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acc12ef7 | 1 | NOTES ON THE EMACS BUG TRACKER -*- outline -*- |
585351d7 | 2 | |
acc12ef7 | 3 | The Emacs Bug Tracker can be found at http://emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com/ |
585351d7 | 4 | |
062a07f2 | 5 | For a list of all bugs, see http://emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com/emacs |
585351d7 | 6 | |
4ca141e4 GM |
7 | ** How do I report a bug in Emacs now? |
8 | The same way as you always did. Send mail to bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org, | |
9 | or use M-x report-emacs-bug. | |
10 | ||
11 | The only differences are: | |
12 | ||
13 | i) Your report will be assigned a number and generate an automatic reply. | |
14 | ||
15 | ii) Optionally, you can set some database parameters when you first | |
16 | report a bug (see "Setting bug parameters" below). | |
17 | ||
b33f826d GM |
18 | iii) If you want to CC: someone, use X-Debbugs-CC: (this is important; |
19 | see below). | |
4ca141e4 GM |
20 | |
21 | Once your report is filed and assigned a number, it is sent out to the | |
22 | bug mailing list. In some cases, it may be appropriate to just file a | |
23 | bug, without sending out a copy. To do this, send mail to | |
24 | quiet@emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com. | |
25 | ||
26 | ** How do I reply to an existing bug report? | |
27 | Reply to 123@emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com, replacing 123 with the number | |
9376e71f GM |
28 | of the bug you are interested in. NB this only sends mail to the |
29 | bug-list, it does NOT (?) send a CC to the original bug submitter. | |
30 | So you need to explicitly CC him/her (and anyone else you like). | |
31 | ||
32 | (Many people think the submitter SHOULD be automatically subscribed | |
33 | to subsequent discussion, but this does not seem to be implemented. | |
34 | See http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=37078) | |
35 | ||
36 | Do NOT send a separate copy to the bug list, since this may generate a | |
37 | new report. The only time to send mail to the bug list is to create a | |
38 | new report. | |
585351d7 | 39 | |
82c43d4c GM |
40 | Gnus users can add the following to message-dont-reply-to-names; |
41 | similarly with Rmail and rmail-dont-reply-to-names: | |
42 | ||
43 | "\\(emacs-pretest-bug\\|bug-gnu-emacs\\)@gnu\\.org\\|\ | |
44 | \\(\\(submit\\|control\\|owner\\)@emacsbugs\\.\\|bug-submit-list@\\)\ | |
45 | donarmstrong\\.com" | |
46 | ||
47 | The "bug-submit-list@donarmstrong.com" and | |
48 | "owner@emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com" entries are there because they can | |
49 | appear in the "Resent-To" and "Resent-CC" headers, respectively. For a | |
50 | long time Rmail erroneously included these headers in replies. If you | |
51 | correspond with an Rmail user on a bug, these addresses may end up in | |
52 | the Cc. Mailing to them does nothing but create duplicates and errors. | |
53 | (It is possible you might want to have a dialog with the owner | |
54 | address, outside of normal bug reporting.) | |
61cf9fad | 55 | |
062a07f2 | 56 | ** When reporting a bug, to send a Cc to another address |
b33f826d | 57 | (e.g. bug-cc-mode@gnu.org), do NOT just use a Cc: header. |
062a07f2 | 58 | Instead, use "X-Debbugs-CC:". This ensures the Cc address will get a |
b33f826d GM |
59 | mail with the bug report number in. If you do not do this, each reply |
60 | in the subsequent discussion will end up creating a new bug. This is | |
61 | annoying. | |
d6388ebd | 62 | |
a1e32f89 GM |
63 | Note that the way this feature works is perhaps not ideal (Bug#1720). |
64 | If X-Debbugs-CC: was specifed by a real header, that header is removed | |
65 | in the mail sent out to the bug list, and the addresses merged into | |
66 | the Resent-CC header (see below). They don't appear as an explicit CC: | |
67 | header, nor do they appear in the Reply-To: header. So people you | |
68 | X-Debbugs-CC are not included in any following discussion unless they are | |
69 | manually cc'd. So this feature really only serves to notify them that | |
70 | a bug has been filed. It's then up to them to follow any subsequent | |
71 | discussion. | |
72 | ||
73 | If X-Debbugs-CC were merged into the Reply-To header, this might work | |
74 | more the way people expect. | |
75 | ||
76 | ** How does Debbugs send out mails? | |
77 | ||
78 | The mails are sent out to the bug list with From: and To: unchanged. | |
79 | Eg if you file a bug with "submit@emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com", that | |
80 | remains in the To: address. They reach the bug list by being resent. | |
81 | ||
82 | Mails arriving at the bug list have the following Resent-* headers: | |
83 | ||
84 | Resent-From: person who submitted the bug | |
85 | Resent-To: bug-submit-list@donarmstrong.com | |
86 | Resent-CC: maintainer email address, plus any X-Debbugs-CC: entries | |
87 | ||
88 | The "maintainer email address" is "Emacs Bugs <bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org>" | |
89 | in most cases. | |
90 | ||
91 | They also have: | |
92 | ||
93 | Reply-To: bug submitter, 123@emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com | |
94 | ||
acc12ef7 | 95 | ** To not get acknowledgement mail from the tracker, |
9376e71f GM |
96 | add an "X-Debbugs-No-Ack:" header (with any value). If you use Gnus, |
97 | you can add an element to gnus-posting-styles to do this automatically, eg: | |
98 | ||
99 | ("gnu-emacs\\(-pretest\\)?-bug" | |
100 | ("X-Debbugs-No-Ack" "yes")) | |
101 | ||
102 | (adjust the regexp according to the name you use for the bug lists) | |
d6388ebd | 103 | |
cfa6d52a GM |
104 | ** To record a bug in the tracker without sending mail to the bug list. |
105 | This can be useful to make a note of something discussed on | |
bb5fdfd2 GM |
106 | emacs-devel that needs fixing. In other words, this can be the |
107 | equivalent of adding something to FOR-RELEASE. | |
cfa6d52a GM |
108 | |
109 | To: quiet@emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com | |
110 | [headers end] | |
111 | Package: emacs | |
112 | Version: 23.0.60 | |
113 | Severity: minor | |
114 | ||
115 | Remember to fix FOO, as discussed on emacs-devel at http://... . | |
116 | ||
c8099200 GM |
117 | ** Not interested in tracker control messages (tags being set, etc)? |
118 | Discard mails matching: | |
119 | ||
120 | ^X-Emacs-PR-Message: transcript | |
121 | ||
a7d54520 GM |
122 | When you close a bug, you get a message matching: |
123 | ||
124 | ^X-Emacs-PR-Message: closed | |
125 | ||
c8099200 GM |
126 | ** How to avoid multiple copies of mails. |
127 | When you reply to a bug, respect the Reply-To address, ie send mail | |
128 | only to the submitter address and the numbered bug address. Do not | |
129 | send mail direct to bug-gnu-emacs or emacs-pretest-bug unless you are | |
130 | reporting a new bug. | |
131 | ||
acc12ef7 | 132 | ** To close bug #123 (for example), send mail |
d6388ebd | 133 | |
062a07f2 | 134 | To: 123-done@emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com |
585351d7 GM |
135 | |
136 | with a brief explanation in the body as to why the bug was closed. | |
137 | ||
062a07f2 GM |
138 | ** Setting bug parameters. |
139 | There are two ways to set the parameters of bugs in the database | |
140 | (tags, severity level, etc). When you report a new bug, you can | |
141 | provide a "pseudo-header" at the start of the report, eg: | |
585351d7 | 142 | |
062a07f2 GM |
143 | Package: emacs |
144 | Version: 23.0.60 | |
145 | Severity: minor | |
acc12ef7 | 146 | |
4ca141e4 | 147 | Optionally, add a sub-package, eg Package: emacs,calendar. |
aae74b9b GM |
148 | This can include tags. Some things (e.g. submitter) don't seem to |
149 | work here. | |
150 | ||
062a07f2 GM |
151 | Otherwise, send mail to the control server, control@emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com. |
152 | At the start of the message body, supply the desired commands, one per | |
153 | line: | |
acc12ef7 | 154 | |
062a07f2 GM |
155 | command bug-number [arguments] |
156 | ... | |
157 | quit|stop|thank|thanks|thankyou|thank you | |
acc12ef7 | 158 | |
062a07f2 GM |
159 | The control server ignores anything after the last line above. So you |
160 | can place control commands at the beginning of a reply to a bug | |
cbed6bef GM |
161 | report, and Bcc: the control server (note the commands have no effect |
162 | if you just send them to the bug-report number). Bcc: is better than Cc: | |
163 | in case people use Reply-to-All in response. | |
acc12ef7 | 164 | |
062a07f2 | 165 | Some useful control commands: |
acc12ef7 | 166 | |
062a07f2 GM |
167 | *** To reopen a closed bug: |
168 | reopen 123 | |
585351d7 | 169 | |
062a07f2 | 170 | *** Bugs can be tagged in various ways (eg wontfix, patch, etc). |
cbed6bef GM |
171 | The available tags are: |
172 | patch wontfix moreinfo unreproducible fixed notabug | |
173 | Note that the list at http://emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com/Developer#tags | |
174 | is incorrect, at least for Emacs. | |
175 | The list of tags can be prefixed with +, - or =, meaning to add (the | |
176 | default), remove, or reset the tags. E.g.: | |
585351d7 | 177 | |
cbed6bef | 178 | tags 123 + wontfix |
dcaf1e4b | 179 | |
062a07f2 | 180 | *** To merge bugs: |
dcaf1e4b | 181 | Eg when bad replies create a bunch of new bugs for the same report. |
8e22fa7e EZ |
182 | Bugs must all be in the same state (e.g. same package(s) and severity |
183 | -- see `reassign' and `severity' below), but need not have the same | |
184 | tags (tags are merged). E.g.: | |
dcaf1e4b | 185 | |
062a07f2 | 186 | merge 123 124 125 ... |
dcaf1e4b | 187 | |
b5726dba GM |
188 | Note that merging does not affect titles. In particular, a "retitle" |
189 | of merged bugs only affects individual bugs, not all of them. | |
190 | ||
062a07f2 | 191 | *** Forcing a merge: |
b5726dba | 192 | Like `merge', but bugs need not be in the same state. The packages |
8e22fa7e EZ |
193 | must still match though (see `reassign' below). The first one listed |
194 | is the master. E.g.: | |
3726988d | 195 | |
062a07f2 | 196 | forcemerge 123 124 125 ... |
dcaf1e4b | 197 | |
61cf9fad GM |
198 | Note: you cannot merge with an archived bug - you must unarchive it first. |
199 | ||
71755807 GM |
200 | *** To unmerge bugs: |
201 | To disconnect a bug from all bugs it is merged with: | |
202 | ||
203 | unmerge 123 | |
204 | ||
205 | This command accepts only one bug number. | |
206 | ||
97b69a57 GM |
207 | *** To clone bugs: |
208 | Useful when one report refers to more than one bug. | |
209 | ||
210 | clone 123 -1 [-2 ...] | |
211 | retitle -1 second bug | |
212 | retitle -2 third bug | |
213 | ||
214 | The negative numbers provide a way to refer to the cloned bugs (which | |
215 | will be assigned proper numbers). | |
216 | ||
9270da33 GM |
217 | NB you cannot clone a merged bug. You'd think that trying to do so |
218 | would just give you an unmerged copy of the specified bug number, but no: | |
219 | ||
220 | http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=474742 | |
221 | ||
222 | You must unmerge, clone, then re-merge. | |
223 | ||
062a07f2 GM |
224 | *** To set severity: |
225 | severity 123 critical|grave|serious|important|normal|minor|wishlist | |
dcaf1e4b GM |
226 | |
227 | See http://emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com/Developer#severities for the meanings. | |
3d4c9dbd | 228 | |
d57a0b67 | 229 | *** To set the owner of a bug: |
062a07f2 | 230 | owner 123 A Hacker <none@example.com> |
3d4c9dbd GM |
231 | |
232 | The shorthand `!' means your own address. | |
233 | ||
d57a0b67 GM |
234 | *** To remove the owner of a bug: |
235 | noowner 123 | |
236 | ||
062a07f2 GM |
237 | *** To mark a bug as fixed in a particular version: |
238 | fixed 123 23.0.60 | |
3d4c9dbd | 239 | |
cbed6bef GM |
240 | *** To remove a "fixed" mark: |
241 | notfixed 123 23.0.60 | |
242 | ||
8e22fa7e EZ |
243 | *** To assign or reassign a bug to a package or list of packages: |
244 | reassign 1234 emacs,cc-mode | |
245 | ||
062a07f2 GM |
246 | ** To remove spam from the tracker, move it to the `spam' pseudo-package: |
247 | reassign 123 spam | |
a2501e52 GM |
248 | |
249 | ** To change the title of a bug: | |
250 | retitle 123 Some New Title | |
251 | ||
252 | ** To change the submitter address: | |
253 | submitter 123 none@example.com | |
aae74b9b GM |
254 | |
255 | Note that it does not seem to work to specify "Submitter:" in the | |
256 | pseudo-header when first reporting a bug. | |
d3ace93b GM |
257 | |
258 | ** How does archiving work? | |
259 | You can still send mail to a bug after it is closed. After 28 days with | |
260 | no activity, the bug is archived, at which point no more changes can | |
261 | be made. If you try to send mail to the bug after that (or merge with | |
262 | it), it will be rejected. To make any changes, you must unarchive it first: | |
263 | ||
264 | unarchive 123 | |
265 | ||
266 | The bug will be re-archived after the next 28 day period of no activity. | |
994e9647 GM |
267 | |
268 | ** The web-page with the list of bugs is slow to load | |
269 | ||
270 | It's a function of the number of displayed bugs. You can speed things | |
271 | up by only looking at the newest 100 bugs: | |
272 | ||
273 | http://emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?newest=100;package=emacs | |
274 | ||
275 | The above page is accessible from the "Options" section at the end of | |
276 | the "main list of bugs" page. Select bugs "in package" = emacs; | |
277 | "newest bugs" = 100. (I have no idea how you get to that Options | |
278 | section without having to go through the bug list page first...) | |
82c43d4c GM |
279 | |
280 | ** Mails to the bug tracker disappear | |
281 | ||
282 | Apparently it has some kind of spam filter that sometimes silently | |
283 | discards valid mails. Adding a subject (pointless in control messages) | |
284 | may help. | |
6d60445e | 285 | |
15d0fd3a GM |
286 | ** ChangeLog issues |
287 | ||
288 | *** When you fix a bug, it can be helpful to put the bug number in the | |
289 | ChangeLog entry, for example: | |
290 | ||
291 | * foo.el (foofunc): Fix the `foo' case. (Bug#123) | |
292 | ||
293 | Then the relevant bug can be found for easy reference. If it's an | |
294 | obvious fix (e.g. a typo), there's no need to clutter the log with the | |
295 | bug number. | |
296 | ||
297 | Similarly, when you close a bug, it can be helpful to include the | |
298 | relevant ChangeLog entry in the message to the bug tracker, so people | |
299 | can see eaxctly what the fix was. | |
300 | ||
301 | *** bug-reference-mode | |
302 | ||
303 | Activate `bug-reference-mode' in ChangeLogs to get clickable links to | |
304 | the bug web-pages. | |
305 | ||
6d60445e GM |
306 | ** Gnus-specific voodoo |
307 | ||
308 | *** Put point on a bug-number and try: M-x gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group | |
309 | ||
310 | *** If the above is not available: | |
311 | (add-hook 'gnus-article-mode-hook | |
312 | (lambda () | |
313 | (setq bug-reference-url-format | |
314 | "http://emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=%s") | |
315 | (bug-reference-mode 1))) | |
316 | ||
317 | and you can click on the bug number in the subject header. |