1PERLBUG(1)             Perl Programmers Reference Guide             PERLBUG(1)
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NAME

6       perlbug - how to submit bug reports on Perl
7

SYNOPSIS

9       perlbug
10
11       perlbug [ -v ] [ -a address ] [ -s subject ] [ -b body | -f inputfile ]
12       [ -F outputfile ] [ -r returnaddress ] [ -e editor ]
13       [ -c adminaddress | -C ] [ -S ] [ -t ]  [ -d ]  [ -A ]  [ -h ] [ -T ]
14
15       perlbug [ -v ] [ -r returnaddress ]
16        [ -A ] [ -ok | -okay | -nok | -nokay ]
17
18       perlthanks
19

DESCRIPTION

21       This program is designed to help you generate and send bug reports (and
22       thank-you notes) about perl5 and the modules which ship with it.
23
24       In most cases, you can just run it interactively from a command line
25       without any special arguments and follow the prompts.
26
27       If you have found a bug with a non-standard port (one that was not part
28       of the standard distribution), a binary distribution, or a non-core
29       module (such as Tk, DBI, etc), then please see the documentation that
30       came with that distribution to determine the correct place to report
31       bugs.
32
33       If you are unable to send your report using perlbug (most likely
34       because your system doesn't have a way to send mail that perlbug
35       recognizes), you may be able to use this tool to compose your report
36       and save it to a file which you can then send to perlbug@perl.org using
37       your regular mail client.
38
39       In extreme cases, perlbug may not work well enough on your system to
40       guide you through composing a bug report. In those cases, you may be
41       able to use perlbug -d to get system configuration information to
42       include in a manually composed bug report to perlbug@perl.org.
43
44       When reporting a bug, please run through this checklist:
45
46       What version of Perl you are running?
47           Type "perl -v" at the command line to find out.
48
49       Are you running the latest released version of perl?
50           Look at http://www.perl.org/ to find out.  If you are not using the
51           latest released version, please try to replicate your bug on the
52           latest stable release.
53
54           Note that reports about bugs in old versions of Perl, especially
55           those which indicate you haven't also tested the current stable
56           release of Perl, are likely to receive less attention from the
57           volunteers who build and maintain Perl than reports about bugs in
58           the current release.
59
60           This tool isn't apropriate for reporting bugs in any version prior
61           to Perl 5.0.
62
63       Are you sure what you have is a bug?
64           A significant number of the bug reports we get turn out to be
65           documented features in Perl.  Make sure the issue you've run into
66           isn't intentional by glancing through the documentation that comes
67           with the Perl distribution.
68
69           Given the sheer volume of Perl documentation, this isn't a trivial
70           undertaking, but if you can point to documentation that suggests
71           the behaviour you're seeing is wrong, your issue is likely to
72           receive more attention. You may want to start with perldoc perltrap
73           for pointers to common traps that new (and experienced) Perl
74           programmers run into.
75
76           If you're unsure of the meaning of an error message you've run
77           across, perldoc perldiag for an explanation.  If the message isn't
78           in perldiag, it probably isn't generated by Perl.  You may have
79           luck consulting your operating system documentation instead.
80
81           If you are on a non-UNIX platform perldoc perlport, as some
82           features may be unimplemented or work differently.
83
84           You may be able to figure out what's going wrong using the Perl
85           debugger.  For information about how to use the debugger perldoc
86           perldebug.
87
88       Do you have a proper test case?
89           The easier it is to reproduce your bug, the more likely it will be
90           fixed -- if nobody can duplicate your problem, it probably won't be
91           addressed.
92
93           A good test case has most of these attributes: short, simple code;
94           few dependencies on external commands, modules, or libraries; no
95           platform-dependent code (unless it's a platform-specific bug);
96           clear, simple documentation.
97
98           A good test case is almost always a good candidate to be included
99           in Perl's test suite.  If you have the time, consider writing your
100           test case so that it can be easily included into the standard test
101           suite.
102
103       Have you included all relevant information?
104           Be sure to include the exact error messages, if any.  "Perl gave an
105           error" is not an exact error message.
106
107           If you get a core dump (or equivalent), you may use a debugger
108           (dbx, gdb, etc) to produce a stack trace to include in the bug
109           report.
110
111           NOTE: unless your Perl has been compiled with debug info (often
112           -g), the stack trace is likely to be somewhat hard to use because
113           it will most probably contain only the function names and not their
114           arguments.  If possible, recompile your Perl with debug info and
115           reproduce the crash and the stack trace.
116
117       Can you describe the bug in plain English?
118           The easier it is to understand a reproducible bug, the more likely
119           it will be fixed.  Any insight you can provide into the problem
120           will help a great deal.  In other words, try to analyze the problem
121           (to the extent you can) and report your discoveries.
122
123       Can you fix the bug yourself?
124           A bug report which includes a patch to fix it will almost
125           definitely be fixed.  When sending a patch, please use the "diff"
126           program with the "-u" option to generate "unified" diff files.  Bug
127           reports with patches are likely to receive significantly more
128           attention and interest than those without patches.
129
130           Your patch may be returned with requests for changes, or requests
131           for more detailed explanations about your fix.
132
133           Here are a few hints for creating high-quality patches:
134
135           Make sure the patch is not reversed (the first argument to diff is
136           typically the original file, the second argument your changed
137           file).  Make sure you test your patch by applying it with the
138           "patch" program before you send it on its way.  Try to follow the
139           same style as the code you are trying to patch.  Make sure your
140           patch really does work ("make test", if the thing you're patching
141           is covered by Perl's test suite).
142
143       Can you use "perlbug" to submit the report?
144           perlbug will, amongst other things, ensure your report includes
145           crucial information about your version of perl.  If "perlbug" is
146           unable to mail your report after you have typed it in, you may have
147           to compose the message yourself, add the output produced by
148           "perlbug -d" and email it to perlbug@perl.org.  If, for some
149           reason, you cannot run "perlbug" at all on your system, be sure to
150           include the entire output produced by running "perl -V" (note the
151           uppercase V).
152
153           Whether you use "perlbug" or send the email manually, please make
154           your Subject line informative.  "a bug" is not informative.
155           Neither is "perl crashes" nor is "HELP!!!".  These don't help.  A
156           compact description of what's wrong is fine.
157
158       Can you use "perlbug" to submit a thank-you note?
159           Yes, you can do this by either using the "-T" option, or by
160           invoking the program as "perlthanks". Thank-you notes are good. It
161           makes people smile.
162
163       Having done your bit, please be prepared to wait, to be told the bug is
164       in your code, or possibly to get no reply at all.  The volunteers who
165       maintain Perl are busy folks, so if your problem is an obvious bug in
166       your own code, is difficult to understand or is a duplicate of an
167       existing report, you may not receive a personal reply.
168
169       If it is important to you that your bug be fixed, do monitor the
170       perl5-porters@perl.org mailing list and the commit logs to development
171       versions of Perl, and encourage the maintainers with kind words or
172       offers of frosty beverages.  (Please do be kind to the maintainers.
173       Harassing or flaming them is likely to have the opposite effect of the
174       one you want.)
175
176       Feel free to update the ticket about your bug on http://rt.perl.org if
177       a new version of Perl is released and your bug is still present.
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OPTIONS

180       -a      Address to send the report to.  Defaults to perlbug@perl.org.
181
182       -A      Don't send a bug received acknowledgement to the reply address.
183               Generally it is only a sensible to use this option if you are a
184               perl maintainer actively watching perl porters for your message
185               to arrive.
186
187       -b      Body of the report.  If not included on the command line, or in
188               a file with -f, you will get a chance to edit the message.
189
190       -C      Don't send copy to administrator.
191
192       -c      Address to send copy of report to.  Defaults to the address of
193               the local perl administrator (recorded when perl was built).
194
195       -d      Data mode (the default if you redirect or pipe output).  This
196               prints out your configuration data, without mailing anything.
197               You can use this with -v to get more complete data.
198
199       -e      Editor to use.
200
201       -f      File containing the body of the report.  Use this to quickly
202               send a prepared message.
203
204       -F      File to output the results to instead of sending as an email.
205               Useful particularly when running perlbug on a machine with no
206               direct internet connection.
207
208       -h      Prints a brief summary of the options.
209
210       -ok     Report successful build on this system to perl porters. Forces
211               -S and -C. Forces and supplies values for -s and -b. Only
212               prompts for a return address if it cannot guess it (for use
213               with make). Honors return address specified with -r.  You can
214               use this with -v to get more complete data.   Only makes a
215               report if this system is less than 60 days old.
216
217       -okay   As -ok except it will report on older systems.
218
219       -nok    Report unsuccessful build on this system.  Forces -C.  Forces
220               and supplies a value for -s, then requires you to edit the
221               report and say what went wrong.  Alternatively, a prepared
222               report may be supplied using -f.  Only prompts for a return
223               address if it cannot guess it (for use with make). Honors
224               return address specified with -r.  You can use this with -v to
225               get more complete data.  Only makes a report if this system is
226               less than 60 days old.
227
228       -nokay  As -nok except it will report on older systems.
229
230       -r      Your return address.  The program will ask you to confirm its
231               default if you don't use this option.
232
233       -S      Send without asking for confirmation.
234
235       -s      Subject to include with the message.  You will be prompted if
236               you don't supply one on the command line.
237
238       -t      Test mode.  The target address defaults to
239               perlbug-test@perl.org.
240
241       -T      Send a thank-you note instead of a bug report.
242
243       -v      Include verbose configuration data in the report.
244

AUTHORS

246       Kenneth Albanowski (<kjahds@kjahds.com>), subsequently doctored by
247       Gurusamy Sarathy (<gsar@activestate.com>), Tom Christiansen
248       (<tchrist@perl.com>), Nathan Torkington (<gnat@frii.com>), Charles F.
249       Randall (<cfr@pobox.com>), Mike Guy (<mjtg@cam.a.uk>), Dominic Dunlop
250       (<domo@computer.org>), Hugo van der Sanden (<hv@crypt.org<gt>), Jarkko
251       Hietaniemi (<jhi@iki.fi>), Chris Nandor (<pudge@pobox.com>), Jon Orwant
252       (<orwant@media.mit.edu>, Richard Foley (<richard.foley@rfi.net>), and
253       Jesse Vincent (<jesse@bestpractical.com<gt>).
254

SEE ALSO

256       perl(1), perldebug(1), perldiag(1), perlport(1), perltrap(1), diff(1),
257       patch(1), dbx(1), gdb(1)
258

BUGS

260       None known (guess what must have been used to report them?)
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264perl v5.10.1                      2017-03-22                        PERLBUG(1)
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