1PERLBUG(1) Perl Programmers Reference Guide PERLBUG(1)
2
6 perlbug - how to submit bug reports on Perl
7
9 perlbug
10 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 perlbug [ -v ] [ -r returnaddress ]
16 [ -A ] [ -ok | -okay | -nok | -nokay ]
17 perlthanks
19
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 In most cases, you can just run it interactively from a command line
25 without any special arguments and follow the prompts.
26 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 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 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 When reporting a bug, please run through this checklist:
45 What version of Perl you are running?
47 Type "perl -v" at the command line to find out.
48 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 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 This tool isn't apropriate for reporting bugs in any version prior
61 to Perl 5.0.
62 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 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 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 If you are on a non-UNIX platform perldoc perlport, as some
82 features may be unimplemented or work differently.
83 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Your patch may be returned with requests for changes, or requests
131 for more detailed explanations about your fix.
132 Here are a few hints for creating high-quality patches:
134 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.
178
180 -a Address to send the report to. Defaults to perlbug@perl.org.
181 -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 -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 -C Don't send copy to administrator.
191 -c Address to send copy of report to. Defaults to the address of
193 the local perl administrator (recorded when perl was built).
194 -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 -e Editor to use.
200 -f File containing the body of the report. Use this to quickly
202 send a prepared message.
203 -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 -h Prints a brief summary of the options.
209 -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 -okay As -ok except it will report on older systems.
218 -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 -nokay As -nok except it will report on older systems.
229 -r Your return address. The program will ask you to confirm its
231 default if you don't use this option.
232 -S Send without asking for confirmation.
234 -s Subject to include with the message. You will be prompted if
236 you don't supply one on the command line.
237 -t Test mode. The target address defaults to
239 perlbug-test@perl.org.
240 -T Send a thank-you note instead of a bug report.
242 -v Include verbose configuration data in the report.
244
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
256 perl(1), perldebug(1), perldiag(1), perlport(1), perltrap(1), diff(1),
257 patch(1), dbx(1), gdb(1)
258
260 None known (guess what must have been used to report them?)
261perl v5.12.4 2011-11-04 PERLBUG(1)