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 appropriate 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           If so, that's great news; bug reports with patches are likely to
125           receive significantly more attention and interest than those
126           without patches.  Please attach your patch to the report using the
127           "-p" option.  When sending a patch, create it using "git
128           format-patch" if possible, though a unified diff created with "diff
129           -pu" will do nearly as well.
130
131           Your patch may be returned with requests for changes, or requests
132           for more detailed explanations about your fix.
133
134           Here are a few hints for creating high-quality patches:
135
136           Make sure the patch is not reversed (the first argument to diff is
137           typically the original file, the second argument your changed
138           file).  Make sure you test your patch by applying it with "git am"
139           or the "patch" program before you send it on its way.  Try to
140           follow the same style as the code you are trying to patch.  Make
141           sure your patch really does work ("make test", if the thing you're
142           patching is covered by Perl's test suite).
143
144       Can you use "perlbug" to submit the report?
145           perlbug will, amongst other things, ensure your report includes
146           crucial information about your version of perl.  If "perlbug" is
147           unable to mail your report after you have typed it in, you may have
148           to compose the message yourself, add the output produced by
149           "perlbug -d" and email it to perlbug@perl.org.  If, for some
150           reason, you cannot run "perlbug" at all on your system, be sure to
151           include the entire output produced by running "perl -V" (note the
152           uppercase V).
153
154           Whether you use "perlbug" or send the email manually, please make
155           your Subject line informative.  "a bug" is not informative.
156           Neither is "perl crashes" nor is "HELP!!!".  These don't help.  A
157           compact description of what's wrong is fine.
158
159       Can you use "perlbug" to submit a thank-you note?
160           Yes, you can do this by either using the "-T" option, or by
161           invoking the program as "perlthanks". Thank-you notes are good. It
162           makes people smile.
163
164       Having done your bit, please be prepared to wait, to be told the bug is
165       in your code, or possibly to get no reply at all.  The volunteers who
166       maintain Perl are busy folks, so if your problem is an obvious bug in
167       your own code, is difficult to understand or is a duplicate of an
168       existing report, you may not receive a personal reply.
169
170       If it is important to you that your bug be fixed, do monitor the
171       perl5-porters@perl.org mailing list (mailing lists are moderated, your
172       message may take a while to show up) and the commit logs to development
173       versions of Perl, and encourage the maintainers with kind words or
174       offers of frosty beverages.  (Please do be kind to the maintainers.
175       Harassing or flaming them is likely to have the opposite effect of the
176       one you want.)
177
178       Feel free to update the ticket about your bug on http://rt.perl.org if
179       a new version of Perl is released and your bug is still present.
180

OPTIONS

182       -a      Address to send the report to.  Defaults to perlbug@perl.org.
183
184       -A      Don't send a bug received acknowledgement to the reply address.
185               Generally it is only a sensible to use this option if you are a
186               perl maintainer actively watching perl porters for your message
187               to arrive.
188
189       -b      Body of the report.  If not included on the command line, or in
190               a file with -f, you will get a chance to edit the message.
191
192       -C      Don't send copy to administrator.
193
194       -c      Address to send copy of report to.  Defaults to the address of
195               the local perl administrator (recorded when perl was built).
196
197       -d      Data mode (the default if you redirect or pipe output).  This
198               prints out your configuration data, without mailing anything.
199               You can use this with -v to get more complete data.
200
201       -e      Editor to use.
202
203       -f      File containing the body of the report.  Use this to quickly
204               send a prepared message.
205
206       -F      File to output the results to instead of sending as an email.
207               Useful particularly when running perlbug on a machine with no
208               direct internet connection.
209
210       -h      Prints a brief summary of the options.
211
212       -ok     Report successful build on this system to perl porters. Forces
213               -S and -C. Forces and supplies values for -s and -b. Only
214               prompts for a return address if it cannot guess it (for use
215               with make). Honors return address specified with -r.  You can
216               use this with -v to get more complete data.   Only makes a
217               report if this system is less than 60 days old.
218
219       -okay   As -ok except it will report on older systems.
220
221       -nok    Report unsuccessful build on this system.  Forces -C.  Forces
222               and supplies a value for -s, then requires you to edit the
223               report and say what went wrong.  Alternatively, a prepared
224               report may be supplied using -f.  Only prompts for a return
225               address if it cannot guess it (for use with make). Honors
226               return address specified with -r.  You can use this with -v to
227               get more complete data.  Only makes a report if this system is
228               less than 60 days old.
229
230       -nokay  As -nok except it will report on older systems.
231
232       -p      The names of one or more patch files or other text attachments
233               to be included with the report.  Multiple files must be
234               separated with commas.
235
236       -r      Your return address.  The program will ask you to confirm its
237               default if you don't use this option.
238
239       -S      Send without asking for confirmation.
240
241       -s      Subject to include with the message.  You will be prompted if
242               you don't supply one on the command line.
243
244       -t      Test mode.  The target address defaults to
245               perlbug-test@perl.org.  Also makes it possible to command
246               perlbug from a pipe or file, for testing purposes.
247
248       -T      Send a thank-you note instead of a bug report.
249
250       -v      Include verbose configuration data in the report.
251

AUTHORS

253       Kenneth Albanowski (<kjahds@kjahds.com>), subsequently doctored by
254       Gurusamy Sarathy (<gsar@activestate.com>), Tom Christiansen
255       (<tchrist@perl.com>), Nathan Torkington (<gnat@frii.com>), Charles F.
256       Randall (<cfr@pobox.com>), Mike Guy (<mjtg@cam.ac.uk>), Dominic Dunlop
257       (<domo@computer.org>), Hugo van der Sanden (<hv@crypt.org>), Jarkko
258       Hietaniemi (<jhi@iki.fi>), Chris Nandor (<pudge@pobox.com>), Jon Orwant
259       (<orwant@media.mit.edu>, Richard Foley (<richard.foley@rfi.net>), Jesse
260       Vincent (<jesse@bestpractical.com>), and Craig A. Berry
261       (<craigberry@mac.com>).
262

SEE ALSO

264       perl(1), perldebug(1), perldiag(1), perlport(1), perltrap(1), diff(1),
265       patch(1), dbx(1), gdb(1)
266

BUGS

268       None known (guess what must have been used to report them?)
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272perl v5.26.3                      2019-05-11                        PERLBUG(1)
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