File Bugs

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Revision as of 18:32, 4 June 2010 by Grschneider (talk | contribs) (+fg)
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This page describes how to file bugs in our Bugzilla Bug-Tracking Software. Bugzilla is used in this project to gather information about failing or misbehaving components and allows to coordinate bug fixing efforts.

First Steps

If you think you found a bug in ReactOS please ensure the following:

  • Make sure you can replicate your bug. Restart ReactOS and try again to make sure.
  • Check that it hasn't been reported already. The bugzilla search will help you confirm this.
  • Make sure you are testing a recent and official ReactOS build. New nighly builds (preferred testing source) can be obtained here.
  • If you are running ReactOS on a virtual machine, please mind that we support QEMU, VMware and VirtualBox. Others are not supported.

Since certain bug types are out of the scope of the project make sure the follows points apply:

  • Do not report build breakages on common platforms (Windows, Linux). Please report these on IRC or to the ros-dev mailing list.
  • Do not report features announced for the next version of Windows (WinFS, etc.).
  • Do not report bugs in external components (Freetype, Wine, Mesa etc.). Please use the other projects bug trackers for this purpose.

Important Information to Include

To make sure we can reproduce and fix your bug certain information has to be present. Important data you should include in your report includes:

  • Reproduction method using step by step instructions
  • Hardware or virtual machine configuration
  • Tested ReactOS version (open up a commandline and type 'ver' in case you are unsure)
  • Version of the application tested (if any)
  • Screenshot of the problem if it's a graphical bug
  • Debug log for of crashes, freezes and application errors. See Debugging on how to obtain high quality debug output

Reporting Guidelines

To help you reporting and ease the bug fixing process please follow the following reporting guidelines:

  • Choose a concise bug title.
  • Try not to paste the debug log directly into the bug report, attach it instead. It helps readability.
  • Attach pictures to bugzilla directly instead of using external hosting services.
  • Use Bugzilla to file bugs, not to ask for support or discuss things not related to the bug.
  • The bug report should cover a single problem, no matter if it happens in multiple applications or has multiple ways of replicating it.
  • Do not post more than one issue in a single bug report.

Bugs that do not follow the guidelines will be closed invalid and the reporter will be asked to report the bug properly. If you have any questions related to Bugzilla the tips on the Using Bugzilla page might prove helpful.

In case any questions or problems regarding the bug reporting process arise, consult AmineKhaldi, Caemyr or gabriel_it on IRC.