 <link rev="made" href="mailto:$gMaintainerEmail">
10 <h1>How to report a $gBug in $gProject</h1>
13 <a href="mailto:submit\@$gEmailDomain"><code>submit\@$gEmailDomain</code></a>,
16 <p>Please don't report several unrelated $gBugs - especially ones in
17 different packages - in one message. Also, please don't mail your $gBug
18 report to any mailing lists or recipients other than
19 <code>submit\@$gEmailDomain</code> (for details of how to do this right, see
20 <a href="#xcc">below</a>).
22 <p>Lists of currently-outstanding $gBugs are available <a href="./">on
23 the World Wide Web</a> and <a href="Access.html">elsewhere</a> - see
24 other documents for details.
26 <p>You need to put a pseudo-header at the start of the body of the
27 message, with the <code>Package:</code> and <code>Version:</code>
28 lines giving the name and version of the package which has the $gBug.
29 (The pseudo-header fields should start at the very start of their lines.)
33 <p><em>See below for <a href="#details">further requirements</a></em>.
37 <h2><A name="example">Example</a></h2>
39 <p>A $gBug report, with mail header, looks something like this:
41 To: submit\@$gEmailDomain
42 From: diligent\@testing.linux.org
43 Subject: Hello says `goodbye'
44 <A name="pseudoheader">Package: hello</a>
47 When I invoke `hello' without arguments from an ordinary shell
48 prompt it prints `goodbye', rather than the expected `hello, world'.
57 I suggest that the output string, in hello.c, be corrected.
59 I am using Debian GNU/Linux 2.2, kernel 2.2.17-pre-patch-13
63 <h2><A name="details">Please include in your report:</a></h2>
66 <li>The <em>exact</em> and <em>complete</em> text of any error
67 messages printed or logged. This is very important!
68 <li>Exactly what you typed or did to demonstrate the problem.
69 <li>A description of the incorrect behaviour: exactly what behaviour
70 you were expecting, and what you observed. A transcript of an
71 example session is a good way of showing this.
72 <li>A suggested fix, or even a patch, if you have one.
73 <li>Details of the configuration of the program with the problem.
74 Include the complete text of its configuration files.
80 <p>Include any detail that seems relevant - you are in very little danger
81 of making your report too long by including too much information. If
82 they are small please include in your report any files you were using
83 to reproduce the problem (uuencoding them if they may contain odd
86 <p>Of course, like any email, you should include a clear, descriptive
87 <code>Subject</code> line in your main mail header. The subject you
88 give will be used as the initial $gBug title in the tracking system, so
89 please try to make it informative!
91 <h2><A name="xcc">Sending copies of $gBug reports to other addresses</a></h2>
93 <p>Sometimes it is necessary to send a copy of a $gBug report to somewhere
94 else besides the mailing list and the package maintainer, which is where they
97 <p>You could do this by CC'ing your $gBug report to the other address(es),
98 but then the other copies would not have the $gBug report number put in
99 the <code>Reply-To</code> field and the <code>Subject</code> line.
100 When the recipients reply they will probably preserve the
101 <code>submit\@$gEmailDomain</code> entry in the header and have their
102 message filed as a new $gBug report. This leads to many duplicated
105 <p>The <em>right</em> way to do this is to use the <code>X-Debbugs-CC</code>
106 header. Add a line like this to your message's mail header (<em>not</em>
107 to the pseudo header with the <code>Package</code> field):
109 X-Debbugs-CC: other-list\@cosmic.edu
111 This will cause the $gBug tracking system to send a copy of your report
112 to the address(es) in the <code>X-Debbugs-CC</code> line as well as to
115 <p>This feature can often be combined usefully with mailing
116 <code>quiet</code> - see below.
119 <h2><A name="severities">Severity levels</a></h2>
121 <p>If a report is of a particularly serious $gBug, or is merely a feature
122 request that, you can set the severity level of the $gBug as you report
123 it. This is not required, however, and the developers will assign an
124 appropriate severity level to your report if you do not.
126 <p>To assign a severity level put a
127 <code>Severity: <var>severity</var></code> line in the pseudo-header,
128 together with <code>Package</code> and <code>Version</code>. The
129 severity levels available are described in the
130 <a href="Developer.html#severities">developers' documentation</a>.
133 <h2><a name="tags">Assigning tags</a></h2>
135 <p>You can set tags on a $gBug as you are reporting it. For example, if
136 you are including a patch with your $gBug report, you may wish to set
137 the <code>patch</code> tag. This is not required, and the developers
138 will set tags on your report as and when it is appropriate.
140 <p>To set tags, put a <code>Tags: <var>tags</var></code> line in the
141 <a name="#pseudoheader">pseudo-header</a> together with the usual
142 <code>Package</code> and <code>Version</code>. The tags available are
144 <a href="Developer.html#tags">developers' documentation</a>.
147 <h2>Not forwarding to the mailing list - minor $gBug reports</h2>
149 <p>If a $gBug report is minor (for example, a documentation typo or other
150 trivial build problem), or you're submitting many reports at once,
151 send them to <code>maintonly\@$gEmailDomain</code> or
152 <code>quiet\@$gEmailDomain</code>.
153 <code>maintonly</code> will send the report on to the package
154 maintainer (provided you supply a correct <code>Package</code> line in
155 the pseudo-header and the maintainer is known), and <code>quiet</code>
156 will not forward it anywhere at all but only file it as a $gBug (useful
157 if, for example, you are submitting many similar $gBugs and want to post
160 <p>If you do this the $gBug system will set the <code>Reply-To</code> of
161 any forwarded message so that replies will by default be processed in
162 the same way as the original report.
164 <h3>$gBug reports against unknown packages</h3>
166 <p>If the $gBug tracking system doesn't know who the maintainer of the
167 relevant package is it'll forward the report to
168 the mailing list even if <code>maintonly</code> was used.
170 <p>When sending to <code>maintonly\@$gEmailDomain</code> or
171 <var>nnn</var><code>-maintonly\@$gEmailDomain</code> you should make sure that
172 the $gBug report is assigned to the right package, by putting a correct
173 <code>Package</code> at the top of an original submission of a report,
174 or by using <a href="server-control.html">the
175 <code>control\@$gEmailDomain</code> service</a> to (re)assign the report
176 appropriately first if it isn't correct already.
184 <li><a href="./">Bug tracking system main contents page.</a>
185 <li><a href="Developer.html">Developers' information regarding the $gBug processing system.</a>
186 <li><a href="Access.html">Accessing the $gBug tracking logs other than by WWW.</a>
187 <li><a href="db/ix/full.html">Full list of outstanding and recent $gBug reports.</a>
188 <li><a href="db/ix/packages.html">Packages with $gBug reports.</a>
189 <li><a href="db/ix/maintainers.html">Maintainers of packages with $gBug reports.</a>