Bug Reporting

Why You Should Read This

Like you, we want your bug reports to result in bug fixes; the more effectively a bug is reported, the more likely that a developer will actually fix it.

By following these guidelines, you can help ensure that your bugs stay at the top of the developers' heap, and get fixed. The cvsnt mailing list is the preferred method of submitting a bug, so that it can be discussed publicly by those interested.

Relevance

Bugs will be treated with higher priority if they have been tested on recent CVSNT versions. Bugs and crashdumps for CVSNT <2.5.01.1976 at this time will not be considered unless they are easily reproducible on the latest version.

Antivirus programs can cause headaches for things like CVS, which manipulate many files as part of their operation. If you are running Antivirus please repeat the bug without it installed (disabling it is often not enough). A bug which is only repeatable with an Antivirus package loaded will be referred directly to the Antivirus vendor and not considered for CVSNT development.

Originality

Please search the mailing list archives and look at the existing open bugs before reporting your bug. Reporting something as a bug that 100 people have asked previously (especially if it's been solved already) is not the best way to get on good terms with the developers!

Please read the Faq first!

Reproducability

Please give enough information to reproduce the error. The more the better - if it can't be reproduced the developers will probably mark it "WORKSFORME" and move on.

It is always better to repeat a bug on the command line rather than through a frontend, as this removes the possibility of the frontend causing the fault.

Sending the crashdump file is essential when reporting crashing bugs, as it allows the developers to quickly see exactly where the program failed and what the problem is. If you can't send it due to local email restrictions put it on a public webserver/ftp site and provide a link in the bug report. Recent CVSNT versions will do this for you, but you'll still need to provide us with enough details to find the crashdump (at least machine name and time of report).

Specificity

General descriptions of "It crashed" are not helpful. Please list any error messages, all versions of software used (including OS) and especially names and versions of frontend software used.

Examples

BAD: "CVSNT Crashed. I think I was during an update. I think that this is a really bad problem and you should fix it. You suck. Thx 4 fixing theze bugz."

GOOD: "I crashed each time when I went to update my repository. The client is 2.0.0rc1 and the Server is 2.0.0rc3, both of them running on Win2k SP2. I've attached the RCS file that causes the problem, and sent you the crashdump. Let me know if I can give more information."

OK, I've read it - how do I report the bug?

First send a detailed report to the cvsnt mailing list. A developer will then enter your bug in the trouble ticket database where you can monitor its progress.