GUIDE TO REPORTING BUGS

REPORTING:
Please send all bug reports to our Compuserve account.  Include any
supporting files needed to reproduce the bug.  

PURPOSE:
This document provides a standard for reporting anamolies in Autodesk 
software products.  Following the standard will help ensure bug reports 
are consistent, complete, and adequate for Software Development and QA 
use.   Both departments need to identify, examine, understand, and correct 
problems and verify changes in the software in a timely fashion. When you
write your report be sure to indicate which IPAS Plug-in the problem 
occurs in.
		
PROBLEM SUMMARY:
This is a 72 character brief summary description of the problem being 
reported.  Often this is the only description appearing on reports, so be 
as specific as possible in the limited space available. Please be sure to

DESCRIPTION:    
This section is by far the most important section.   Failure to complete 
this section is a failure to provide adequate information to correct a 
problem in the software.   This results in delays and wasted time in 
recovering the information.   This section is scrutinized when a problem 
report is reviewed by the QA Engineer or the programmer assigned to fix 
the bug. 

The description should include a description of the anomaly, describing 
its behavior accurately.  This should be followed by a script of steps or 
commands necessary to reproduce the erroneous behavior.   Optionally, 
a reference to the correct documented behavior can be entered.   However, 
if you are suggesting a redesign of a feature, document how you think that 
feature should behave.

Specific steps:
1. State the problem, one sentence if possible.  
   "[command/feature/function] fails when..."
2. Instructions to reproduce the problem. Be sure to indicate which                                                 
3. Any additional information about the conditions required to recreate the 
   problem. (e.g.   environment variables, system variables, etc.)
4. The file name of any associated drawings, scripts, or other files.                      

PLATFORM:
This field indicates the specific supported platform designated by the 
Autodesk version name.   Indicate whether the problem occurs with DOS
or Windows.

VERSION:
For restricted and pre-release product, the Autodesk internal version 
number is entered in this field.   The numbers and characters are to be 
exactly as listed on the release notes for the product.  Please use 
the beta number from the Plug-in the bug is found in.

COMPUTER:       
The entry in this field consists of the exact computer system that the 
anomaly was discovered on.   This entry may or may not be a directly 
supported hardware platform (i.e., a bug that is specific to a particular 
clone computer would have that clone's brand name entered here).

MEMORY CONFIG.:
This field is for listing the amount of memory installed in the machine 
that the bug was identified or verified with.   This is especially important 
if the bug is memory dependent.  Generally it is listed in Kilobytes, but a 
one or two digit entry is understood to indicate Megabytes.   For memory 
specific bug reports varying with memory configurations, detailed information 
is entered in the Problem Description section described below.

USER:   
The name of the finder of the anomaly.  This is the name of the individual 
customer, Product Support person, or QA Engineer reporting the problem - not 
necessarily the same as the person recording the anomaly (see "Recorded By" 
below).

PHONE: 
The telephone number of the originator of the anomaly report.   

COMPANY:        
The name of the Company that the originator of the report works for.  

SUPPORTING FILES
It may simply be easier to send us the project file to reproduce the bug
then describe a complex series of steps.  

SEND REPORTS TO
All reports are to be sent to Compuserve account #73641,3575 or fax to 
415/507-5322 attn:  Teri Demski.

