Webhelp - help for the web interface
Help for users of the web interface, searching, objects and their fields, etc.
The search form has no pre-selected entries, click query and an indiscriminate list of all the bugs in the database will be returned.
Filtering is achieved by selecting options from the popup menus, or entering data in the text fields, as described below.
Once an item is returned for viewing, links to it's constituent parts may be followed.
The following describe fields not described under OBJECTS
List of active administrators who are registered against 1 or more bugs.
Boolean switch to decide whether or not to AND or to OR the query fields together, in the creation of the SQL search query.
Determine whether to return records found in ASCENDING or DESCENDING order.
Restrict records created on or after the selected date.
Note that you can also construct a query to retrieve the bugs since this Christmas by using something of the form:
http://bugs.perl.org/perlbug/perlbug.cgi?req=date&date=20001225
Usage of a valid 8 figure date is recommended, otherwise you're on your own :-)
Determine the display format of the records found. This for example, means you can still get an ascii list (for applying a script against, perhaps), even while using the web frontend which naturally has the default return format in HTML form.
The contents of the actual Message-Id: field belonging to each bug or reply.
Restrict the number of found records to the given number. Also divides the remainder up into similarly sized chunks for convenient browsing thereafter.
Restrict returns to bugs which have this many messages/replies in the thread.
Display the SQL executed. This may help to pinpoint problems where searches are not returning expected results.
All text fields are searched using the SQL 'LIKE' operator. The LIKE operator allows the symbol % to match any sequence of characters, like '.*' in Perl regexes, and the symbol '_' to match any single character, like '.' in Perl regexes. Perlbug also maps '*' to '%', so '*' will also match any sequence of characters. All other characters in text boxes are taken literally.
The Subject, Body and Source address fields perform substring searches. That is they are surrounded by % internally. For example, entering filehandle in the Subject box searches for any subject that contains the string filehandle.
The Bug ID, Version, Fixed in, Message-ID, Note ID, Patch ID, and Test ID, fields are used exactly as entered. Entering '20001122' in the Bug ID field will not match anything, because 20001122 is not the ID of any bug. To find all the bugs that were submitted on date 20001122, use '20001122.%'.
Note also that for convenience(?),
an asterisk(
*
) will be simply mapped to the sql wildcard %
'.
It may be instructive to try a few searches with the Show SQL option enabled. This will display the SQL query that the engine is using to search the database.
See also object_search
Bugs are initially returned in either list or block format, with an optional trimming mechanism which defaults to 25. At the base of the page is a list of all the other bugs found during the query, sectioned into similarly managable portions. The list format is designed for quickly moving around a list of bugs, while the block format is aimed at finding all information relating to said bug, without having to hop around.
Where searching for each object, (not using the prime bug search mechanism), individually, each field is treated as searchable using the wildcard mechanism described above.
The following fields are treated specially:
Date field - use a format of YYYY-MM--DD eg; 1987-05-02
As per created above
The Optional field is used by administrators to enter a command line string for defining relationships, similar to a typical bugdb subject or To|Cc line.
For example to assign group, status, admin info etc. to a bug:
aix linux win98 macos closed richardf docs
Or a bugid, or two, to a patch:
19870502.007 19870502.091
See mailhelp for more info
The submit buttons available are as follows:
submit the query to the database interface
reset the form to the default values
For admins only:
update the selected record/s shown
same as update, but don't send any email notifications of the changes
select all shown record/s
deselect all shown record/s
switch from the noadmin view to the admin view (data updates are possible)
switch from the admin view to the noadmin view (less clutter)
delete the selected shown record/s
Certain fields are common to all objects:
The date this record was created in the database.
The date this record was in some way modified.
The list of all modifications to each item, and who submitted them.
Certain objects may be transferred from one type to another, for example where a plain message should be reclassified as, for example, a patch or a test.
Additional data may always be entered in the optional field
The main potato:
The internally generated bugid.
The subject line of the original report.
Usually the From: address of the original report.
The body of the original message which generated the bug report.
During a web search, the bodies of all messages in the database will be inspected, unless the boolean and_or switch AND is selected whereby the search criteria is narrowed down.
The status of the bug, with the following options:
abandoned - no longer worked on
busy - currently being looked at by an administrator
closed - considered fixed
duplicate - a report erroneously filed a second time
incapable - considered not doable
ok - a 'build reported OK:' report, (not the same as closed)
notok - opposite of B<ok>
onhold - undecided as to whether this is a bug or not
open - undealt with, needing attention
The group (or category) of the bug has the following options:
bounce - report had invalid format, common with spam mail
core - central functionality affected
docs - not a code bug, a docs bug (or typo)
install - bug in the installation procedure
library - not a central routine, rather a library or module bug
notabug - at all, could be misread instructions or even spam
patch - this fixed another bug
unknown - first port of call, bug usually assigned to another valid group
utilities - a utility function misbehaved
The severity of the bug has the following options, in descending order or severity:
fatal - top priority!
high - non-fatal, but has to be fixed quickly
medium - should be fixed soon
low - would be good to fix when time permits
wishlist - would be nice to have someone look at this sometime
none - a bit like 'wishlist' but more so
The name of the operating system this report was generated on:
Many differing values possible.
aix, dec, hpux, irix, linux, macos, next, os2, solaris, vms, winnt, etc.
...
The Project, which currently uses the
perl4 - once
perl5 - and [now]
perl6 - future
...
There are several field relating to versions, patches, changes which may at first be somewhat inter-related.
The version against which this report was first noticed/generated.
Typically has one of the following forms:
5
5.0053
5.00.5.3
5.6
5.6.0
5.7.1
...
The version in which this bug was fixed, same format as version above.
The changeID of the target source for the fix. this is an external reference about which we know very little.
Typically has one of the following forms: 5
5810
0053
...
History of administrative operations against this bug, changes of status/group, etc..
List of email addresses for this bug. Will contain the source address, any adminitrator who has modified the bug record, and any people who have been on the Cc: list of any of the messages assigned to this bug.
The internal-ids of messages belonging to this bug (replies).
Not to be confused with the externally supplied message_id's of each email.
The bugid of any other bug to which this bug may belong.
The bugid of any other bug which belongs to this bug.
An administrator can assign a note to a bug when he/she modifies it.
The body of the note.
The internally generated noteid.
A bug may be fixed by a patch, this can be assigned along with a changeid.
Bear in mind the difference between the internally generated /patchid and the externally offered /changeid.
The body of the patch.
The internally generated patchid.
A test may be assigned to a bug, if the test succeeds the bug may be regarded as fixed.
The body of the test.
The internally generated testid.
Richard Foley <richard@rfi.net> 2001
Amendments by Mark-Jason Dominus <mjd@plover.com>