# Miscellanea: Hey, I found a bug!

Not possible. Actually, if you think you've found a bug in Lens, you're probably right. Particularly if you got Lens to seg-fault. That should never happen. This isn't a Microsoft product, you know. But before you tell Doug about it, it would be very helpful to him if you do a few things first:

1. Check Common Problems to make sure it isn't one of those.
2. If you have your own install, do a "make clean; make". Many apparent bugs are due to an inconsistent compilation.
3. Figure out how to replicate the problem.
4. If Lens is seg-faulting and you have your own install, compile using the "-g" option. Then run it under the debugger, gdb. That will tell you which line the problem occurs on. Try to pinpoint its cause.
5. If you customized your version of Lens, does the bug depend on running code that you wrote or can it be replicated in the standard release.
6. If it is something that happens only for certain scripts, try to find the minimal script that results in the problem. Does it clear up when you remove certain commands?
7. Finally, send a note to Doug. Be sure to include the version number you are using, whether you have customized it and, if so, whether the bug appears in the standard version as well. If you need a certain script to cause the bug, Doug will need it. If the necessary files are small and few in number, attach copies to your email. If the files are large or there are a lot of them, put them in a directory where Doug can access them either via ftp or the web and then tell him how to get them.

Last modified: Wed Apr 19 19:49:12 EDT 2000