<HTML
><HEAD
><TITLE
>How do I use Bugzilla?</TITLE
><META
NAME="GENERATOR"
CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.76b+
"><LINK
REL="HOME"
TITLE="The Bugzilla Guide - 2.17.5
Development Release"
HREF="index.html"><LINK
REL="UP"
TITLE="Using Bugzilla"
HREF="using.html"><LINK
REL="PREVIOUS"
TITLE="Using Bugzilla"
HREF="using.html"><LINK
REL="NEXT"
TITLE="Hints and Tips"
HREF="hintsandtips.html"></HEAD
><BODY
CLASS="section"
BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"
TEXT="#000000"
LINK="#0000FF"
VLINK="#840084"
ALINK="#0000FF"
><DIV
CLASS="NAVHEADER"
><TABLE
SUMMARY="Header navigation table"
WIDTH="100%"
BORDER="0"
CELLPADDING="0"
CELLSPACING="0"
><TR
><TH
COLSPAN="3"
ALIGN="center"
>The Bugzilla Guide - 2.17.5
Development Release</TH
></TR
><TR
><TD
WIDTH="10%"
ALIGN="left"
VALIGN="bottom"
><A
HREF="using.html"
ACCESSKEY="P"
>Prev</A
></TD
><TD
WIDTH="80%"
ALIGN="center"
VALIGN="bottom"
>Chapter 3. Using Bugzilla</TD
><TD
WIDTH="10%"
ALIGN="right"
VALIGN="bottom"
><A
HREF="hintsandtips.html"
ACCESSKEY="N"
>Next</A
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
><HR
ALIGN="LEFT"
WIDTH="100%"></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="section"
><H1
CLASS="section"
><A
NAME="how"
></A
>3.1. How do I use Bugzilla?</H1
><P
>This section contains information for end-users of Bugzilla.
There is a Bugzilla test installation, called
<A
HREF="http://landfill.bugzilla.org/"
TARGET="_top"
>Landfill</A
>,
which you are welcome to play with (if it's up.)
However, it does not necessarily
have all Bugzilla features enabled, and often runs cutting-edge versions
of Bugzilla for testing, so some things may work slightly differently
than mentioned here.</P
><DIV
CLASS="section"
><H2
CLASS="section"
><A
NAME="myaccount"
></A
>3.1.1. Create a Bugzilla Account</H2
><P
>If you want to use Bugzilla, first you need to create an account.
Consult with the administrator responsible for your installation of
Bugzilla for the URL you should use to access it. If you're
test-driving Bugzilla, use this URL:
<A
HREF="http://landfill.bugzilla.org/bugzilla-tip/"
TARGET="_top"
>http://landfill.bugzilla.org/bugzilla-tip/</A
>.
</P
><P
></P
><OL
TYPE="1"
><LI
><P
>Click the
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"Open a new Bugzilla account"</SPAN
>
link, enter your email address and, optionally, your name in the
spaces provided, then click
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"Create Account"</SPAN
>
.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Within moments, you should receive an email to the address
you provided above, which contains your login name (generally the
same as the email address), and a password you can use to access
your account. This password is randomly generated, and can be
changed to something more memorable.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Click the
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"Log In"</SPAN
>
link in the yellow area at the bottom of the page in your browser,
enter your email address and password into the spaces provided, and
click
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"Login"</SPAN
>.
</P
></LI
></OL
><P
>You are now logged in. Bugzilla uses cookies for authentication
so, unless your IP address changes, you should not have to log in
again.</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="section"
><H2
CLASS="section"
><A
NAME="bug_page"
></A
>3.1.2. Anatomy of a Bug</H2
><P
>The core of Bugzilla is the screen which displays a particular
bug. It's a good place to explain some Bugzilla concepts.
<A
HREF="http://landfill.bugzilla.org/bugzilla-tip/show_bug.cgi?id=1"
TARGET="_top"
> Bug 1 on Landfill</A
>
is a good example. Note that the labels for most fields are hyperlinks;
clicking them will take you to context-sensitive help on that
particular field. Fields marked * may not be present on every
installation of Bugzilla.</P
><P
></P
><OL
TYPE="1"
><LI
><P
> <EM
>Product and Component</EM
>:
Bugs are divided up by Product and Component, with a Product
having one or more Components in it. For example,
bugzilla.mozilla.org's "Bugzilla" Product is composed of several
Components:
<P
></P
><TABLE
BORDER="0"
><TBODY
><TR
><TD
> <EM
>Administration:</EM
>
Administration of a Bugzilla installation.</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
> <EM
>Bugzilla-General:</EM
>
Anything that doesn't fit in the other components, or spans
multiple components.</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
> <EM
>Creating/Changing Bugs:</EM
>
Creating, changing, and viewing bugs.</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
> <EM
>Documentation:</EM
>
The Bugzilla documentation, including The Bugzilla Guide.</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
> <EM
>Email:</EM
>
Anything to do with email sent by Bugzilla.</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
> <EM
>Installation:</EM
>
The installation process of Bugzilla.</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
> <EM
>Query/Buglist:</EM
>
Anything to do with searching for bugs and viewing the
buglists.</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
> <EM
>Reporting/Charting:</EM
>
Getting reports from Bugzilla.</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
> <EM
>User Accounts:</EM
>
Anything about managing a user account from the user's perspective.
Saved queries, creating accounts, changing passwords, logging in,
etc.</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
> <EM
>User Interface:</EM
>
General issues having to do with the user interface cosmetics (not
functionality) including cosmetic issues, HTML templates,
etc.</TD
></TR
></TBODY
></TABLE
><P
></P
>
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <EM
>Status and Resolution:</EM
>
These define exactly what state the bug is in - from not even
being confirmed as a bug, through to being fixed and the fix
confirmed by Quality Assurance. The different possible values for
Status and Resolution on your installation should be documented in the
context-sensitive help for those items.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <EM
>Assigned To:</EM
>
The person responsible for fixing the bug.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <EM
>*URL:</EM
>
A URL associated with the bug, if any.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <EM
>Summary:</EM
>
A one-sentence summary of the problem.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <EM
>*Status Whiteboard:</EM
>
(a.k.a. Whiteboard) A free-form text area for adding short notes
and tags to a bug.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <EM
>*Keywords:</EM
>
The administrator can define keywords which you can use to tag and
categorise bugs - e.g. The Mozilla Project has keywords like crash
and regression.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <EM
>Platform and OS:</EM
>
These indicate the computing environment where the bug was
found.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <EM
>Version:</EM
>
The "Version" field is usually used for versions of a product which
have been released, and is set to indicate which versions of a
Component have the particular problem the bug report is
about.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <EM
>Priority:</EM
>
The bug assignee uses this field to prioritise his or her bugs.
It's a good idea not to change this on other people's bugs.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <EM
>Severity:</EM
>
This indicates how severe the problem is - from blocker
("application unusable") to trivial ("minor cosmetic issue"). You
can also use this field to indicate whether a bug is an enhancement
request.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <EM
>*Target:</EM
>
(a.k.a. Target Milestone) A future version by which the bug is to
be fixed. e.g. The Bugzilla Project's milestones for future
Bugzilla versions are 2.18, 2.20, 3.0, etc. Milestones are not
restricted to numbers, thought - you can use any text strings, such
as dates.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <EM
>Reporter:</EM
>
The person who filed the bug.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <EM
>CC list:</EM
>
A list of people who get mail when the bug changes.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <EM
>Attachments:</EM
>
You can attach files (e.g. testcases or patches) to bugs. If there
are any attachments, they are listed in this section.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <EM
>*Dependencies:</EM
>
If this bug cannot be fixed unless other bugs are fixed (depends
on), or this bug stops other bugs being fixed (blocks), their
numbers are recorded here.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <EM
>*Votes:</EM
>
Whether this bug has any votes.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <EM
>Additional Comments:</EM
>
You can add your two cents to the bug discussion here, if you have
something worthwhile to say.</P
></LI
></OL
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="section"
><H2
CLASS="section"
><A
NAME="query"
></A
>3.1.3. Searching for Bugs</H2
><P
>The Bugzilla Search page is is the interface where you can find
any bug report, comment, or patch currently in the Bugzilla system. You
can play with it here:
<A
HREF="http://landfill.bugzilla.org/bugzilla-tip/query.cgi"
TARGET="_top"
>http://landfill.bugzilla.org/bugzilla-tip/query.cgi</A
>.</P
><P
>The Search page has controls for selecting different possible
values for all of the fields in a bug, as described above. For some
fields, multiple values can be selected. In those cases, Bugzilla
returns bugs where the content of the field matches one of the selected
values. If none is selected, then the field can take any value.</P
><P
>Once you've defined a search, you can either run it, or save it
as a Remembered Query, which can optionally appear in the footer of
your pages.</P
><P
>Highly advanced querying is done using Boolean Charts.</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="section"
><H2
CLASS="section"
><A
NAME="list"
></A
>3.1.4. Bug Lists</H2
><P
>If you run a search, a list of matching bugs will be returned.
The default search is to return all open bugs on the system - don't try
running this search on a Bugzilla installation with a lot of
bugs!</P
><P
>The format of the list is configurable. For example, it can be
sorted by clicking the column headings. Other useful features can be
accessed using the links at the bottom of the list:
<P
></P
><TABLE
BORDER="0"
><TBODY
><TR
><TD
> <EM
>Long Format:</EM
>
this gives you a large page with a non-editable summary of the fields
of each bug.</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
> <EM
>Change Columns:</EM
>
change the bug attributes which appear in the list.</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
> <EM
>Change several bugs at once:</EM
>
If your account is sufficiently empowered, you can make the same
change to all the bugs in the list - for example, changing their
owner.</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
> <EM
>Send mail to bug owners:</EM
>
Sends mail to the owners of all bugs on the list.</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
> <EM
>Edit this query:</EM
>
If you didn't get exactly the results you were looking for, you can
return to the Query page through this link and make small revisions
to the query you just made so you get more accurate results.</TD
></TR
></TBODY
></TABLE
><P
></P
>
</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="section"
><H2
CLASS="section"
><A
NAME="bugreports"
></A
>3.1.5. Filing Bugs</H2
><P
>Years of bug writing experience has been distilled for your
reading pleasure into the
<A
HREF="http://landfill.bugzilla.org/bugzilla-tip/bugwritinghelp.html"
TARGET="_top"
> Bug Writing Guidelines</A
>.
While some of the advice is Mozilla-specific, the basic principles of
reporting Reproducible, Specific bugs, isolating the Product you are
using, the Version of the Product, the Component which failed, the
Hardware Platform, and Operating System you were using at the time of
the failure go a long way toward ensuring accurate, responsible fixes
for the bug that bit you.</P
><P
>The procedure for filing a test bug is as follows:</P
><P
></P
><OL
TYPE="1"
><LI
><P
>Go to
<A
HREF="http://landfill.bugzilla.org/bugzilla-tip/"
TARGET="_top"
> Landfill</A
>
in your browser and click
<A
HREF="http://landfill.bugzilla.org/bugzilla-tip/enter_bug.cgi"
TARGET="_top"
> Enter a new bug report</A
>.
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Select a product - any one will do.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Fill in the fields. Bugzilla should have made reasonable
guesses, based upon your browser, for the "Platform" and "OS"
drop-down boxes. If they are wrong, change them.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Select "Commit" and send in your bug report.</P
></LI
></OL
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="section"
><H2
CLASS="section"
><A
NAME="patchviewer"
></A
>3.1.6. Patch Viewer</H2
><P
>Viewing and reviewing patches in Bugzilla is often difficult due to
lack of context, improper format and the inherent readability issues that
raw patches present. Patch Viewer is an enhancement to Bugzilla designed
to fix that by offering increased context, linking to sections, and
integrating with Bonsai, LXR and CVS.</P
><P
>Patch viewer allows you to:</P
><P
></P
><TABLE
BORDER="0"
><TBODY
><TR
><TD
>View patches in color, with side-by-side view rather than trying
to interpret the contents of the patch.</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
>See the difference between two patches.</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
>Get more context in a patch.</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
>Collapse and expand sections of a patch for easy
reading.</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
>Link to a particular section of a patch for discussion or
review</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
>Go to Bonsai or LXR to see more context, blame, and
cross-references for the part of the patch you are looking at</TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
>Create a rawtext unified format diff out of any patch, no
matter what format it came from</TD
></TR
></TBODY
></TABLE
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="section"
><H3
CLASS="section"
><A
NAME="patchviewer_view"
></A
>3.1.6.1. Viewing Patches in Patch Viewer</H3
><P
>The main way to view a patch in patch viewer is to click on the
"Diff" link next to a patch in the Attachments list on a bug. You may
also do this within the edit window by clicking the "View Attachment As
Diff" button in the Edit Attachment screen.</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="section"
><H3
CLASS="section"
><A
NAME="patchviewer_diff"
></A
>3.1.6.2. Seeing the Difference Between Two Patches</H3
><P
>To see the difference between two patches, you must first view the
newer patch in Patch Viewer. Then select the older patch from the
dropdown at the top of the page ("Differences between [dropdown] and
this patch") and click the "Diff" button. This will show you what
is new or changed in the newer patch.</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="section"
><H3
CLASS="section"
><A
NAME="patchviewer_context"
></A
>3.1.6.3. Getting More Context in a Patch</H3
><P
>To get more context in a patch, you put a number in the textbox at
the top of Patch Viewer ("Patch / File / [textbox]") and hit enter.
This will give you that many lines of context before and after each
change. Alternatively, you can click on the "File" link there and it
will show each change in the full context of the file. This feature only
works against files that were diffed using "cvs diff".</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="section"
><H3
CLASS="section"
><A
NAME="patchviewer_collapse"
></A
>3.1.6.4. Collapsing and Expanding Sections of a Patch</H3
><P
>To view only a certain set of files in a patch (for example, if a
patch is absolutely huge and you want to only review part of it at a
time), you can click the "(+)" and "(-)" links next to each file (to
expand it or collapse it). If you want to collapse all files or expand
all files, you can click the "Collapse All" and "Expand All" links at the
top of the page.</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="section"
><H3
CLASS="section"
><A
NAME="patchviewer_link"
></A
>3.1.6.5. Linking to a Section of a Patch</H3
><P
>To link to a section of a patch (for example, if you want to be
able to give someone a URL to show them which part you are talking
about) you simply click the "Link Here" link on the section header. The
resulting URL can be copied and used in discussion. (Copy Link
Location in Mozilla works as well.)</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="section"
><H3
CLASS="section"
><A
NAME="patchviewer_bonsai_lxr"
></A
>3.1.6.6. Going to Bonsai and LXR</H3
><P
>To go to Bonsai to get blame for the lines you are interested in,
you can click the "Lines XX-YY" link on the section header you are
interested in. This works even if the patch is against an old
version of the file, since Bonsai stores all versions of the file.</P
><P
>To go to LXR, you click on the filename on the file header
(unfortunately, since LXR only does the most recent version, line
numbers are likely to rot).</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="section"
><H3
CLASS="section"
><A
NAME="patchviewer_unified_diff"
></A
>3.1.6.7. Creating a Unified Diff</H3
><P
>If the patch is not in a format that you like, you can turn it
into a unified diff format by clicking the "Raw Unified" link at the top
of the page.</P
></DIV
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="NAVFOOTER"
><HR
ALIGN="LEFT"
WIDTH="100%"><TABLE
SUMMARY="Footer navigation table"
WIDTH="100%"
BORDER="0"
CELLPADDING="0"
CELLSPACING="0"
><TR
><TD
WIDTH="33%"
ALIGN="left"
VALIGN="top"
><A
HREF="using.html"
ACCESSKEY="P"
>Prev</A
></TD
><TD
WIDTH="34%"
ALIGN="center"
VALIGN="top"
><A
HREF="index.html"
ACCESSKEY="H"
>Home</A
></TD
><TD
WIDTH="33%"
ALIGN="right"
VALIGN="top"
><A
HREF="hintsandtips.html"
ACCESSKEY="N"
>Next</A
></TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
WIDTH="33%"
ALIGN="left"
VALIGN="top"
>Using Bugzilla</TD
><TD
WIDTH="34%"
ALIGN="center"
VALIGN="top"
><A
HREF="using.html"
ACCESSKEY="U"
>Up</A
></TD
><TD
WIDTH="33%"
ALIGN="right"
VALIGN="top"
>Hints and Tips</TD
></TR
></TABLE
></DIV
></BODY
></HTML
>