1 NOTES ON THE EMACS BUG TRACKER -*- outline -*-
3 The Emacs Bug Tracker can be found at http://debbugs.gnu.org/
5 For a list of all bugs, see http://debbugs.gnu.org/emacs
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.
11 The only differences are:
13 i) Your report will be assigned a number and generate an automatic reply.
15 ii) Optionally, you can set some database parameters when you first
16 report a bug (see "Setting bug parameters" below).
18 iii) If you want to CC: someone, use X-Debbugs-CC: (this is important;
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@debbugs.gnu.org.
26 ** How do I reply to an existing bug report?
27 Reply to 123@debbugs.gnu.org, replacing 123 with the number
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).
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)
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
40 Gnus users can add the following to message-dont-reply-to-names;
41 similarly with Rmail and rmail-dont-reply-to-names:
43 [FIXME needs updating for debbugs.gnu.org]
45 "\\(emacs-pretest-bug\\|bug-gnu-emacs\\)@gnu\\.org\\|\
46 \\(\\(submit\\|control\\|owner\\)@emacsbugs\\.\\|bug-submit-list@\\)\
49 The "bug-submit-list@donarmstrong.com" and
50 "owner@debbugs.gnu.org" entries are there because they can
51 appear in the "Resent-To" and "Resent-CC" headers, respectively. For a
52 long time Rmail erroneously included these headers in replies. If you
53 correspond with an Rmail user on a bug, these addresses may end up in
54 the Cc. Mailing to them does nothing but create duplicates and errors.
55 (It is possible you might want to have a dialog with the owner
56 address, outside of normal bug reporting.)
58 ** When reporting a bug, to send a Cc to another address
59 (e.g. bug-cc-mode@gnu.org), do NOT just use a Cc: header.
60 Instead, use "X-Debbugs-CC:". This ensures the Cc address will get a
61 mail with the bug report number in. If you do not do this, each reply
62 in the subsequent discussion will end up creating a new bug. This is
65 Note that the way this feature works is perhaps not ideal (Bug#1720).
66 If X-Debbugs-CC: was specifed by a real header, that header is removed
67 in the mail sent out to the bug list, and the addresses merged into
68 the Resent-CC header (see below). They don't appear as an explicit CC:
69 header, nor do they appear in the Reply-To: header. So people you
70 X-Debbugs-CC are not included in any following discussion unless they are
71 manually cc'd. So this feature really only serves to notify them that
72 a bug has been filed. It's then up to them to follow any subsequent
75 If X-Debbugs-CC were merged into the Reply-To header, this might work
76 more the way people expect.
78 ** How does Debbugs send out mails?
80 The mails are sent out to the bug list with From: and To: unchanged.
81 Eg if you file a bug with "submit@debbugs.gnu.org", that
82 remains in the To: address. They reach the bug list by being resent.
84 Mails arriving at the bug list have the following Resent-* headers:
86 [ FIXME needs updating for debbugs.gnu.org ]
88 Resent-From: person who submitted the bug
89 Resent-To: bug-submit-list@donarmstrong.com
90 Resent-CC: maintainer email address, plus any X-Debbugs-CC: entries
92 The "maintainer email address" is "Emacs Bugs <bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org>"
97 Reply-To: bug submitter, 123@debbugs.gnu.org
99 ** To not get acknowledgement mail from the tracker,
100 add an "X-Debbugs-No-Ack:" header (with any value). If you use Gnus,
101 you can add an element to gnus-posting-styles to do this automatically, eg:
103 ("gnu-emacs\\(-pretest\\)?-bug"
104 ("X-Debbugs-No-Ack" "yes"))
106 (adjust the regexp according to the name you use for the bug lists)
108 ** To record a bug in the tracker without sending mail to the bug list.
109 This can be useful to make a note of something discussed on
110 emacs-devel that needs fixing. In other words, this can be the
111 equivalent of adding something to FOR-RELEASE.
113 To: quiet@debbugs.gnu.org
119 Remember to fix FOO, as discussed on emacs-devel at http://... .
121 ** Not interested in tracker control messages (tags being set, etc)?
122 Discard mails matching:
124 ^X-Emacs-PR-Message: transcript
126 When you close a bug, you get a message matching:
128 ^X-Emacs-PR-Message: closed
130 ** How to avoid multiple copies of mails.
131 When you reply to a bug, respect the Reply-To address, ie send mail
132 only to the submitter address and the numbered bug address. Do not
133 send mail direct to bug-gnu-emacs or emacs-pretest-bug unless you are
136 ** To close bug #123 (for example), send mail
138 To: 123-done@debbugs.gnu.org
140 with a brief explanation in the body as to why the bug was closed.
141 There is no need to cc the address without the "-done" part or the
142 submitter; they get copies anyway so this will just result in more
145 ** Setting bug parameters.
146 There are two ways to set the parameters of bugs in the database
147 (tags, severity level, etc). When you report a new bug, you can
148 provide a "pseudo-header" at the start of the report, eg:
154 Optionally, add a sub-package, eg Package: emacs,calendar.
155 This can include tags. Some things (e.g. submitter) don't seem to
158 Otherwise, send mail to the control server, control@debbugs.gnu.org.
159 At the start of the message body, supply the desired commands, one per
162 command bug-number [arguments]
164 quit|stop|thank|thanks|thankyou|thank you
166 The control server ignores anything after the last line above. So you
167 can place control commands at the beginning of a reply to a bug
168 report, and Bcc: the control server (note the commands have no effect
169 if you just send them to the bug-report number). Bcc: is better than Cc:
170 in case people use Reply-to-All in response.
172 Some useful control commands:
174 *** To reopen a closed bug:
177 *** Bugs can be tagged in various ways (eg wontfix, patch, etc).
178 The available tags are:
179 patch wontfix moreinfo unreproducible fixed notabug
180 Note that the list at http://debbugs.gnu.org/Developer#tags
181 is incorrect, at least for Emacs.
182 The list of tags can be prefixed with +, - or =, meaning to add (the
183 default), remove, or reset the tags. E.g.:
189 See <http://wiki.debian.org/bugs.debian.org/usertags>
191 "Usertags" are very similar to tags: a set of labels that can be added
192 to a bug. There are two differences between normal tags and user
195 1) Anyone can define any valid usertag they like. In contrast, only a
196 limited, predefined set of normal tags are available (see above).
198 2) A usertag is associated with a specific email address.
200 You set usertags in the same way as tags, by talking to the control
201 server. One difference is that you can also specify the associated
202 email address. If you don't explicitly specify an address, then it
203 will use the one from which you send the control message. The address
204 must have the form of an email address (with an "@" sign and least 4
205 characters after the "@").
209 a) In a control message:
211 user bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org
212 usertags 1234 any-tag-you-like
214 This will add a usertag "any-tag-you-like" to bug 1234. The tag will
215 be associated with the address "bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org". If you omit
216 the first line, the tag will be associated with your email address.
218 The syntax of the usertags command is the same as that of tags (eg wrt
219 the optional [=+-] argument).
221 b) In an initial submission, in the pseudo-header:
223 User: bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org
226 Again, the "User" is optional.
228 *** Searching by usertags
230 The search interface is not as advanced as for normal tags. You need
231 to construct the relevant url yourself rather than just typing in a
232 search box. The only piece you really need to add is the "users"
233 portion, the rest has the same syntax as normal.
235 **** To find all bugs usertagged by a given email address:
237 http://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/pkgreport.cgi?users=bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org
239 (Supposedly, the "users" field can be a comma-separated list of more
240 than one email address, but it does not seem to work for me.)
242 **** To find bugs tagged with a specific usertag:
244 This works just like a normal tags search, but with the addition of a
247 http://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/pkgreport.cgi?users=bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org;tag=calendar
250 Eg when bad replies create a bunch of new bugs for the same report.
251 Bugs must all be in the same state (e.g. same package(s) and severity
252 -- see `reassign' and `severity' below), but need not have the same
253 tags (tags are merged). E.g.:
255 merge 123 124 125 ...
257 Note that merging does not affect titles. In particular, a "retitle"
258 of merged bugs only affects individual bugs, not all of them.
261 Like `merge', but bugs need not be in the same state. The packages
262 must still match though (see `reassign' below). The first one listed
265 forcemerge 123 124 125 ...
267 Note: you cannot merge with an archived bug - you must unarchive it first.
270 To disconnect a bug from all bugs it is merged with:
274 This command accepts only one bug number.
277 Useful when one report refers to more than one bug.
279 clone 123 -1 [-2 ...]
280 retitle -1 second bug
283 The negative numbers provide a way to refer to the cloned bugs (which
284 will be assigned proper numbers).
286 NB you cannot clone a merged bug. You'd think that trying to do so
287 would just give you an unmerged copy of the specified bug number, but no:
289 http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=474742
291 You must unmerge, clone, then re-merge.
294 severity 123 critical|grave|serious|important|normal|minor|wishlist
296 See http://debbugs.gnu.org/Developer#severities for the meanings.
298 *** To set the owner of a bug:
299 owner 123 A Hacker <none@example.com>
301 The shorthand `!' means your own address.
303 *** To remove the owner of a bug:
306 *** To mark a bug as fixed in a particular version:
309 *** To remove a "fixed" mark:
312 *** To assign or reassign a bug to a package or list of packages:
313 reassign 1234 emacs,cc-mode
315 ** To remove spam from the tracker, move it to the `spam' pseudo-package:
318 ** To change the title of a bug:
319 retitle 123 Some New Title
321 ** To change the submitter address:
322 submitter 123 none@example.com
324 Note that it does not seem to work to specify "Submitter:" in the
325 pseudo-header when first reporting a bug.
327 ** How does archiving work?
328 You can still send mail to a bug after it is closed. After 28 days with
329 no activity, the bug is archived, at which point no more changes can
330 be made. If you try to send mail to the bug after that (or merge with
331 it), it will be rejected. To make any changes, you must unarchive it first:
335 The bug will be re-archived after the next 28 day period of no activity.
337 ** The web-page with the list of bugs is slow to load
339 It's a function of the number of displayed bugs. You can speed things
340 up by only looking at the newest 100 bugs:
342 http://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?newest=100;package=emacs
344 The above page is accessible from the "Options" section at the end of
345 the "main list of bugs" page. Select bugs "in package" = emacs;
346 "newest bugs" = 100. (I have no idea how you get to that Options
347 section without having to go through the bug list page first...)
349 ** Mails to the bug tracker disappear
351 Apparently it has some kind of spam filter that sometimes silently
352 discards valid mails. Adding a subject (pointless in control messages)
357 *** When you fix a bug, it can be helpful to put the bug number in the
358 ChangeLog entry, for example:
360 * foo.el (foofunc): Fix the `foo' case. (Bug#123)
362 Then the relevant bug can be found for easy reference. If it's an
363 obvious fix (e.g. a typo), there's no need to clutter the log with the
366 Similarly, when you close a bug, it can be helpful to include the
367 relevant ChangeLog entry in the message to the bug tracker, so people
368 can see eaxctly what the fix was.
370 *** bug-reference-mode
372 Activate `bug-reference-mode' in ChangeLogs to get clickable links to
377 http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2009-11/msg00440.html
379 ** Gnus-specific voodoo
381 *** Put point on a bug-number and try: M-x gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
383 *** If the above is not available:
384 (add-hook 'gnus-article-mode-hook
386 (setq bug-reference-url-format "http://debbugs.gnu.org/%s")
387 (bug-reference-mode 1)))
389 and you can click on the bug number in the subject header.