On 20/11/2011 19:40, Steve Fryatt wrote:
> I know it's boring, but detailed bug reports really do help.
Or rather, bug reports with no details are worse than useless. If I
receive a bug report like "It crashed.", I don't bother even looking in
the direction of the dev tools.
If anybody is in doubt, consider it like going to the doctor and saying
"I don't feel well" and *nothing* else. He'll eventually send you away,
maybe with a prescription for paracetamol. Which probably won't make you
better, it'll just hurt a little less.
You need to have *obvious* symptoms, or be willing to share information
before the doctor can ascertain if your bladder is about to explode, or
you have knocked yourself on the head and lost sight in one eye...
It's the same with programming. If the program starts up with some sort
of message that you need to click to dismiss... well, actually, nobody
even remotely cares what the *button* says (Continue, OK, Cancel, etc).
It is the message ITSELF that is the important thing. What does the
MESSAGE say? "Sector error at 01:03940549F" or "Missing font
definitions" or "I'm a potato, and so is my horse.". What is the message
SAYING?
Likewise, if something happens that you don't like or think is wrong, or
it crashes... Stop. Step back. Try to remember what you did to get to
that event. Then try it again. If you can reproduce the problem, then
write to the author describing EVERY SINGLE action. Every mouse click,
every key press, every time you pass wind during the action. Everything.
Absolutely.
This will permit the programmer to start up the software and attempt to
reproduce your exact steps (except maybe passing wind) in order to
replicate the problem. If it is reproducible, it may be an "a-ha!
that'll be <meh>", or a longer poke around with a debugger.
Given details, the problem can be tracked down, the bug pulled out, and
nailed to the wall with a hefty dose of extreme prejudice.
But if you are more inclined to send an email saying only "your program
crashed, please fix"... frankly... don't bother.
Don't fancy ending on a downer, so I'll add:
My unicorn is a potato too.
;-)
Best wishes,
Rick.