Bugzilla

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Revision as of 13:36, 14 June 2017 by Sunfish62 (talk | contribs) (Triage)
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If you discover a problem with the program (known as a bug), you may want to record the bug so that it can be fixed by the developers. The GnuCash project uses the Bugzilla repository maintained by the Gnome Project. Bugzilla includes bugs and enhancement requests for a wide number of projects, including GnuCash.

Because Bugzilla has bugs for many projects, it can be useful to see bugs only for GnuCash. There is a specific GnuCash "Product" page which allows you to see GnuCash bugs. On this page, you can see the bugs for GnuCash arranged by component. The number of bugs for each component is clickable, and will display the list of the open bugs for that component.

Triage

Before filing a new bug, you should check to see whether the problem or suggestion has already been made. It may be still open or already closed after the date of your release.

Here are several links to different Bugzilla sections:

Entering of or commenting on bugs

Also bugzillas help has useful parts.
Tip
If you refer to other bugs in your text, we suggest to use the form bug nnnnnn - Title. Bugzilla will then add a link and the reader saves time if the title can be read without following the link.

Do not copy and paste log files. Instead append them as:

Attachments

If a program crash or freeze only happens on a specific file like

  • data file
  • import file
  • (modified) report

it can be useful to attach a copy of that file to your bug report, but:

  • It is easier, if you attach your XML data file uncompressed. Before you save your file, uncheck Edit->Preferences->General->Files->Compress Files. It can then already be seen in the web interface.
  • If the file contains confidential data do not forget to anonymize your data e.g. with the ObfuscateScript.
  • If the file is really big, try to create a minimal example.

When uploading adjust the mime type of your file:

  • Uncompressed gnucash data files are of type text/xml,
  • most import files and log files are of type text/plain.

Other Resources

  • Uservoice is an interesting forum for discussion of new feature requests (but not bug reports).
  • The online banking module AqBanking has its own bugtracker.
  • If Finance::Quote is not working correctly, you can test it by using the gnc-fq-* command line tools, see FAQ. Use their Request Tracker at the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN).

Answers

If a developer asked you for some information or one of the files above and you attached them, do not forget, to reset the bug status from needinfo to unconfirmed again.

Bug Mail

If you want to receive email notifications about a particular bug, you can add the email address that is your Bugzilla id to the CC list on the bug. Bugzilla will do this for you by default if you take any action on the bug page. If you want to be notified about all changes to particular categories of bugs, including new ones, add one or more of the following email addresses to your "User Watch" list in Bugzilla Email Preferences: Click the Preferences item in the Bugzilla menu bar and select the Email Preferences tab. The watch list is underneath the table with all of the check boxes. The email addresses and the groups they monitor are:

Group Elements
gnucash-core-maint@gnome.bugs Backend-SQL, Backend-XML, Budgets, Build System, Business, Currency and Commodity, Engine, Python Bindings, Scheduled Transactions
gnucash-documentation-maint@gnome.bugs Documentation, Translations, Website
gnucash-general-maint@gnome.bugs General
gnucash-import-maint@gnome.bugs Import-AqBanking, Import-CSV, Import-OFX, Import-Other, Import-QIF, Import-QSF, TXF Export
gnucash-mac-maint@gnome.bugs MacOS
gnucash-reports-maint@gnome.bugs Check Printing, Reports
gnucash-ui-maint@gnome.bugs Register, Regist-2, User Interface General
gnucash-win-maint@gnome.bugs Windows

Bug Triage

For those people who may like to help us e.g. on bug triage, there is some additional information in QA/BugzillaAdministration.