wiki:TicketHowTo

Version 26 (modified by danielk, 17 years ago) (diff)

Add description of creating a session so that tickets are not reported by anonymous

We eventually look at all tickets. But if you go through this quick checklist before submitting the ticket, it will be addressed more quickly.

First Steps

First, please verify that:

  • Your bug doesn't already have a ticket (report:6)
  • Your bug wasn't recently reported (report:17)
  • That your bug is not already fixed in current SVN
  • That this is really a bug or patch, and not a feature request. Feature requests should go in the wiki.
  • Special for nuvexport: please read http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Nuvexport#Debug_Mode to make sure that is a problem with nuvexport and not with one of the programs that it references (e.g. lacking mp3 support in ffmpeg is not a nuvexport bug).

If this is a compiling problem, e-mail the users list, then the developer list before adding a ticket. These are often caused by toolchain or dependency problems. Of course, if the problem is only present after a particular recent commit, e-mail the developer list immediately.

Opening a Ticket

While it's not required, setting up a valid session will make any ticket you create include your name or e-mail address. To do this go to "Preferences" at the top of the page ant type in your name, or even better e-mail address, then click the "Save changes" button. This can speed up the addressing of your ticket because you may be able to respond to a developers queries while they are looking at a problem rather than responding later and waiting for them to have time to look at your ticket again.

Once you've decided to create that ticket:

  • Select the correct component from the list. (GoToDev)
  • Set the version to the version you use. If you see the bug with multiple version, choose the newest.
  • Make sure you attach logs, patches, and backtraces after you create the ticket.
  • If problem causes a SEGFAULT, attach the backtrace to the ticket.
  • If you submit a patch, make sure it adheres to the MythTV coding standards.
  • Please do not increase a ticket's priority, severity, or milestone from the defaults. These fields are for the person who is fixing the issue to decide. Don't change these after the ticket's been filed, either - they'll likely just get changed back.

Use the ticket types as following:

Patch - If you have attached a patch to fix a bug.

Defect - If you are reporting a bug but have not attached a patch.

Enhancement - If you have attached a patch to add a feature or improve something.

Task - Generally reserved for developers to create a reminder about planned work and collect information in one place.

To attach a patch or a backtrace, you must first create a ticket, and then there will be an 'Attach File' button when you view the new ticket. Attach logs as either plaintext or compressed files, please do not attach non-plaintext files such as OpenOffice, Word, or RTF documents.

What Next?

Have patience, there are many tickets and developers have so little free time. Your ticket may be answered in minutes or it may take months. Your ticket is no more important than another unless a developer decides so, please respect their decisions. Demanding a reponse or 'bump'ing your ticket will cause annoyance and will affect how developers deal with you in the future.

If your ticket gets marked as "worksforme" or "invalid" consider this a challenge to improve the bug report. Problems often only occur with a particular setting, with some particular hardware or even with a specific recording. Figuring out what exactly is causing the problem will make it possible to reproduce the bug, which is the first step in fixing it. If the ticket is marked as invalid rather than worksforme, it probably failed some check on this checklist. Also, don't get into an argument with whoever closed your ticket. Remember, since this person reviewed your ticket, this is the person most likely to fix your problem.