SEND-PR(1)SEND-PR(1)NAMEsend-pr - send problem report (PR) to a central support site
SYNOPSISsend-pr [ site ] [ -f problem-report ] [ -t mail-address ]
[ -P ] [ -L ] [ --request-id ] [ -V ]
DESCRIPTIONsend-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).
send-pr invokes an editor on a problem report template (after trying to
fill in some fields with reasonable default values). When you exit the
editor, send-pr sends the completed form to the Problem Report Manage‐
ment 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 automatically
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 `send-pr -L' to see a list of categories). The
PR should also contain a subject header, which is separate to the syn‐
opsis line. NetBSD does not use unique submitter-id's - all PR's use
the default value of `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. send-pr sends the contents of the file
without invoking the editor. If the value for problem-report is
`-', then send-pr reads from standard input.
-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.
-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.
--request-id
sends mail to the default support site, or site if specified,
with a request for your submitter-id. If you are not affiliated
with site, use a submitter-id of net'.
-V Display the send-pr version number.
Note: use send-pr to submit problem reports rather than mailing them
directly. Using both the template and send-pr itself will help ensure
all necessary information will reach the support site.
ENVIRONMENT
GNATS_ROOT
If the file $GNATS_ROOT/gnats-adm/config exists then it is used
to provide newer configuration information. The default value
is the empty string.
LOGNAME
Sets the default for the From and Reply-To fields of the problem
report. Defaults to $USER if not set.
NAME Sets the default for the Originator field of the problem report.
If not set, then the file $HOME/.fullname is used. If
$HOME/.fullname is not present, then an attempt is made to query
the password file for a full name.
ORGANIZATION
The name of a file which contains the default for the Organiza‐
tion field of the problem report.
PR_FORM
If this 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).
REPLYTO
Sets the default for the Reply-To field of the problem report.
If not set, then it defaults to $LOGNAME.
TMPDIR Specifies the temporary directory used for creating the problem
report. This directory must exist with write permissions.
Defaults to /tmp if not specified.
USER_GNATS_SITE
Used to set the default site you are reporting bugs to.
Defaults to netbsd if not specified.
VISUAL Specifies the editor to invoke on the template. If not set,
then the variable EDITOR is used. If neither VISUAL nor EDITOR
are set, then vi(1) is used.
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.
The severity field is to indicate the severity of the problem. The
accepted values are:
critical
The product, component or concept is completely non-operational
or some essential functionality is missing (e.g. kernel panic or
program core dumps). No workaround is known.
serious
The product, component or concept is not working properly or
significant functionality is missing. Problems that would oth‐
erwise be considered critical are rated serious when a work‐
around is known.
non-critical
The product, component or concept is working in general, but
lacks features, has irritating behavior, does something wrong,
or doesn't match its documentation.
The default value is serious.
The priority field specifies how soon the problem report submitter
requires a solution. The accepted values are:
high A solution is needed as soon as possible.
medium The problem should be solved in the next release.
low The problem should be solved in a future release.
The default value is medium.
The class of a problem report can be one of the following:
sw-bug A general software problem ( `sw' stands for software ).
doc-bug
A problem with the manual pages or other documentation.
change-request
A request for a change from existing behavior that is not a bug
("It's nice, but it would be better if ...").
support
A support problem or question.
The default value is sw-bug.
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
$HOME/.fullname
Contains the default for the Originator field of the problem
report if $NAME is not set
$HOME/.organization
Contains the default for the Organization field of the problem
report if $ORGANIZATION is not set.
$HOME/.signature
Contains the default for the Organization field of the problem
report if $ORGANIZATION is not set and $HOME/.organization does
not exist.
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.
WEB INTERFACE
An interface to sending PR's is available on the NetBSD website at
http://www.NetBSD.org/Gnats/.
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).
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.
February 1993 3.95 SEND-PR(1)
