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       Are you sure what you have is a bug?
61           A significant number of the bug reports we get turn out to be
62           documented features in Perl.  Make sure the issue you've run into
63           isn't intentional by glancing through the documentation that comes
64           with the Perl distribution.
65
66           Given the sheer volume of Perl documentation, this isn't a trivial
67           undertaking, but if you can point to documentation that suggests
68           the behaviour you're seeing is wrong, your issue is likely to
69           receive more attention. You may want to start with perldoc perltrap
70           for pointers to common traps that new (and experienced) Perl
71           programmers run into.
72
73           If you're unsure of the meaning of an error message you've run
74           across, perldoc perldiag for an explanation.  If the message isn't
75           in perldiag, it probably isn't generated by Perl.  You may have
76           luck consulting your operating system documentation instead.
77
78           If you are on a non-UNIX platform perldoc perlport, as some
79           features may be unimplemented or work differently.
80
81           You may be able to figure out what's going wrong using the Perl
82           debugger.  For information about how to use the debugger perldoc
83           perldebug.
84
85       Do you have a proper test case?
86           The easier it is to reproduce your bug, the more likely it will be
87           fixed -- if nobody can duplicate your problem, it probably won't be
88           addressed.
89
90           A good test case has most of these attributes: short, simple code;
91           few dependencies on external commands, modules, or libraries; no
92           platform-dependent code (unless it's a platform-specific bug);
93           clear, simple documentation.
94
95           A good test case is almost always a good candidate to be included
96           in Perl's test suite.  If you have the time, consider writing your
97           test case so that it can be easily included into the standard test
98           suite.
99
100       Have you included all relevant information?
101           Be sure to include the exact error messages, if any.  "Perl gave an
102           error" is not an exact error message.
103
104           If you get a core dump (or equivalent), you may use a debugger
105           (dbx, gdb, etc) to produce a stack trace to include in the bug
106           report.
107
108           NOTE: unless your Perl has been compiled with debug info (often
109           -g), the stack trace is likely to be somewhat hard to use because
110           it will most probably contain only the function names and not their
111           arguments.  If possible, recompile your Perl with debug info and
112           reproduce the crash and the stack trace.
113
114       Can you describe the bug in plain English?
115           The easier it is to understand a reproducible bug, the more likely
116           it will be fixed.  Any insight you can provide into the problem
117           will help a great deal.  In other words, try to analyze the problem
118           (to the extent you can) and report your discoveries.
119
120       Can you fix the bug yourself?
121           If so, that's great news; bug reports with patches are likely to
122           receive significantly more attention and interest than those
123           without patches.  Please submit your patch via the GitHub Pull
124           Request workflow as described in perldoc perlhack.  You may also
125           send patches to perl5-porters@perl.org.  When sending a patch,
126           create it using "git format-patch" if possible, though a unified
127           diff created with "diff -pu" will do nearly as well.
128
129           Your patch may be returned with requests for changes, or requests
130           for more detailed explanations about your fix.
131
132           Here are a few hints for creating high-quality patches:
133
134           Make sure the patch is not reversed (the first argument to diff is
135           typically the original file, the second argument your changed
136           file).  Make sure you test your patch by applying it with "git am"
137           or the "patch" program before you send it on its way.  Try to
138           follow the same style as the code you are trying to patch.  Make
139           sure your patch really does work ("make test", if the thing you're
140           patching is covered by Perl's test suite).
141
142       Can you use "perlbug" to submit a thank-you note?
143           Yes, you can do this by either using the "-T" option, or by
144           invoking the program as "perlthanks". Thank-you notes are good. It
145           makes people smile.
146
147       Please make your issue title informative.  "a bug" is not informative.
148       Neither is "perl crashes" nor is "HELP!!!".  These don't help.  A
149       compact description of what's wrong is fine.
150
151       Having done your bit, please be prepared to wait, to be told the bug is
152       in your code, or possibly to get no reply at all.  The volunteers who
153       maintain Perl are busy folks, so if your problem is an obvious bug in
154       your own code, is difficult to understand or is a duplicate of an
155       existing report, you may not receive a personal reply.
156
157       If it is important to you that your bug be fixed, do monitor the issue
158       tracker (you will be subscribed to notifications for issues you submit
159       or comment on) and the commit logs to development versions of Perl, and
160       encourage the maintainers with kind words or offers of frosty
161       beverages.  (Please do be kind to the maintainers.  Harassing or
162       flaming them is likely to have the opposite effect of the one you
163       want.)
164
165       Feel free to update the ticket about your bug on
166       <https://github.com/Perl/perl5/issues> if a new version of Perl is
167       released and your bug is still present.
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OPTIONS

170       -a      Address to send the report to instead of saving to a file.
171
172       -b      Body of the report.  If not included on the command line, or in
173               a file with -f, you will get a chance to edit the report.
174
175       -C      Don't send copy to administrator when sending report by mail.
176
177       -c      Address to send copy of report to when sending report by mail.
178               Defaults to the address of the local perl administrator
179               (recorded when perl was built).
180
181       -d      Data mode (the default if you redirect or pipe output).  This
182               prints out your configuration data, without saving or mailing
183               anything.  You can use this with -v to get more complete data.
184
185       -e      Editor to use.
186
187       -f      File containing the body of the report.  Use this to quickly
188               send a prepared report.
189
190       -F      File to output the results to.  Defaults to perlbug.rep.
191
192       -h      Prints a brief summary of the options.
193
194       -ok     Report successful build on this system to perl porters. Forces
195               -S and -C. Forces and supplies values for -s and -b. Only
196               prompts for a return address if it cannot guess it (for use
197               with make). Honors return address specified with -r.  You can
198               use this with -v to get more complete data.   Only makes a
199               report if this system is less than 60 days old.
200
201       -okay   As -ok except it will report on older systems.
202
203       -nok    Report unsuccessful build on this system.  Forces -C.  Forces
204               and supplies a value for -s, then requires you to edit the
205               report and say what went wrong.  Alternatively, a prepared
206               report may be supplied using -f.  Only prompts for a return
207               address if it cannot guess it (for use with make). Honors
208               return address specified with -r.  You can use this with -v to
209               get more complete data.  Only makes a report if this system is
210               less than 60 days old.
211
212       -nokay  As -nok except it will report on older systems.
213
214       -p      The names of one or more patch files or other text attachments
215               to be included with the report.  Multiple files must be
216               separated with commas.
217
218       -r      Your return address.  The program will ask you to confirm its
219               default if you don't use this option.
220
221       -S      Save or send the report without asking for confirmation.
222
223       -s      Subject to include with the report.  You will be prompted if
224               you don't supply one on the command line.
225
226       -t      Test mode.  Makes it possible to command perlbug from a pipe or
227               file, for testing purposes.
228
229       -T      Send a thank-you note instead of a bug report.
230
231       -v      Include verbose configuration data in the report.
232

AUTHORS

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

SEE ALSO

245       perl(1), perldebug(1), perldiag(1), perlport(1), perltrap(1), diff(1),
246       patch(1), dbx(1), gdb(1)
247

BUGS

249       None known (guess what must have been used to report them?)
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253perl v5.34.0                      2021-10-18                        PERLBUG(1)
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