1PERLBUG(1) Perl Programmers Reference Guide PERLBUG(1)
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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 bug reports (and thank-
22 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 Bug reports should be submitted to the GitHub issue tracker at
34 <https://github.com/Perl/perl5/issues>. The perlbug@perl.org address no
35 longer automatically opens tickets. You can use this tool to compose
36 your report and save it to a file which you can then submit to the
37 issue tracker.
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 or perl -V to get system configuration
42 information to include in your issue report.
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 appropriate 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 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 submit your patch via the GitHub Pull
127 Request workflow as described in perldoc perlhack. You may also
128 send patches to perl5-porters@perl.org. When sending a patch,
129 create it using "git format-patch" if possible, though a unified
130 diff created with "diff -pu" will do nearly as well.
131 Your patch may be returned with requests for changes, or requests
133 for more detailed explanations about your fix.
134 Here are a few hints for creating high-quality patches:
136 Make sure the patch is not reversed (the first argument to diff is
138 typically the original file, the second argument your changed
139 file). Make sure you test your patch by applying it with "git am"
140 or the "patch" program before you send it on its way. Try to
141 follow the same style as the code you are trying to patch. Make
142 sure your patch really does work ("make test", if the thing you're
143 patching is covered by Perl's test suite).
144 Can you use "perlbug" to submit a thank-you note?
146 Yes, you can do this by either using the "-T" option, or by
147 invoking the program as "perlthanks". Thank-you notes are good. It
148 makes people smile.
149 Please make your issue title informative. "a bug" is not informative.
151 Neither is "perl crashes" nor is "HELP!!!". These don't help. A
152 compact description of what's wrong is fine.
153 Having done your bit, please be prepared to wait, to be told the bug is
155 in your code, or possibly to get no reply at all. The volunteers who
156 maintain Perl are busy folks, so if your problem is an obvious bug in
157 your own code, is difficult to understand or is a duplicate of an
158 existing report, you may not receive a personal reply.
159 If it is important to you that your bug be fixed, do monitor the issue
161 tracker (you will be subscribed to notifications for issues you submit
162 or comment on) and the commit logs to development versions of Perl, and
163 encourage the maintainers with kind words or offers of frosty
164 beverages. (Please do be kind to the maintainers. Harassing or
165 flaming them is likely to have the opposite effect of the one you
166 want.)
167 Feel free to update the ticket about your bug on http://rt.perl.org if
169 a new version of Perl is released and your bug is still present.
170
172 -a Address to send the report to. Defaults to perlbug@perl.org.
173 -A Don't send a bug received acknowledgement to the reply address.
175 Generally it is only a sensible to use this option if you are a
176 perl maintainer actively watching perl porters for your message
177 to arrive.
178 -b Body of the report. If not included on the command line, or in
180 a file with -f, you will get a chance to edit the message.
181 -C Don't send copy to administrator.
183 -c Address to send copy of report to. Defaults to the address of
185 the local perl administrator (recorded when perl was built).
186 -d Data mode (the default if you redirect or pipe output). This
188 prints out your configuration data, without mailing anything.
189 You can use this with -v to get more complete data.
190 -e Editor to use.
192 -f File containing the body of the report. Use this to quickly
194 send a prepared message.
195 -F File to output the results to instead of sending as an email.
197 Useful particularly when running perlbug on a machine with no
198 direct internet connection.
199 -h Prints a brief summary of the options.
201 -ok Report successful build on this system to perl porters. Forces
203 -S and -C. Forces and supplies values for -s and -b. Only
204 prompts for a return address if it cannot guess it (for use
205 with make). Honors return address specified with -r. You can
206 use this with -v to get more complete data. Only makes a
207 report if this system is less than 60 days old.
208 -okay As -ok except it will report on older systems.
210 -nok Report unsuccessful build on this system. Forces -C. Forces
212 and supplies a value for -s, then requires you to edit the
213 report and say what went wrong. Alternatively, a prepared
214 report may be supplied using -f. Only prompts for a return
215 address if it cannot guess it (for use with make). Honors
216 return address specified with -r. You can use this with -v to
217 get more complete data. Only makes a report if this system is
218 less than 60 days old.
219 -nokay As -nok except it will report on older systems.
221 -p The names of one or more patch files or other text attachments
223 to be included with the report. Multiple files must be
224 separated with commas.
225 -r Your return address. The program will ask you to confirm its
227 default if you don't use this option.
228 -S Send without asking for confirmation.
230 -s Subject to include with the message. You will be prompted if
232 you don't supply one on the command line.
233 -t Test mode. The target address defaults to
235 perlbug-test@perl.org. Also makes it possible to command
236 perlbug from a pipe or file, for testing purposes.
237 -T Send a thank-you note instead of a bug report.
239 -v Include verbose configuration data in the report.
241
243 Kenneth Albanowski (<kjahds@kjahds.com>), subsequently doctored by
244 Gurusamy Sarathy (<gsar@activestate.com>), Tom Christiansen
245 (<tchrist@perl.com>), Nathan Torkington (<gnat@frii.com>), Charles F.
246 Randall (<cfr@pobox.com>), Mike Guy (<mjtg@cam.ac.uk>), Dominic Dunlop
247 (<domo@computer.org>), Hugo van der Sanden (<hv@crypt.org>), Jarkko
248 Hietaniemi (<jhi@iki.fi>), Chris Nandor (<pudge@pobox.com>), Jon Orwant
249 (<orwant@media.mit.edu>, Richard Foley (<richard.foley@rfi.net>), Jesse
250 Vincent (<jesse@bestpractical.com>), and Craig A. Berry
251 (<craigberry@mac.com>).
252
254 perl(1), perldebug(1), perldiag(1), perlport(1), perltrap(1), diff(1),
255 patch(1), dbx(1), gdb(1)
256
258 None known (guess what must have been used to report them?)
259perl v5.30.2 2020-03-27 PERLBUG(1)