1@c PSPP - a program for statistical analysis. 2@c Copyright (C) 2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc. 3@c Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document 4@c under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 5@c or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; 6@c with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. 7@c A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU 8@c Free Documentation License". 9@c 10@node Bugs 11@chapter Bugs 12 13@cindex bugs 14@cindex troubleshooting 15 16Occasionally you may encounter a bug in @pspp{}. 17 18If you believe you have found a bug, please 19make sure that it really is a bug. Sometimes, what may appear 20to be a bug, turns out to be a misunderstanding of how to use the program. 21If you are unsure, ask for advice on the pspp-users mailing list. 22Information about the mailing list is at @uref{http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/pspp-users}. 23 24It is also valuable to try the newest version of @pspp{}, since the 25problem may have already been fixed. You can always find the newest 26version of PSPP by visiting @url{https://www.gnu.org/s/pspp, the PSPP 27website}. You might have obtained PSPP from a downstream packager, 28such as a GNU/Linux distribution; if your downstream package is not 29up-to-date, please ask the distributor to update to the newest 30version. 31 32If the problem persists in the up-to-date version, check to see if it 33has already been reported. Reported issues are listed at 34@uref{http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?group=pspp}. If it has already 35been reported, you might consider adding a comment with additional 36information or even just to mention that you are also experiencing the 37problem, since the PSPP developers are often inclined to work on 38issues that are important to a large number of users. 39 40 For known issues in individual language features, see the relevant section in @pxref{Language}. 41 42If the problem exists in a recent version and it has not already 43been reported, then please report it. 44 45 46@section How to report bugs 47 48The best way to send a bug report is using the web page at 49@uref{http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?group=pspp}. 50Alternatively, bug reports may be sent by email 51to @email{bug-gnu-pspp@@gnu.org}. 52 53A high-quality bug report allows the developers to understand, 54reproduce, and ultimately fix the problem. We recommend 55including the following: 56@itemize @bullet 57@item The version of @pspp{} in which you encountered the problem 58That means the precise version number. ``The latest version'' 59is often too ambiguous because 60releases happen quickly, and bug reports are archived indefinitely. 61@item The operating system and type of computer on which it is running. 62@item A sample of the syntax which causes the problem or, if it is a user 63 interface problem, the sequence of steps required to reproduce it. 64 Screenshots can be helpful for reporting bugs in the graphical user 65 interface, especially since GUI bugs can arise on some systems but 66 not others, but they do not usually help fixing other kinds of bugs. 67@item A description of what you think is wrong: What happened that you 68 didn't expect, and what did you expect to happen? 69@end itemize 70 71Here is one example of a bug report that includes all of the elements above: 72 73@cartouche 74@example 75When I run PSPP 0.8.4 on my GNU/Linux system, executing the following 76syntax: 77 78 DATA LIST FREE /x *. 79 BEGIN DATA. 80 1 2 3 81 END DATA. 82 LIST. 83 84results in: 85 86 4 87 5 88 6 89 90but I think the output should be: 91 92 1 93 2 94 3 95@end example 96@end cartouche 97 98The following bug report, on the other hand, does not provide enough 99information for PSPP developers to understand the problem. This means 100that the developers cannot identify or fix the problem without 101additional rounds of questions, which is more work for both the 102reporter and the developer: 103 104@cartouche 105@example 106I downloaded the latest version of PSPP and entered a sequence of numbers, 107but when I analyse them it gives the wrong output. 108@end example 109@end cartouche 110 111@pspp{} developers value all users' feedback, but cannot promise 112an immediate response. The bug reporting is not a consultancy or 113support service, although you can make private arrangements for such 114services. Since @pspp{} is free software, consultants have access to 115the information they need to provide such support. 116 117For general enquiries or help, please use the 118@uref{http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/pspp-users, pspp-users 119mailing list} instead of the bug mailing list or bug tracker. 120 121The PSPP bug tracker and bug reporting mailing list are public. To 122privately report a security vulnerability in GNU PSPP, please send 123your report to the closed mailing list @email{pspp-security@@gnu.org}. 124The PSPP developers will help you assess your report and fix problems 125prior to public disclosure. 126