Reporting Bugs

As a first step, please read and follow the TroubleshootingTips so that old versions, add-ons, corrupt preferences, system problems and the like can be ruled out. Your problem(s) might be resolved in the process.

Guidelines

Please read this entire document before submitting tickets. It will help us fix your bug faster. For bonus points, also read through the very good suggestions offered by Eric Raymond's How To Ask Questions The Smart Way and Simon Tatham's How to Report Bugs Effectively. Bug submissions that do not meet the following "Useful Bug Report" criteria tend to be investigated last or, more likely, closed as invalid.

Useful bug reports are ones that get bugs fixed. A useful bug report normally has three qualities:

1. Reproducible:

If a developer can't see a bug or conclusively prove that it exists, the developer will probably not be able to fix it. He or she will move on to the next bug. Every relevant detail you provide helps.

2. Specific:

Give us details. If you're crashing on a certain action, please take the time to isolate what is triggering the crash, and include it in the bug report if possible. The quicker the developer can isolate the issue to a specific problem, the more likely it will be fixed in a timely manner.

3. Not a Duplicate:

Please search before filing bug reports. Try a variety of words in case the one(s) you're using isn't the usual one to describe what you're talking about. Also, look through the ConceptIndexOfTickets. If you're running AdiumBeta look at the associated milestone on the Roadmap to see if your bug is already there. Time spent sorting through different tickets on duplicate issues may be time not spent fixing a bug.

• If you don't find an existing ticket about your issue, then you get to file one!
• If you do find an existing ticket about your problem, then it has already been reported. This is a good thing.
  • If it's a completely silent ticket, please add a comment that you too are experiencing the issue. Doing so lets us know it's not a solitary case. If possible, include additional useful information (see below).
  • If there are a ton of comments already, one more probably won't contribute anything but noise.
  • If the ticket has been closed because we thought the issue was resolved, check the release milestone of the ticket and the About Adium window in your copy of Adium.
    • If the ticket was closed for a newer version than you have, please check whether the new version is available from http://adiumx.com/, and if it is, please update. If it isn't, please wait until we release it, then update. (And please don't ask when that will be: We don't know.)
    • If the ticket was closed for an earlier version than you have, or the same version you have, then please add a comment that you are still seeing the issue. If possible, include additional useful information (see below).
  • If a ticket is asking for feedback, try answering any questions that have been asked and following all steps that have been suggested. Again, if possible, include additional useful information (see below).

Example

Let's say you crash while signing on to AIM, and want to write up a bug report:

BAD: "Adium crashed. I think I was on AIM. I think that this is a really bad problem and you should fix it or else nobody will use your program. By the way, my sister thinks your icons really suck. Oh, and my mom's messages don't look right, either, they're all messed up. Thx 4 fixing theze bugz."

GOOD: "Adium crashes immediately each time I sign on to my MSN account, using Adium 1.3 on a Mac OS X 10.5.4 system. Adium does not crash when I sign on to my AIM account. I am attaching the crash reports here."

Adium Trac accounts

In order to create and comment on tickets you need an Adium Trac account (Trac is the bug tracking system we are using here).

• If you already have one, just login using the link at the bottom of the page
• If you don't have one, you'll need to create one

Creating an account is a one-step process, and no personal information is required. If you choose to list your email address, it will never be added to any list or sold to any party for any reason whatsoever. You will automatically receive emails when changes are made to tickets which you create or modify. It will not be publicly viewable, so we recommend including it when registering.

Composing a bug report

Once you have logged into your Trac account you can click 'New Ticket' at the top of the page to start creating a new ticket.

Note:

• Please only put one issue in each ticket. File multiple tickets if you can confirm multiple bugs.
• Please make sure to file your ticket in English, as that is the only language that most of our developers understand.
• Please keep the comments related to fixing the bug. Comments like "Me too" or "I really want this fixed" or "You guys suck for not fixing this" are not usually helpful.

Please include the following information in every bug report you file:

1. The results of all of the troubleshooting steps you have taken to attempt to solve the problem
2. The specific versions of Adium and OS X that you are using (not "I'm using the latest/previous version")
3. The steps someone else can take to reproduce the problem
4. The messaging service (protocol) affected and
5. The language in which you use Adium (if you are using Adium in a non-English language)

The following table lists common problems and what extra information we require to fix them:

Issue	Information required
Crash	The crash report. → Please obtain a crash report, then attach it to the ticket with "Attach File" after you create the ticket - do not paste it into the ticket. Look for the crash log in ~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter. If you are running Leopard it will be there. If you are running Tiger and have not yet relaunched Adium, it will be there. Otherwise, it will be in your Trash can.
Connection issues	A debug log that captures the event as outlined in CurrentAdiumDebug. → Again, please attach the output to the ticket - do not paste it into the ticket.
Freezes or high CPU usage	A sample of the behavior. → Please attach the output to the ticket - do not paste it into the ticket.
High memory usage	Leaks output. → Please attach the output to the ticket - do not paste it into the ticket.
Visual glitch	A screenshot of the problem, in PNG or JPEG format. → Please attach the image to the ticket; a link may later become invalid.

Are you using SVN?

If so, read FilingSVNIssue, too. If you don't know if you're using SVN, then you're not.

Following up

We may require additional information or have a debug version for you to test. If we can't get this information, we may end up closing the ticket without actually fixing it simply because we don't know enough about the problem. Therefore, if you do not associate an email address with your Trac account it is a good idea to bookmark it and check it periodically.