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!ArcWeb/PublicHTML/bugreports
This website contains an archive of files for the Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Acorn Archimedes, Commodore 16 and Commodore 64 computers, which Dominic Ford has rescued from his private collection of floppy disks and cassettes.
Some of these files were originally commercial releases in the 1980s and 1990s, but they are now widely available online. I assume that copyright over them is no longer being asserted. If you own the copyright and would like files to be removed, please contact me.
| Tape/disk: | Home » Personal collection » Acorn hard disk » apps » web |
| Filename: | !ArcWeb/PublicHTML/bugreports |
| Read OK: | ✔ |
| File size: | 0A60 bytes |
| Load address: | 0000 |
| Exec address: | 0000 |
Duplicates
There is 1 duplicate copy of this file in the archive:
- Personal collection » Acorn ADFS disks » Greaseweazled » adfs_1.6M_ArcWeb.adf » !ArcWeb/PublicHTML/bugreports
- Personal collection » Acorn hard disk » apps » web » !ArcWeb/PublicHTML/bugreports
File contents
<title>Reporting Bugs</title>
<h1>Bug reporting</h1>
Please try to give as much information as possible about what might have
caused the problem. It may seem obvious, but if you have trouble with a
particular site or particular page, then <em>please</em> include the URL
with your report, because I can then visit the page myself and see if it
fails for me too, and if so whether it fails the same way, and why.
If you suffer messages such as "ArcWeb .... must exit immediately", then
you should create a small RAM disc (64K is plenty), and issue the following
command at the F12 prompt or in the <em>New Task</em> submenu on the Task Manager's menu:
<dl><dd><tt>*Set DumpRegisters 1</tt></dl>
When reporting bugs, please follow the instructions in the RAM:$.WebRegs file.
This file contains information about what was going on at the time when the
problem occurred, plus a few details about your system. If you object to
any particular information (such as total machine RAM) being included, then
remove it, bearing in mind that it may be part of the problem (and it may not).
The information logged is currently:<ul>
<li>What error condition occurred
<li>The contents of the RISC OS exception dump area (as you would see if you
had typed <tt>*ShowRegs</tt> at the CLI prompt.
<li>The register save area maintained by the Shared C Library, not normally
available, and hacked with great hackery from the data area inside the
image, as this is far more useful for finding programming errors than
the RISC OS save register area.
<li>A stack backtrace - an audit trail of which function was calling which
other function which was etc. so I can see how the address which caused
the problem was reached.
<li>Your OS version
<li>Your primary processor type (normal ARM or StrongARM)
<li>Your total RAM size
<li>The slot size ArcWeb had when the fault occurred
<li>The amount of memory free at the time the fault occurred
<li>The amount of free disc space on the drive hosting the cache
<li>ArcWeb's build date, build time and build version
<li>A nice message giving instructions about where to mail the file
</ul>
<p>
The more information that can be provided, the greater the chance that I can
fix it quickly and issue a new version that corrects it for everyone else.
<p>Please note that I cannot guarantee that I will e-mail you back to tell you
that the problem is identified and/or fixed. I'm afraid I don't have enough
time - and besides, you'd rather I spent what free time I do have fixing bugs
and doing other enhancements, wouldn't you?
<hr>
<address><a href="mailto:S.N.Brodie@ecs.soton.ac.uk">S.N.Brodie</a></address> 00000000 3c 74 69 74 6c 65 3e 52 65 70 6f 72 74 69 6e 67 |<title>Reporting| 00000010 20 42 75 67 73 3c 2f 74 69 74 6c 65 3e 0a 3c 68 | Bugs</title>.<h| 00000020 31 3e 42 75 67 20 72 65 70 6f 72 74 69 6e 67 3c |1>Bug reporting<| 00000030 2f 68 31 3e 0a 0a 50 6c 65 61 73 65 20 74 72 79 |/h1>..Please try| 00000040 20 74 6f 20 67 69 76 65 20 61 73 20 6d 75 63 68 | to give as much| 00000050 20 69 6e 66 6f 72 6d 61 74 69 6f 6e 20 61 73 20 | information as | 00000060 70 6f 73 73 69 62 6c 65 20 61 62 6f 75 74 20 77 |possible about w| 00000070 68 61 74 20 6d 69 67 68 74 20 68 61 76 65 0a 63 |hat might have.c| 00000080 61 75 73 65 64 20 74 68 65 20 70 72 6f 62 6c 65 |aused the proble| 00000090 6d 2e 20 20 49 74 20 6d 61 79 20 73 65 65 6d 20 |m. It may seem | 000000a0 6f 62 76 69 6f 75 73 2c 20 62 75 74 20 69 66 20 |obvious, but if | 000000b0 79 6f 75 20 68 61 76 65 20 74 72 6f 75 62 6c 65 |you have trouble| 000000c0 20 77 69 74 68 20 61 0a 70 61 72 74 69 63 75 6c | with a.particul| 000000d0 61 72 20 73 69 74 65 20 6f 72 20 70 61 72 74 69 |ar site or parti| 000000e0 63 75 6c 61 72 20 70 61 67 65 2c 20 74 68 65 6e |cular page, then| 000000f0 20 3c 65 6d 3e 70 6c 65 61 73 65 3c 2f 65 6d 3e | <em>please</em>| 00000100 20 69 6e 63 6c 75 64 65 20 74 68 65 20 55 52 4c | include the URL| 00000110 0a 77 69 74 68 20 79 6f 75 72 20 72 65 70 6f 72 |.with your repor| 00000120 74 2c 20 62 65 63 61 75 73 65 20 49 20 63 61 6e |t, because I can| 00000130 20 74 68 65 6e 20 76 69 73 69 74 20 74 68 65 20 | then visit the | 00000140 70 61 67 65 20 6d 79 73 65 6c 66 20 61 6e 64 20 |page myself and | 00000150 73 65 65 20 69 66 20 69 74 0a 66 61 69 6c 73 20 |see if it.fails | 00000160 66 6f 72 20 6d 65 20 74 6f 6f 2c 20 61 6e 64 20 |for me too, and | 00000170 69 66 20 73 6f 20 77 68 65 74 68 65 72 20 69 74 |if so whether it| 00000180 20 66 61 69 6c 73 20 74 68 65 20 73 61 6d 65 20 | fails the same | 00000190 77 61 79 2c 20 61 6e 64 20 77 68 79 2e 0a 0a 49 |way, and why...I| 000001a0 66 20 79 6f 75 20 73 75 66 66 65 72 20 6d 65 73 |f you suffer mes| 000001b0 73 61 67 65 73 20 73 75 63 68 20 61 73 20 22 41 |sages such as "A| 000001c0 72 63 57 65 62 20 2e 2e 2e 2e 20 6d 75 73 74 20 |rcWeb .... must | 000001d0 65 78 69 74 20 69 6d 6d 65 64 69 61 74 65 6c 79 |exit immediately| 000001e0 22 2c 20 74 68 65 6e 0a 79 6f 75 20 73 68 6f 75 |", then.you shou| 000001f0 6c 64 20 63 72 65 61 74 65 20 61 20 73 6d 61 6c |ld create a smal| 00000200 6c 20 52 41 4d 20 64 69 73 63 20 28 36 34 4b 20 |l RAM disc (64K | 00000210 69 73 20 70 6c 65 6e 74 79 29 2c 20 61 6e 64 20 |is plenty), and | 00000220 69 73 73 75 65 20 74 68 65 20 66 6f 6c 6c 6f 77 |issue the follow| 00000230 69 6e 67 0a 63 6f 6d 6d 61 6e 64 20 61 74 20 74 |ing.command at t| 00000240 68 65 20 46 31 32 20 70 72 6f 6d 70 74 20 6f 72 |he F12 prompt or| 00000250 20 69 6e 20 74 68 65 20 3c 65 6d 3e 4e 65 77 20 | in the <em>New | 00000260 54 61 73 6b 3c 2f 65 6d 3e 20 73 75 62 6d 65 6e |Task</em> submen| 00000270 75 20 6f 6e 20 74 68 65 20 54 61 73 6b 20 4d 61 |u on the Task Ma| 00000280 6e 61 67 65 72 27 73 20 6d 65 6e 75 3a 0a 0a 3c |nager's menu:..<| 00000290 64 6c 3e 3c 64 64 3e 3c 74 74 3e 2a 53 65 74 20 |dl><dd><tt>*Set | 000002a0 44 75 6d 70 52 65 67 69 73 74 65 72 73 20 31 3c |DumpRegisters 1<| 000002b0 2f 74 74 3e 3c 2f 64 6c 3e 0a 57 68 65 6e 20 72 |/tt></dl>.When r| 000002c0 65 70 6f 72 74 69 6e 67 20 62 75 67 73 2c 20 70 |eporting bugs, p| 000002d0 6c 65 61 73 65 20 66 6f 6c 6c 6f 77 20 74 68 65 |lease follow the| 000002e0 20 69 6e 73 74 72 75 63 74 69 6f 6e 73 20 69 6e | instructions in| 000002f0 20 74 68 65 20 52 41 4d 3a 24 2e 57 65 62 52 65 | the RAM:$.WebRe| 00000300 67 73 20 66 69 6c 65 2e 0a 54 68 69 73 20 66 69 |gs file..This fi| 00000310 6c 65 20 63 6f 6e 74 61 69 6e 73 20 69 6e 66 6f |le contains info| 00000320 72 6d 61 74 69 6f 6e 20 61 62 6f 75 74 20 77 68 |rmation about wh| 00000330 61 74 20 77 61 73 20 67 6f 69 6e 67 20 6f 6e 20 |at was going on | 00000340 61 74 20 74 68 65 20 74 69 6d 65 20 77 68 65 6e |at the time when| 00000350 20 74 68 65 0a 70 72 6f 62 6c 65 6d 20 6f 63 63 | the.problem occ| 00000360 75 72 72 65 64 2c 20 70 6c 75 73 20 61 20 66 65 |urred, plus a fe| 00000370 77 20 64 65 74 61 69 6c 73 20 61 62 6f 75 74 20 |w details about | 00000380 79 6f 75 72 20 73 79 73 74 65 6d 2e 20 20 49 66 |your system. If| 00000390 20 79 6f 75 20 6f 62 6a 65 63 74 20 74 6f 0a 61 | you object to.a| 000003a0 6e 79 20 70 61 72 74 69 63 75 6c 61 72 20 69 6e |ny particular in| 000003b0 66 6f 72 6d 61 74 69 6f 6e 20 28 73 75 63 68 20 |formation (such | 000003c0 61 73 20 74 6f 74 61 6c 20 6d 61 63 68 69 6e 65 |as total machine| 000003d0 20 52 41 4d 29 20 62 65 69 6e 67 20 69 6e 63 6c | RAM) being incl| 000003e0 75 64 65 64 2c 20 74 68 65 6e 0a 72 65 6d 6f 76 |uded, then.remov| 000003f0 65 20 69 74 2c 20 62 65 61 72 69 6e 67 20 69 6e |e it, bearing in| 00000400 20 6d 69 6e 64 20 74 68 61 74 20 69 74 20 6d 61 | mind that it ma| 00000410 79 20 62 65 20 70 61 72 74 20 6f 66 20 74 68 65 |y be part of the| 00000420 20 70 72 6f 62 6c 65 6d 20 28 61 6e 64 20 69 74 | problem (and it| 00000430 20 6d 61 79 20 6e 6f 74 29 2e 0a 54 68 65 20 69 | may not)..The i| 00000440 6e 66 6f 72 6d 61 74 69 6f 6e 20 6c 6f 67 67 65 |nformation logge| 00000450 64 20 69 73 20 63 75 72 72 65 6e 74 6c 79 3a 3c |d is currently:<| 00000460 75 6c 3e 0a 3c 6c 69 3e 57 68 61 74 20 65 72 72 |ul>.<li>What err| 00000470 6f 72 20 63 6f 6e 64 69 74 69 6f 6e 20 6f 63 63 |or condition occ| 00000480 75 72 72 65 64 0a 3c 6c 69 3e 54 68 65 20 63 6f |urred.<li>The co| 00000490 6e 74 65 6e 74 73 20 6f 66 20 74 68 65 20 52 49 |ntents of the RI| 000004a0 53 43 20 4f 53 20 65 78 63 65 70 74 69 6f 6e 20 |SC OS exception | 000004b0 64 75 6d 70 20 61 72 65 61 20 28 61 73 20 79 6f |dump area (as yo| 000004c0 75 20 77 6f 75 6c 64 20 73 65 65 20 69 66 20 79 |u would see if y| 000004d0 6f 75 0a 20 20 20 20 68 61 64 20 74 79 70 65 64 |ou. had typed| 000004e0 20 3c 74 74 3e 2a 53 68 6f 77 52 65 67 73 3c 2f | <tt>*ShowRegs</| 000004f0 74 74 3e 20 61 74 20 74 68 65 20 43 4c 49 20 70 |tt> at the CLI p| 00000500 72 6f 6d 70 74 2e 0a 3c 6c 69 3e 54 68 65 20 72 |rompt..<li>The r| 00000510 65 67 69 73 74 65 72 20 73 61 76 65 20 61 72 65 |egister save are| 00000520 61 20 6d 61 69 6e 74 61 69 6e 65 64 20 62 79 20 |a maintained by | 00000530 74 68 65 20 53 68 61 72 65 64 20 43 20 4c 69 62 |the Shared C Lib| 00000540 72 61 72 79 2c 20 6e 6f 74 20 6e 6f 72 6d 61 6c |rary, not normal| 00000550 6c 79 0a 20 20 20 20 61 76 61 69 6c 61 62 6c 65 |ly. available| 00000560 2c 20 61 6e 64 20 68 61 63 6b 65 64 20 77 69 74 |, and hacked wit| 00000570 68 20 67 72 65 61 74 20 68 61 63 6b 65 72 79 20 |h great hackery | 00000580 66 72 6f 6d 20 74 68 65 20 64 61 74 61 20 61 72 |from the data ar| 00000590 65 61 20 69 6e 73 69 64 65 20 74 68 65 0a 20 20 |ea inside the. | 000005a0 20 20 69 6d 61 67 65 2c 20 61 73 20 74 68 69 73 | image, as this| 000005b0 20 69 73 20 66 61 72 20 6d 6f 72 65 20 75 73 65 | is far more use| 000005c0 66 75 6c 20 66 6f 72 20 66 69 6e 64 69 6e 67 20 |ful for finding | 000005d0 70 72 6f 67 72 61 6d 6d 69 6e 67 20 65 72 72 6f |programming erro| 000005e0 72 73 20 74 68 61 6e 0a 20 20 20 20 74 68 65 20 |rs than. the | 000005f0 52 49 53 43 20 4f 53 20 73 61 76 65 20 72 65 67 |RISC OS save reg| 00000600 69 73 74 65 72 20 61 72 65 61 2e 0a 3c 6c 69 3e |ister area..<li>| 00000610 41 20 73 74 61 63 6b 20 62 61 63 6b 74 72 61 63 |A stack backtrac| 00000620 65 20 2d 20 61 6e 20 61 75 64 69 74 20 74 72 61 |e - an audit tra| 00000630 69 6c 20 6f 66 20 77 68 69 63 68 20 66 75 6e 63 |il of which func| 00000640 74 69 6f 6e 20 77 61 73 20 63 61 6c 6c 69 6e 67 |tion was calling| 00000650 20 77 68 69 63 68 0a 20 20 20 20 6f 74 68 65 72 | which. other| 00000660 20 66 75 6e 63 74 69 6f 6e 20 77 68 69 63 68 20 | function which | 00000670 77 61 73 20 65 74 63 2e 20 73 6f 20 49 20 63 61 |was etc. so I ca| 00000680 6e 20 73 65 65 20 68 6f 77 20 74 68 65 20 61 64 |n see how the ad| 00000690 64 72 65 73 73 20 77 68 69 63 68 20 63 61 75 73 |dress which caus| 000006a0 65 64 0a 20 20 20 20 74 68 65 20 70 72 6f 62 6c |ed. the probl| 000006b0 65 6d 20 77 61 73 20 72 65 61 63 68 65 64 2e 0a |em was reached..| 000006c0 3c 6c 69 3e 59 6f 75 72 20 4f 53 20 76 65 72 73 |<li>Your OS vers| 000006d0 69 6f 6e 0a 3c 6c 69 3e 59 6f 75 72 20 70 72 69 |ion.<li>Your pri| 000006e0 6d 61 72 79 20 70 72 6f 63 65 73 73 6f 72 20 74 |mary processor t| 000006f0 79 70 65 20 28 6e 6f 72 6d 61 6c 20 41 52 4d 20 |ype (normal ARM | 00000700 6f 72 20 53 74 72 6f 6e 67 41 52 4d 29 0a 3c 6c |or StrongARM).<l| 00000710 69 3e 59 6f 75 72 20 74 6f 74 61 6c 20 52 41 4d |i>Your total RAM| 00000720 20 73 69 7a 65 0a 3c 6c 69 3e 54 68 65 20 73 6c | size.<li>The sl| 00000730 6f 74 20 73 69 7a 65 20 41 72 63 57 65 62 20 68 |ot size ArcWeb h| 00000740 61 64 20 77 68 65 6e 20 74 68 65 20 66 61 75 6c |ad when the faul| 00000750 74 20 6f 63 63 75 72 72 65 64 0a 3c 6c 69 3e 54 |t occurred.<li>T| 00000760 68 65 20 61 6d 6f 75 6e 74 20 6f 66 20 6d 65 6d |he amount of mem| 00000770 6f 72 79 20 66 72 65 65 20 61 74 20 74 68 65 20 |ory free at the | 00000780 74 69 6d 65 20 74 68 65 20 66 61 75 6c 74 20 6f |time the fault o| 00000790 63 63 75 72 72 65 64 0a 3c 6c 69 3e 54 68 65 20 |ccurred.<li>The | 000007a0 61 6d 6f 75 6e 74 20 6f 66 20 66 72 65 65 20 64 |amount of free d| 000007b0 69 73 63 20 73 70 61 63 65 20 6f 6e 20 74 68 65 |isc space on the| 000007c0 20 64 72 69 76 65 20 68 6f 73 74 69 6e 67 20 74 | drive hosting t| 000007d0 68 65 20 63 61 63 68 65 0a 3c 6c 69 3e 41 72 63 |he cache.<li>Arc| 000007e0 57 65 62 27 73 20 62 75 69 6c 64 20 64 61 74 65 |Web's build date| 000007f0 2c 20 62 75 69 6c 64 20 74 69 6d 65 20 61 6e 64 |, build time and| 00000800 20 62 75 69 6c 64 20 76 65 72 73 69 6f 6e 0a 3c | build version.<| 00000810 6c 69 3e 41 20 6e 69 63 65 20 6d 65 73 73 61 67 |li>A nice messag| 00000820 65 20 67 69 76 69 6e 67 20 69 6e 73 74 72 75 63 |e giving instruc| 00000830 74 69 6f 6e 73 20 61 62 6f 75 74 20 77 68 65 72 |tions about wher| 00000840 65 20 74 6f 20 6d 61 69 6c 20 74 68 65 20 66 69 |e to mail the fi| 00000850 6c 65 0a 3c 2f 75 6c 3e 0a 0a 3c 70 3e 0a 54 68 |le.</ul>..<p>.Th| 00000860 65 20 6d 6f 72 65 20 69 6e 66 6f 72 6d 61 74 69 |e more informati| 00000870 6f 6e 20 74 68 61 74 20 63 61 6e 20 62 65 20 70 |on that can be p| 00000880 72 6f 76 69 64 65 64 2c 20 74 68 65 20 67 72 65 |rovided, the gre| 00000890 61 74 65 72 20 74 68 65 20 63 68 61 6e 63 65 20 |ater the chance | 000008a0 74 68 61 74 20 49 20 63 61 6e 0a 66 69 78 20 69 |that I can.fix i| 000008b0 74 20 71 75 69 63 6b 6c 79 20 61 6e 64 20 69 73 |t quickly and is| 000008c0 73 75 65 20 61 20 6e 65 77 20 76 65 72 73 69 6f |sue a new versio| 000008d0 6e 20 74 68 61 74 20 63 6f 72 72 65 63 74 73 20 |n that corrects | 000008e0 69 74 20 66 6f 72 20 65 76 65 72 79 6f 6e 65 20 |it for everyone | 000008f0 65 6c 73 65 2e 0a 0a 3c 70 3e 50 6c 65 61 73 65 |else...<p>Please| 00000900 20 6e 6f 74 65 20 74 68 61 74 20 49 20 63 61 6e | note that I can| 00000910 6e 6f 74 20 67 75 61 72 61 6e 74 65 65 20 74 68 |not guarantee th| 00000920 61 74 20 49 20 77 69 6c 6c 20 65 2d 6d 61 69 6c |at I will e-mail| 00000930 20 79 6f 75 20 62 61 63 6b 20 74 6f 20 74 65 6c | you back to tel| 00000940 6c 20 79 6f 75 0a 74 68 61 74 20 74 68 65 20 70 |l you.that the p| 00000950 72 6f 62 6c 65 6d 20 69 73 20 69 64 65 6e 74 69 |roblem is identi| 00000960 66 69 65 64 20 61 6e 64 2f 6f 72 20 66 69 78 65 |fied and/or fixe| 00000970 64 2e 20 20 49 27 6d 20 61 66 72 61 69 64 20 49 |d. I'm afraid I| 00000980 20 64 6f 6e 27 74 20 68 61 76 65 20 65 6e 6f 75 | don't have enou| 00000990 67 68 0a 74 69 6d 65 20 2d 20 61 6e 64 20 62 65 |gh.time - and be| 000009a0 73 69 64 65 73 2c 20 79 6f 75 27 64 20 72 61 74 |sides, you'd rat| 000009b0 68 65 72 20 49 20 73 70 65 6e 74 20 77 68 61 74 |her I spent what| 000009c0 20 66 72 65 65 20 74 69 6d 65 20 49 20 64 6f 20 | free time I do | 000009d0 68 61 76 65 20 66 69 78 69 6e 67 20 62 75 67 73 |have fixing bugs| 000009e0 0a 61 6e 64 20 64 6f 69 6e 67 20 6f 74 68 65 72 |.and doing other| 000009f0 20 65 6e 68 61 6e 63 65 6d 65 6e 74 73 2c 20 77 | enhancements, w| 00000a00 6f 75 6c 64 6e 27 74 20 79 6f 75 3f 0a 0a 3c 68 |ouldn't you?..<h| 00000a10 72 3e 0a 3c 61 64 64 72 65 73 73 3e 3c 61 20 68 |r>.<address><a h| 00000a20 72 65 66 3d 22 6d 61 69 6c 74 6f 3a 53 2e 4e 2e |ref="mailto:S.N.| 00000a30 42 72 6f 64 69 65 40 65 63 73 2e 73 6f 74 6f 6e |Brodie@ecs.soton| 00000a40 2e 61 63 2e 75 6b 22 3e 53 2e 4e 2e 42 72 6f 64 |.ac.uk">S.N.Brod| 00000a50 69 65 3c 2f 61 3e 3c 2f 61 64 64 72 65 73 73 3e |ie</a></address>| 00000a60
.