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 ]  [ -h ] [ -T ]
14
15       perlbug [ -v ] [ -r returnaddress ]
16        [ -ok | -okay | -nok | -nokay ]
17
18       perlthanks
19

DESCRIPTION

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
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       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
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 or perl -V to get system configuration
42       information to include in your issue report.
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
51           the latest released version, please try to replicate your bug on
52           the 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 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
132           Your patch may be returned with requests for changes, or requests
133           for more detailed explanations about your fix.
134
135           Here are a few hints for creating high-quality patches:
136
137           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
145       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
150       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
154       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
160       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
168       Feel free to update the ticket about your bug on
169       <https://github.com/Perl/perl5/issues> if a new version of Perl is
170       released and your bug is still present.
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OPTIONS

173       -a      Address to send the report to instead of saving to a file.
174
175       -b      Body of the report.  If not included on the command line, or in
176               a file with -f, you will get a chance to edit the report.
177
178       -C      Don't send copy to administrator when sending report by mail.
179
180       -c      Address to send copy of report to when sending report by mail.
181               Defaults to the address of the local perl administrator
182               (recorded when perl was built).
183
184       -d      Data mode (the default if you redirect or pipe output).  This
185               prints out your configuration data, without saving or mailing
186               anything.  You can use this with -v to get more complete data.
187
188       -e      Editor to use.
189
190       -f      File containing the body of the report.  Use this to quickly
191               send a prepared report.
192
193       -F      File to output the results to.  Defaults to perlbug.rep.
194
195       -h      Prints a brief summary of the options.
196
197       -ok     Report successful build on this system to perl porters. Forces
198               -S and -C. Forces and supplies values for -s and -b. Only
199               prompts for a return address if it cannot guess it (for use
200               with make). Honors return address specified with -r.  You can
201               use this with -v to get more complete data.   Only makes a
202               report if this system is less than 60 days old.
203
204       -okay   As -ok except it will report on older systems.
205
206       -nok    Report unsuccessful build on this system.  Forces -C.  Forces
207               and supplies a value for -s, then requires you to edit the
208               report and say what went wrong.  Alternatively, a prepared
209               report may be supplied using -f.  Only prompts for a return
210               address if it cannot guess it (for use with make). Honors
211               return address specified with -r.  You can use this with -v to
212               get more complete data.  Only makes a report if this system is
213               less than 60 days old.
214
215       -nokay  As -nok except it will report on older systems.
216
217       -p      The names of one or more patch files or other text attachments
218               to be included with the report.  Multiple files must be
219               separated with commas.
220
221       -r      Your return address.  The program will ask you to confirm its
222               default if you don't use this option.
223
224       -S      Save or send the report without asking for confirmation.
225
226       -s      Subject to include with the report.  You will be prompted if
227               you don't supply one on the command line.
228
229       -t      Test mode.  Makes it possible to command perlbug from a pipe or
230               file, for testing purposes.
231
232       -T      Send a thank-you note instead of a bug report.
233
234       -v      Include verbose configuration data in the report.
235

AUTHORS

237       Kenneth Albanowski (<kjahds@kjahds.com>), subsequently doctored by
238       Gurusamy Sarathy (<gsar@activestate.com>), Tom Christiansen
239       (<tchrist@perl.com>), Nathan Torkington (<gnat@frii.com>), Charles F.
240       Randall (<cfr@pobox.com>), Mike Guy (<mjtg@cam.ac.uk>), Dominic Dunlop
241       (<domo@computer.org>), Hugo van der Sanden (<hv@crypt.org>), Jarkko
242       Hietaniemi (<jhi@iki.fi>), Chris Nandor (<pudge@pobox.com>), Jon Orwant
243       (<orwant@media.mit.edu>, Richard Foley (<richard.foley@rfi.net>), Jesse
244       Vincent (<jesse@bestpractical.com>), and Craig A. Berry
245       (<craigberry@mac.com>).
246

SEE ALSO

248       perl(1), perldebug(1), perldiag(1), perlport(1), perltrap(1), diff(1),
249       patch(1), dbx(1), gdb(1)
250

BUGS

252       None known (guess what must have been used to report them?)
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256perl v5.32.1                      2021-05-31                        PERLBUG(1)
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