Documentation:Windows Section 6

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Bug Reports

Before submitting any bug reports, make sure that the bug is not in the list of known bugs below. Please remember that the POV-Ray users who provide assistance on our news server are volunteers who give their time for free so you can enjoy this program for no charge. Keep this in mind when wording your message.

MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE that the subject of your report isn't already covered in this document. Questions that are already answered either in this help file, any README's, installation notes, FAQ's, or other files supplied with this program will most likely not get the reply you expect.

We strongly recommend that you check out the online version of the POV-Ray Questions and Tips before submitting a report.

Things that look like bugs but aren't

Windows 95 users with the Microsoft Plus Pack will note that, if they have full-window dragging turned on, the message window will clear during resizing. The window goes back to normal afterwards. This isn't a bug ; it's a feature. We deliberately turn the window off because otherwise it will flash annoyingly during the resizing since Windows sends lots of paint messages to us.

Feature Requests are not bugs

The above may seem to be an obvious statement, but it's not so obvious that this section is unnecessary. Numerous people had been sending feature requests to the bug reporting email address, and this is in part one of the reasons why we no longer provide email support. If you want to request a feature, discuss it in one of the povray.* groups on our news server.

"I don't like the way this works so it must be a bug"

A number of people have written to the bug reporting address complaining about the way a feature is implemented (such as the tabbed editor). Such reports aren't bugs.

If you don't like the way a feature works, then either -

turn it off (if available ; for example, the toolbar and the editor can all be turned off),
don't use the feature, or
don't use the program.

Sorry if we sound harsh, but we can never please everybody so if we change it to suit you we'll annoy someone else. (Believe us, we know from experience - several times we've changed something according to user requests and then found an equal or greater number of users liked it the old way).

Known Bugs

If you select an entire group of files and then drop them into povray, the first and last files will switch places. This is a bug in the way things are handled by Windows and not a bug in POV-Ray for Windows.

Other known issues can be found in the POV-Ray Questions and Tips.

Bugs and GUI Extensions

If you have installed any GUI Extensions (or used any software that may have installed them), make sure you see if the problem exists with the extensions disabled and unloaded.

To do this, go to the GUI Extensions menu, and deselect 'Use Extensions'. Then exit and restart POV-Ray for Windows. The GUI Extensions menu should then state 'No Extensions Loaded' (it may already do this if you've got none installed). Then attempt to duplicate the problem again.

Spelling

As stated in the introduction, we use international English spelling in many parts of POV-Ray for Windows. This means that many words that are normally spelt with a 'z' in American English (such as minimized) are spelt with the English 's' (e.g. minimised). (We have actually received flame email from folks who told us we couldn't spell).

Bug Reporting via Email

Unfortunately, email bug reporting is no longer available due to the abuse of this facility by a number of users. You may only report bugs in POVWIN by using the bugtracker mentioned in the next section.

Bug Reporting via our Bug Tracking System

Bug reports may be lodged about POVWIN by using the bug tracking system. The bugtracker is monitored by a dedicated group of folks known as the POV-Ray Technical Assistance Group, or 'TAG' for short. The TAG will take note of any properly-lodged bug reports and pass them on to the developers. They, and other users, will often lend new users a hand in getting up to speed.

You may like to remember, however, that no matter where you end up getting assistance from, users who show that they have looked in the docs and read the Questions and Tips etc will be much more likely to receive the response they want than someone who obviously has not done so.

Any messages or reports sent to us may (not necessarily will, but may) be reposted by us in our newsgroups, on USENET, or on our web site. If you do not wish your communication to be posted in this manner, please do not send us any.

You should not expect any reply to bug reports.

The minimum information to include in your bug report is

The version number of POV-Ray for Windows. You can see this by selecting About from the Help Menu.
Your operating system. It's surprising how many people fail to provide this basic piece of information. We need to know what version of Windows you are running
Your computer ; what processor and how much memory.
A complete description of the problem and what led up to it. It will make it a lot easier to track down if you can include a scene file that will cause the problem. If the file is large, try removing parts until you have the minimum scene file that will cause the problem.

Note: If posting on the bug tracking system, news group or emailing someone for support, never, ever include file attachments without asking first.

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