SC Lecter
06-04-2008, 04:00 AM
Writing a good bug report:
A well written bug report is essential for a hasty resolution of the problem. It's very important to remember that the coder who is assigned to fix the problem will be, originally, going off what you wrote and just what you wrote. They will not have all the facts unless you give them all the facts.
Example Time:
The flashlight isn't working! OR
I get this weird message when I light this. OR
It's not working right.
What do you think a coder can do with a bug report like those? Reports like this don't help because it doesn't give enough information. So here are some helpful tips:
Location
If the bug is location-related (ie. typo in a description, something you interact with doesn't work right, etc.), make sure you note the location in your report. Make sure you note where the error is (i.e. The Garden Cafe's room description says there are tables and chairs, but when I try to look at the tables or chairs, I can't interact with them).
Items
If the bug is item related, make sure you include all relevant item information. 'My skirt' doesn't quite cut it; Long skirt? Short skirt? Pleated skirt? What SORT of skirt is it, and also importantly, where did you buy it? (Once these things can be purchased. Sometimes, materials from one vendor may be faulty, but not from another.) So, for example (From TEC, mind you..): I can't wear my towel. I bought it from those expensive baths in Iridine, the old Auxilii ones? It's a cream towel. - Here, you've said what it is (a towel), what sort of towel (a cream one), and where you bought it (the Corallium or however the heck you spell it). Normal towels in TEC are wearable, but not the Corallium ones.
What's broken?
I swear, if I had a penny for all the times I've gotten 'It doesn't work' or similar variants as a bug report, I'd be rich. HOW isn't it working? Can you wear it and not supposed to be able? Can you not wear it and supposed to be able? Does it never go out? Does it always go out? Can you wield it? And should you be able to? You have to give details about what isn't working right. For example: I can't put anything in my ashtray, and it's already empty. Well, now they know WHAT isn't working, which is important.
What did you do?
Some bugs require interaction. For example, I'm going to draw on a problem experienced in CM. If you had something in your pouch but then typed 'put item in my pouch', it would fall to the ground. Briseis was going out of her head because she kept losing her keys, because she had gotten into the habit of just typing 'put my keys in my pouch' -- if they keys were already there, then she'd get an error message -- if not, she'd put them in the pouch. But once the bug occurred, she kept dropping them all over the place.
With that example, once Briseis was able to figure out how she had caused the bug, she was able to reproduce it over and over, which led it it being fixed. Which brings me to the next point:
Is it repeatable?
Can you make the bug repeat itself? If it can be repeated, it's easier to find, but if it only happens once in a blue moon, it's harder. See the above re Briseis' keys.
When?
Sometimes code is being updated and performs wonkily. Make sure you say when you caused the bug. You never know: Since then, code might have been updated. This isn't a concern if you file right away, but if you are referencing past occurrences, it's important to notice things like date. For instance, imagine the gait command had been altered to allow you to enter 'trot e' to exit east at a trot. Yet whenever a character exits with a gait once, they are now stuck with it forever, whereas before the change it never happened. It's quite possible that the change has something to do with the bug.
So, to summarize, here is an example bug report:
My pencil is the pencil of death. I was joking around with Charlotte the other day and decided to type 'wield pencil'. And she wielded it! Of course, being the curious sort, I turned to my companion and typed 'stab Tarquin with my pencil' and lo, I killed him. Oops. Are we supposed to be able to wield pencils? And are they really that deadly? Oh, and Tarquin's corpse is stuck to my floor and I can't move it, he's too heavy.
[Originally Posted by Iatasha.]
A well written bug report is essential for a hasty resolution of the problem. It's very important to remember that the coder who is assigned to fix the problem will be, originally, going off what you wrote and just what you wrote. They will not have all the facts unless you give them all the facts.
Example Time:
The flashlight isn't working! OR
I get this weird message when I light this. OR
It's not working right.
What do you think a coder can do with a bug report like those? Reports like this don't help because it doesn't give enough information. So here are some helpful tips:
Location
If the bug is location-related (ie. typo in a description, something you interact with doesn't work right, etc.), make sure you note the location in your report. Make sure you note where the error is (i.e. The Garden Cafe's room description says there are tables and chairs, but when I try to look at the tables or chairs, I can't interact with them).
Items
If the bug is item related, make sure you include all relevant item information. 'My skirt' doesn't quite cut it; Long skirt? Short skirt? Pleated skirt? What SORT of skirt is it, and also importantly, where did you buy it? (Once these things can be purchased. Sometimes, materials from one vendor may be faulty, but not from another.) So, for example (From TEC, mind you..): I can't wear my towel. I bought it from those expensive baths in Iridine, the old Auxilii ones? It's a cream towel. - Here, you've said what it is (a towel), what sort of towel (a cream one), and where you bought it (the Corallium or however the heck you spell it). Normal towels in TEC are wearable, but not the Corallium ones.
What's broken?
I swear, if I had a penny for all the times I've gotten 'It doesn't work' or similar variants as a bug report, I'd be rich. HOW isn't it working? Can you wear it and not supposed to be able? Can you not wear it and supposed to be able? Does it never go out? Does it always go out? Can you wield it? And should you be able to? You have to give details about what isn't working right. For example: I can't put anything in my ashtray, and it's already empty. Well, now they know WHAT isn't working, which is important.
What did you do?
Some bugs require interaction. For example, I'm going to draw on a problem experienced in CM. If you had something in your pouch but then typed 'put item in my pouch', it would fall to the ground. Briseis was going out of her head because she kept losing her keys, because she had gotten into the habit of just typing 'put my keys in my pouch' -- if they keys were already there, then she'd get an error message -- if not, she'd put them in the pouch. But once the bug occurred, she kept dropping them all over the place.
With that example, once Briseis was able to figure out how she had caused the bug, she was able to reproduce it over and over, which led it it being fixed. Which brings me to the next point:
Is it repeatable?
Can you make the bug repeat itself? If it can be repeated, it's easier to find, but if it only happens once in a blue moon, it's harder. See the above re Briseis' keys.
When?
Sometimes code is being updated and performs wonkily. Make sure you say when you caused the bug. You never know: Since then, code might have been updated. This isn't a concern if you file right away, but if you are referencing past occurrences, it's important to notice things like date. For instance, imagine the gait command had been altered to allow you to enter 'trot e' to exit east at a trot. Yet whenever a character exits with a gait once, they are now stuck with it forever, whereas before the change it never happened. It's quite possible that the change has something to do with the bug.
So, to summarize, here is an example bug report:
My pencil is the pencil of death. I was joking around with Charlotte the other day and decided to type 'wield pencil'. And she wielded it! Of course, being the curious sort, I turned to my companion and typed 'stab Tarquin with my pencil' and lo, I killed him. Oops. Are we supposed to be able to wield pencils? And are they really that deadly? Oh, and Tarquin's corpse is stuck to my floor and I can't move it, he's too heavy.
[Originally Posted by Iatasha.]