SEND-PR(1)                                                          SEND-PR(1)



NAME
       send-pr - send problem report (PR) to a central support site

SYNOPSIS
       send-pr [ site ] [ -f problem-report ] [ -t mail-address ]
               [ -P ] [ -L ] [ --request-id ] [ -V ]

DESCRIPTION
       send-pr  is  a  tool  used to submit problem reports (PRs) to a central
       support site.  In most cases the correct  site  will  be  the  default.
       This  argument  indicates the support site which is responsible for the
       category of problem involved.  Some sites may use a local address as  a
       default.  site values are defined by using the aliases(5).

       send-pr invokes an editor on a problem report template (after trying to
       fill in some fields with reasonable default values).  When you exit the
       editor,  send-pr sends the completed form to the Problem Report Manage-
       ment System (GNATS) at a central support site.  At  the  support  site,
       the  PR is assigned a unique number and is stored in the GNATS database
       according  to  its  category  and  submitter-id.   GNATS  automatically
       replies with an acknowledgement, citing the category and the PR number.

       To ensure that a  PR  is  handled  promptly,  it  should  contain  your
       (unique)  submitter-id  and one of the available categories to identify
       the problem area.  (Use `send-pr -L' to see a list of categories).  The
       PR  should also contain a subject header, which is separate to the syn-
       opsis line.  NetBSD does not use unique submitter-id's - all  PR's  use
       the default value of `net' for this field.

       The  more  precise  your problem description and the more complete your
       information, the faster your support team can solve your problems.

OPTIONS
       -f problem-report
              specify a file (problem-report) which already  contains  a  com-
              plete  problem  report.   send-pr sends the contents of the file
              without invoking the editor.  If the value for problem-report is
              `-', then send-pr reads from standard input.

       -t mail-address
              Change  mail  address  at  the support site for problem reports.
              The default mail-address is the address  used  for  the  default
              site.   Use  the site argument rather than this option in nearly
              all cases.

       -P     print the form specified by the environment variable PR_FORM  on
              standard  output.   If  PR_FORM  is  not set, print the standard
              blank PR template.  No mail is sent.

       -L     print the list of available categories.  No mail is sent.

       --request-id
              sends mail to the default support site, or  site  if  specified,
              with a request for your submitter-id.  If you are not affiliated
              with site, use a submitter-id of net'.

       -V     Display the send-pr version number.

       Note: use send-pr to submit problem reports rather  than  mailing  them
       directly.   Using both the template and send-pr itself will help ensure
       all necessary information will reach the support site.

ENVIRONMENT
       GNATS_ROOT
              If the file $GNATS_ROOT/gnats-adm/config exists then it is  used
              to  provide  newer configuration information.  The default value
              is the empty string.

       LOGNAME
              Sets the default for the From and Reply-To fields of the problem
              report.  Defaults to $USER if not set.

       NAME   Sets the default for the Originator field of the problem report.
              If  not  set,  then  the  file  $HOME/.fullname  is  used.    If
              $HOME/.fullname is not present, then an attempt is made to query
              the password file for a full name.

       ORGANIZATION
              The name of a file which contains the default for the  Organiza-
              tion field of the problem report.

       PR_FORM
              If  this  is set, then its value is used as the file name of the
              template for your problem-report editing session.  You  can  use
              this  to  start  with a partially completed form (for example, a
              form with the identification fields already completed).

       REPLYTO
              Sets the default for the Reply-To field of the  problem  report.
              If not set, then it defaults to $LOGNAME.

       TMPDIR Specifies  the temporary directory used for creating the problem
              report.  This  directory  must  exist  with  write  permissions.
              Defaults to /tmp if not specified.

       USER_GNATS_SITE
              Used  to  set  the  default  site  you  are  reporting  bugs to.
              Defaults to netbsd if not specified.

       VISUAL Specifies the editor to invoke on the  template.   If  not  set,
              then  the variable EDITOR is used.  If neither VISUAL nor EDITOR
              are set, then vi(1) is used.

HOW TO FILL OUT A PROBLEM REPORT
       Problem reports have to be in a particular form so that a  program  can
       easily manage them.  Please remember the following guidelines:

       o  describe only one problem with each problem report.

       o  For  follow-up  mail,  use  the  same subject line as the one in the
          automatic acknowledgement. It consists of category,  PR  number  and
          the  original synopsis line.  This allows the support site to relate
          several mail messages to a particular PR and to record them automat-
          ically.

       o  Please  try to be as accurate as possible in the subject and/or syn-
          opsis line.

       o  The subject and the synopsis line are  not  confidential.   This  is
          because  open-bugs lists are compiled from them.  Avoid confidential
          information there.

       The severity field is to indicate the severity  of  the  problem.   The
       accepted values are:

       critical
              The  product, component or concept is completely non-operational
              or some essential functionality is missing (e.g. kernel panic or
              program core dumps).  No workaround is known.

       serious
              The  product,  component  or  concept is not working properly or
              significant functionality is missing.  Problems that would  oth-
              erwise  be  considered  critical  are rated serious when a work-
              around is known.

       non-critical
              The product, component or concept is  working  in  general,  but
              lacks  features,  has irritating behavior, does something wrong,
              or doesn't match its documentation.

       The default value is serious.

       The priority field specifies how  soon  the  problem  report  submitter
       requires a solution.  The accepted values are:

       high   A solution is needed as soon as possible.

       medium The problem should be solved in the next release.

       low    The problem should be solved in a future release.

       The default value is medium.

       The class of a problem report can be one of the following:

       sw-bug A general software problem ( `sw' stands for software ).

       doc-bug
              A problem with the manual pages or other documentation.

       change-request
              A  request for a change from existing behavior that is not a bug
              ("It's nice, but it would be better if ...").

       support
              A support problem or question.

       The default value is sw-bug.

       See the GNU Info file send-pr.info or the document  Reporting  Problems
       With send-pr for detailed information on reporting problems

HOW TO SUBMIT TEST CASES, CODE, ETC.
       Submit  small  code  samples with the PR.  Contact the support site for
       instructions on submitting larger test  cases  and  problematic  source
       code.

FILES
       /tmp/p$$ copy of PR used in editing session

       /tmp/pf$$
              copy of empty PR form, for testing purposes

       /tmp/pbad$$
              file for rejected PRs

       $HOME/.fullname
              Contains  the  default  for  the Originator field of the problem
              report if $NAME is not set

       $HOME/.organization
              Contains the default for the Organization field of  the  problem
              report if $ORGANIZATION is not set.

       $HOME/.signature
              Contains  the  default for the Organization field of the problem
              report if $ORGANIZATION is not set and $HOME/.organization  does
              not exist.

EMACS USER INTERFACE
       An  Emacs user interface for send-pr with completion of field values is
       part of the send-pr distribution (invoked with M-x send-pr).   See  the
       file  send-pr.info or the ASCII file INSTALL in the top level directory
       of the distribution for  configuration  and  installation  information.
       The Emacs LISP template file is send-pr-el.in and is installed as send-
       pr.el.

WEB INTERFACE
       An interface to sending PR's is available  on  the  NetBSD  website  at
       http://www.NetBSD.org/Gnats/.

INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION
       See send-pr.info or INSTALL for installation instructions.

SEE ALSO
       Reporting  Problems  Using send-pr (also installed as the GNU Info file
       send-pr.info).

AUTHORS
       Jeffrey Osier, Brendan Kehoe, Jason Merrill,  Heinz  G.  Seidl  (Cygnus
       Support)

COPYING
       Copyright (c) 1992, 1993 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

       Permission  is  granted  to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
       manual provided the copyright notice and  this  permission  notice  are
       preserved on all copies.

       Permission  is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
       manual under the conditions for verbatim  copying,  provided  that  the
       entire  resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a per-
       mission notice identical to this one.

       Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this  man-
       ual into another language, under the above conditions for modified ver-
       sions, except that this permission notice may be included  in  transla-
       tions approved by the Free Software Foundation instead of in the origi-
       nal English.




February 1993                        3.95                           SEND-PR(1)
