SMAILBUG(8) Local SMAILBUG(8)NAMEsmailbug - send an smail problem report (PR)
SYNOPSISsmailbug [ site ] [ -f problem-report ] [ -t mail-address ]
[ -P ] [ -L ] [ -s severity ] [ -c address ] [ -V ]
DESCRIPTION
send-pr is a tool used to submit problem reports (PRs) to a central
support site. In most cases the correct site will be the default.
This argument indicates the support site which is responsible for the
category of problem involved. Some sites may use a local address as a
default. site values are defined by using the aliases(5).
smailbug invokes an editor on a problem report template (after trying
to fill in some fields with reasonable default values). When you exit
the editor, smailbug sends the completed form to the Problem Report
Management System (GNATS) at a central support site. At the support
site, the PR is assigned a unique number and is stored in the GNATS
database according to its category and submitter-id. GNATS automati‐
cally replies with an acknowledgement, citing the category and the PR
number.
To ensure that a PR is handled promptly, it should contain your
(unique) submitter-id and one of the available categories to identify
the problem area. (Use `smailbug -L' to see a list of categories.)
The smailbug template at your site should already be customised with
your submitter-id. If your site does not distinguish between different
user sites, or if you are not affiliated with the support site, use
`net' for this field.
The more precise your problem description and the more complete your
information, the faster your support team can solve your problems.
OPTIONS-f problem-report
specify a file (problem-report) which already contains a com‐
plete problem report. smailbug sends the contents of the file
without invoking the editor. If the value for problem-report is
`-', then smailbug reads from standard input.
-s severity
Give the problem report the severity severity.
-t mail-address
Change mail address at the support site for problem reports.
The default mail-address is the address used for the default
site. Use the site argument rather than this option in nearly
all cases.
-c address
Put address in the Cc: header of the message.
-P print the form specified by the environment variable PR_FORM on
standard output. If PR_FORM is not set, print the standard
blank PR template. No mail is sent.
-L print the list of available categories. No mail is sent.
-V Display the smailbug version number.
Note: use smailbug to submit problem reports rather than mailing them
directly. Using both the template and smailbug itself will help ensure
all necessary information will reach the support site.
ENVIRONMENT
The environment variable EDITOR specifies the editor to invoke on the
template.
default: vi
If the environment variable PR_FORM is set, then its value is used as
the file name of the template for your problem-report editing session.
You can use this to start with a partially completed form (for example,
a form with the identification fields already completed).
HOW TO FILL OUT A PROBLEM REPORT
Problem reports have to be in a particular form so that a program can
easily manage them. Please remember the following guidelines:
· describe only one problem with each problem report.
· For follow-up mail, use the same subject line as the one in the
automatic acknowledgement. It consists of category, PR number and
the original synopsis line. This allows the support site to relate
several mail messages to a particular PR and to record them automat‐
ically.
· Please try to be as accurate as possible in the subject and/or syn‐
opsis line.
· The subject and the synopsis line are not confidential. This is
because open-bugs lists are compiled from them. Avoid confidential
information there.
See the GNU Info file send-pr.info or the document Reporting Problems
With send-pr for detailed information on reporting problems
HOW TO SUBMIT TEST CASES, CODE, ETC.
Submit small code samples with the PR. Contact the support site for
instructions on submitting larger test cases and problematic source
code.
FILES
/tmp/p$$ copy of PR used in editing session
/tmp/pf$$ copy of empty PR form, for testing purposes
/tmp/pbad$$ file for rejected PRs
EMACS USER INTERFACE
An Emacs user interface for send-pr with completion of field values is
part of the send-pr distribution (invoked with M-x send-pr). See the
file send-pr.info or the ASCII file INSTALL in the top level directory
of the distribution for configuration and installation information.
The Emacs LISP template file is send-pr-el.in and is installed as send-
pr.el.
INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION
See send-pr.info or INSTALL for installation instructions.
SEE ALSO
Reporting Problems Using send-pr (also installed as the GNU Info file
send-pr.info).
gnats(l), query-pr(1), edit-pr(1), gnats(8), queue-pr(8), at-pr(8),
mkcat(8), mkdist(8).
AUTHORS
Jeffrey Osier, Brendan Kehoe, Jason Merrill, Heinz G. Seidl (Cygnus
Support)
COPYING
Copyright (c) 1992, 1993 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
preserved on all copies.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a per‐
mission notice identical to this one.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this man‐
ual into another language, under the above conditions for modified ver‐
sions, except that this permission notice may be included in transla‐
tions approved by the Free Software Foundation instead of in the origi‐
nal English.
Smail-3 RELEASE-3_2_0_115 SMAILBUG(8)
