Re: Can't find the Mathematica bug list...
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg19354] Re: Can't find the Mathematica bug list...
- From: "P.J. Hinton" <paulh at wolfram.com>
- Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 23:09:34 -0400
- Organization: "Wolfram Research, Inc."
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
On Mon, 16 Aug 1999 Didier Pieroux <dpieroux at ulb.ac.be> wrote: > I have been trying to find a Mathematica bug list without any success. > Does such a list exist somewhere ? I can't imagine it doesn't exist... > > However, *if* Wolfram Research policy is to keep this list private > (contrary to what they claim on their web), how do you do practically to > check first that a bug you find is already well known or not ? The best resources you have for verifying the existence of a bug are the product documentation and the Technical Support department. If the behavior you observe does not match its description in _The Mathematica Book_, you may want to review the Technical Support FAQ website to see if there are additional notes. If you do not find any information that indicates you are experiencing a known problem, you are encouraged to contact Technical Support directly. Wolfram Research is very proud of its efforts to ensure high-quality software. We channel a substantial amount of resources toward eliminating problems, when they do arise. We have a very systematic and exhaustive process for tracking the instances of bugs from their detection to their resolution. Isolating and identifying a bug is more difficult than you first might imagine. First, the questionable result must be described in a precise manner. The user inputs that resulted in the problem must be recorded so that it may be reproduced. Then the input and result must be compared with documented behavior to see if there is a disagreement. If the behavior is determined to be incorrect, the actual root of the problem must be found. In many instances, the cause turns out to be something that may seem totally unrelated. Most of the information gathered by our tracking efforts would not aid the user in being more effective with Mathematica. If this information were to be presented in its entirety as the principal means by which an end user could identify problems, the user would find the process to be tedious and counterproductive. On the other hand, our online documentation both in the Help Browser and on the web have plenty of cross-references to aid you in locating useful information. The Technical Support FAQ pages on known problems are phrased in terms of symptoms that a user is most likely to observe. The Technical Support webpages are also keyword searchable. We realize that some users may not find the current organization of information on our FAQ pages to be the most useful. If you have suggestions on how we might improve things, you are welcome to send them directly to the Technical Support department. Wolfram Research Quality Assurance is working on a website that will provide more information on the Mathematica quality assurance process. The pages will be announced to MathGroup when they are ready. Getting the most out of software isn't much different from using other products and services. Suppose you purchase a major appliance. Soon afterwards, you find that when you try to use a certain feature on it, the feature does not function as you expected. An effective start to resolving the problem is to look over the appliance's manual to determine if you used it the right way. If, after following the instructions, you find that the feature still does not work, you might call a repair person to see if he or she could find a defect. On the other hand, contacting a governmental safety agency requesting a list of all product recalls for your particular brand of appliance may result in some information, but it isn't any more likely to bring you closer to resolving the problem. Here are some URLs that you may find to be useful in getting answers to your questions. o Technical Support FAQ Website http://support.wolfram.com/ A text field is located at the base of the page for searching the FAQ collection. o Technical Support Contact Information http://www.wolfram.com/services/techsupport/contact.html http://www.wolfram.com/services/techsupport/Hints.html o Mathematica Documentation Center http://documents.wolfram.com/ -- P.J. Hinton Mathematica Programming Group paulh at wolfram.com Wolfram Research, Inc.