Reporting bugs and getting help

# The XSLT C library for GNOME

## Reporting bugs and getting help

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If you need help with the XSLT language itself, here are a number of useful resources:

- I strongly suggest to subscribe to XSL-list, check the XSL-list archives
- The XSL FAQ.
- The tutorial written by Paul Grosso and Norman Walsh is a very good on-line introdution to the language.
- The only Zvon XSLT tutorial details a lot of constructs with examples.
- Jeni Tennison's XSLT pages provide links to a lot of answers
- the Gallery of XSLT Tricks provides non-standard use case of XSLT
- And I suggest to buy Michael Kay "XSLT Programmer's Reference" book published by Wrox if you plan to work seriously with XSLT in the future.

Well, bugs or missing features are always possible, and I will make a point of fixing them in a timely fashion. The best way to report a bug is to use the GNOME bug tracking database (make sure to use the "libxslt" module name). Before filing a bug, check the list of existing libxslt bugs to make sure it hasn't already been filed. I look at reports there regularly and it's good to have a reminder when a bug is still open. Be sure to specify that the bug is for the package libxslt.

For small problems you can try to get help on IRC, the #xml channel on irc.gnome.org (port 6667) usually have a few person subscribed which may help (but there is no guarantee and if a real issue is raised it should go on the mailing-list for archival).

There is also a mailing-list xslt@gnome.org for libxslt, with an on-line archive. To subscribe to this list, please visit the associated Web page and follow the instructions.

Alternatively, you can just send the bug to the xslt@gnome.org list, if it's really libxslt related I will approve it.. Please do not send me mail directly especially for portability problem, it makes things really harder to track and in some cases I'm not the best person to answer a given question, ask the list instead. Do not send code, I won't debug it (but patches are really appreciated!).

Please note that with the current amount of virus and SPAM, sending mail to the list without being subscribed won't work. There is *far too many bounces* (in the order of a thousand a day !) I cannot approve them manually anymore. If your mail to the list bounced waiting for administrator approval, it is LOST ! Repost it and fix the problem triggering the error. Also please note that emails with a legal warning asking to not copy or redistribute freely the information they contain are NOT acceptable for the mailing-list, such mail will as much as possible be discarded automatically, and are less likely to be answered if they made it to the list, DO NOT post to the list from an email address where such legal requirements are automatically added, get private paying support if you can't share information.

Check the following too before posting:

- use the search engine to get information related to your problem.
- make sure you are using a recent version, and that the problem still shows up in those
- check the list archives to see if the problem was reported already, in this case there is probably a fix available, similarly check the registered open bugs
- make sure you can reproduce the bug with xsltproc, a very useful thing to do is run the transformation with -v argument and redirect the standard error to a file, then search in this file for the transformation logs just preceding the possible problem
- Please send the command showing the error as well as the input and stylesheet (as an attachment)

Then send the bug with associated information to reproduce it to the xslt@gnome.org list; if it's really libxslt related I will approve it. Please do not send mail to me directly, it makes things really hard to track and in some cases I am not the best person to answer a given question, ask on the list.

To be really clear about support:

- Support or help request MUST be sent to the list or on bugzilla in case of problems, so that the Question and Answers can be shared publicly. Failing to do so carries the implicit message "I want free support but I don't want to share the benefits with others" and is not welcome. I will automatically Carbon-Copy the xslt@gnome.org mailing list for any technical reply made about libxml2 or libxslt.
- There is no guarantee for support, if your question remains unanswered after a week, repost it, making sure you gave all the detail needed and the information requested.
- Failing to provide information as requested or double checking first for prior feedback also carries the implicit message "the time of the library maintainers is less valuable than my time" and might not be welcome.

Of course, bugs reports with a suggested patch for fixing them will probably be processed faster.

If you're looking for help, a quick look at the list archive may actually provide the answer, I usually send source samples when answering libxslt usage questions. The auto-generated documentation is not as polished as I would like (I need to learn more about Docbook), but it's a good starting point.

Daniel Veillard