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 ] [ -h ] [ -T ]
14 perlbug [ -v ] [ -r returnaddress ]
16 [ -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
51 the latest released version, please try to replicate your bug on
52 the 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 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 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 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 If you are on a non-UNIX platform perldoc perlport, as some
79 features may be unimplemented or work differently.
80 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Your patch may be returned with requests for changes, or requests
130 for more detailed explanations about your fix.
131 Here are a few hints for creating high-quality patches:
133 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 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 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 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 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 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.
168
170 -a Address to send the report to instead of saving to a file.
171 -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 -C Don't send copy to administrator when sending report by mail.
176 -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 -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 -e Editor to use.
186 -f File containing the body of the report. Use this to quickly
188 send a prepared report.
189 -F File to output the results to. Defaults to perlbug.rep.
191 -h Prints a brief summary of the options.
193 -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 -okay As -ok except it will report on older systems.
202 -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 -nokay As -nok except it will report on older systems.
213 -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 -r Your return address. The program will ask you to confirm its
219 default if you don't use this option.
220 -S Save or send the report without asking for confirmation.
222 -s Subject to include with the report. You will be prompted if
224 you don't supply one on the command line.
225 -t Test mode. Makes it possible to command perlbug from a pipe or
227 file, for testing purposes.
228 -T Send a thank-you note instead of a bug report.
230 -v Include verbose configuration data in the report.
232
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
245 perl(1), perldebug(1), perldiag(1), perlport(1), perltrap(1), diff(1),
246 patch(1), dbx(1), gdb(1)
247
249 None known (guess what must have been used to report them?)
250perl v5.36.3 2023-11-30 PERLBUG(1)