Chapter C6
Using TRAC

TRAC is a web-based tool for tracking bug reports and feature requests. Cactus bugs and feature requests are handled using the TRAC system hosted by the Einstein Toolkit consortium at http://trac.einsteintoolkit.org. Click on New Ticket to create a new ticket in the system.

Here, we briefly describe the main categories when creating a Cactus problem report.

Summary

A brief and informative subject line.

Description

Describe your problem precisely, if you get a core dump, include the stack trace, and if possible give the minimal number of thorns, this problems occurs with. Describe how to reproduce the problem if it is not clear. Note that the description field (and the comments) allow a wiki-style syntax. This means that blocks of code or error messages should be surrounded by {{{ ... }}} in order to avoid the text being interpreted as wiki markup. Click on the WikiFormatting link to learn more about the available markup.

Type

Choose defect for cases where there is clearly something wrong and enhancement for a feature request.

Priority

Pick whichever level is appropriate. Blocker for issues that stop you using the code, critical for very serious problems, major for things which should definitely be addressed, minor for things which would be good to fix but not essential, and optional for very low priority items. If in doubt, choose either major or minor.

Milestone

This is used by the maintainers to indicate an intention to fix the problem before a particular release of Cactus.

Component

Use Cactus for problems related to the Cactus flesh or one of the thorns in one of the Cactus arrangements (those in arrangements with names starting “Cactus”).

Version

The Cactus release you are using. You can find this out, for example, from an executable by typing cactus_<config> -v.

Keywords

Here you can enter a space-separated list of keywords which might be useful for people searching for specific types of tickets. For example, you could enter the thorn name if the problem is with a specific thorn, the keyword testsuite if the ticket is related to a test failure, or the keyword documentation if the problem is related to the documentation.

CC

Email addresses of people who should be emailed on any change to the ticket, such as a comment being added.

Email or username

Your email address, so we can get in contact with you.

If you have an account on the computer systems at CCT, you can log in to the TRAC system in order to be recognised. Otherwise, your comments will appear as “anonymous”.