PERLBUG(1) Perl Programmers Reference Guide PERLBUG(1)
perlbug - how to submit bug reports on Perl
perlbug [ -v ] [ -a address ] [ -s subject ]
[ -b body | -f inputfile ] [ -F outputfile ]
[ -r returnaddress ] [ -e editor ] [ -c adminaddress | -C ]
[ -S ] [ -t ] [ -d ] [ -A ] [ -h ]
perlbug [ -v ] [ -r returnaddress ]
[ -A ] [ -ok | -okay | -nok | -nokay ]
A program to help generate bug reports about perl or the
modules that come with it, and mail them.
If you have found a bug with a non-standard port (one that
was not part of the standard distribution), a binary distri-
bution, or a non-standard module (such as Tk, CGI, etc),
then please see the documentation that came with that dis-
tribution to determine the correct place to report bugs.
"perlbug" is designed to be used interactively. Normally no
arguments will be needed. Simply run it, and follow the
prompts.
If you are unable to run perlbug (most likely because you
don't have a working setup to send mail that perlbug recog-
nizes), you may have to compose your own report, and email
it to perlbug@perl.org. You might find the -d option useful
to get summary information in that case.
In any case, when reporting a bug, please make sure you have
run through this checklist:
What version of Perl you are running?
Type "perl -v" at the command line to find out.
Are you running the latest released version of perl?
Look at http://www.perl.com/ to find out. If it is not
the latest released version, get that one and see
whether your bug has been fixed. Note that bug reports
about old versions of Perl, especially those prior to
the 5.0 release, are likely to fall upon deaf ears. You
are on your own if you continue to use perl1 .. perl4.
Are you sure what you have is a bug?
A significant number of the bug reports we get turn out
to be documented features in Perl. Make sure the
behavior you are witnessing doesn't fall under that
category, by glancing through the documentation that
comes with Perl (we'll admit this is no mean task, given
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the sheer volume of it all, but at least have a look at
the sections that seem relevant).
Be aware of the familiar traps that perl programmers of
various hues fall into. See perltrap.
Check in perldiag to see what any Perl error message(s)
mean. If message isn't in perldiag, it probably isn't
generated by Perl. Consult your operating system docu-
mentation instead.
If you are on a non-UNIX platform check also perlport,
as some features may be unimplemented or work dif-
ferently.
Try to study the problem under the Perl debugger, if
necessary. See perldebug.
Do you have a proper test case?
The easier it is to reproduce your bug, the more likely
it will be fixed, because if no one can duplicate the
problem, no one can fix it. A good test case has most of
these attributes: fewest possible number of lines; few
dependencies on external commands, modules, or
libraries; runs on most platforms unimpeded; and is
self-documenting.
A good test case is almost always a good candidate to be
on the perl test suite. If you have the time, consider
making your test case so that it will readily fit into
the standard test suite.
Remember also to include the exact error messages, if
any. "Perl complained something" is not an exact error
message.
If you get a core dump (or equivalent), you may use a
debugger (dbx, gdb, etc) to produce a stack trace to
include in the bug report. NOTE: unless your Perl has
been compiled with debug info (often -g), the stack
trace is likely to be somewhat hard to use because it
will most probably contain only the function names and
not their arguments. If possible, recompile your Perl
with debug info and reproduce the dump and the stack
trace.
Can you describe the bug in plain English?
The easier it is to understand a reproducible bug, the
more likely it will be fixed. Anything you can provide
by way of insight into the problem helps a great deal.
In other words, try to analyze the problem (to the
extent you can) and report your discoveries.
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Can you fix the bug yourself?
A bug report which includes a patch to fix it will
almost definitely be fixed. Use the "diff" program to
generate your patches ("diff" is being maintained by the
GNU folks as part of the diffutils package, so you
should be able to get it from any of the GNU software
repositories). If you do submit a patch, the cool-dude
counter at perlbug@perl.org will register you as a
savior of the world. Your patch may be returned with
requests for changes, or requests for more detailed
explanations about your fix.
Here are some clues for creating quality patches: Use
the -c or -u switches to the diff program (to create a
so-called context or unified diff). Make sure the patch
is not reversed (the first argument to diff is typically
the original file, the second argument your changed
file). Make sure you test your patch by applying it
with the "patch" program before you send it on its way.
Try to follow the same style as the code you are trying
to patch. Make sure your patch really does work ("make
test", if the thing you're patching supports it).
Can you use "perlbug" to submit the report?
perlbug will, amongst other things, ensure your report
includes crucial information about your version of perl.
If "perlbug" is unable to mail your report after you
have typed it in, you may have to compose the message
yourself, add the output produced by "perlbug -d" and
email it to perlbug@perl.org. If, for some reason, you
cannot run "perlbug" at all on your system, be sure to
include the entire output produced by running "perl -V"
(note the uppercase V).
Whether you use "perlbug" or send the email manually,
please make your Subject line informative. "a bug" not
informative. Neither is "perl crashes" nor "HELP!!!".
These don't help. A compact description of what's wrong
is fine.
Having done your bit, please be prepared to wait, to be told
the bug is in your code, or even to get no reply at all.
The Perl maintainers are busy folks, so if your problem is a
small one or if it is difficult to understand or already
known, they may not respond with a personal reply. If it is
important to you that your bug be fixed, do monitor the
"Changes" file in any development releases since the time
you submitted the bug, and encourage the maintainers with
kind words (but never any flames!). Feel free to resend
your bug report if the next released version of perl comes
out and your bug is still present.
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-a Address to send the report to. Defaults to
perlbug@perl.org.
-A Don't send a bug received acknowledgement to the
reply address. Generally it is only a sensible to
use this option if you are a perl maintainer
actively watching perl porters for your message to
arrive.
-b Body of the report. If not included on the command
line, or in a file with -f, you will get a chance to
edit the message.
-C Don't send copy to administrator.
-c Address to send copy of report to. Defaults to the
address of the local perl administrator (recorded
when perl was built).
-d Data mode (the default if you redirect or pipe out-
put). This prints out your configuration data,
without mailing anything. You can use this with -v
to get more complete data.
-e Editor to use.
-f File containing the body of the report. Use this to
quickly send a prepared message.
-F File to output the results to instead of sending as
an email. Useful particularly when running perlbug
on a machine with no direct internet connection.
-h Prints a brief summary of the options.
-ok Report successful build on this system to perl port-
ers. Forces -S and -C. Forces and supplies values
for -s and -b. Only prompts for a return address if
it cannot guess it (for use with make). Honors
return address specified with -r. You can use this
with -v to get more complete data. Only makes a
report if this system is less than 60 days old.
-okay As -ok except it will report on older systems.
-nok Report unsuccessful build on this system. Forces
-C. Forces and supplies a value for -s, then
requires you to edit the report and say what went
wrong. Alternatively, a prepared report may be sup-
plied using -f. Only prompts for a return address
if it cannot guess it (for use with make). Honors
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return address specified with -r. You can use this
with -v to get more complete data. Only makes a
report if this system is less than 60 days old.
-nokay As -nok except it will report on older systems.
-r Your return address. The program will ask you to
confirm its default if you don't use this option.
-S Send without asking for confirmation.
-s Subject to include with the message. You will be
prompted if you don't supply one on the command
line.
-t Test mode. The target address defaults to
perlbug-test@perl.org.
-v Include verbose configuration data in the report.
Kenneth Albanowski (<kjahds@kjahds.com>), subsequently doc-
tored by Gurusamy Sarathy (<gsar@activestate.com>), Tom
Christiansen (<tchrist@perl.com>), Nathan Torkington
(<gnat@frii.com>), Charles F. Randall (<cfr@pobox.com>),
Mike Guy (<mjtg@cam.a.uk>), Dominic Dunlop
(<domo@computer.org>), Hugo van der Sanden
(<hv@crypt.org<gt>), Jarkko Hietaniemi (<jhi@iki.fi>), Chris
Nandor (<pudge@pobox.com>), Jon Orwant
(<orwant@media.mit.edu>, and Richard Foley
(<richard@rfi.net>).
perl(1), perldebug(1), perldiag(1), perlport(1), perl-
trap(1), diff(1), patch(1), dbx(1), gdb(1)
None known (guess what must have been used to report them?)
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