Gathering a Testcase for a CMVC Problem

This document assumes that you are working with AIX Support under one of the service options. For information on the AIX Support Family and Program Services (IBM's base support for code-related problems), request these faxes from 1-800-IBM-4FAX:

1537

Overview of AIX Support

1760

Using Program Services

2464

The AIX Support Family

Non U.S. Customers can request documents by dialing (from a fax machine) 514-855-4FAX.

Please include the following in a testcase for a CMVC problem:

• A README which explains:
  • What you think the problem is.
  • Problem re-creation instructions, i.e., step-by-step instructions that can be followed with CMVC and that illustrate the problem. If the problem was recreated from the command line, then we need the exact syntax used. If a GUI/Motif interface was used, then we need the steps in the format of screen:menu or option:item.
  • How the problem manifests itself, i.e., what specific error codes/values/messages/etc. we can expect to see when the error has occurred.
  • What database is being used and what level is it?
  • What File Control is being used? (SCCS, PVCS, etc)
  • What other UNIX machines are involved?
  • The output from the following commands:

    For AIX 3.2 systems:

     
       lslpp -h X11dev.obj 
       lslpp -h "cmvc*" 
    

    For AIX 4.1 or 4.2 systems:

     
       lslpp -h X11.base.* 
       lslpp -h "cmvc*" 
    

The testcase can be sent on any type of media (diskette, 8mm, 1/4", Internet). The testcase can be faxed ONLY if it is not more than 15 lines of code.

Testcases may be sent by any of the methods below. Be sure to include the following information:

 
   <customer name> 
   <problem or item #> <customer or branch office #> 
   <exact command used to copy to media> 
   <block size used, density setting used> 

 
   lsattr -E -l rmt# | grep block_size 

Very Important: If the person sending in this testcase is not the person who reported the problem, be sure to include the name of the person who reported it. If the proper information is not on the package, then it takes valuable time to process and delays solving your problem.

Standard Mail or Overnight Delivery

Note: Look at the "file Naming Convention" section of this document and name testcases accordingly.

IBM Corp. / Zip 2900 / Bldg 42
Attn: AIX Testcase Dept. J66S
11400 Burnet Road
Austin, TX 78758-3493
Extension 3-4050

Note: NO overnight delivery service delivers directly to bldg. 42, instead they are delivered to IBM Receiving. Please keep this in mind when choosing a delivery time.

If you specify Saturday delivery you must first make special arrangements with an AIX Support specialist (1-800-225-5249 or 1-800-call-aix), otherwise there could be a delay of several days.

Internet

**** Service Use Agreement ****
International Business Machines Corporation
Internet Testcase Delivery Service
Service Use Agreement

This is a legal agreement to which you are consenting to be bound. If you do not agree to all of the terms of this license, do not use the service.

• International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) grants you a non-exclusive access to the Testcase Delivery Service via the Internet.
• IBM makes no representations about the suitability of this service or about any content or information made accessible by the service, for any purpose. The service is provided "as is" without express or implied warranties, including warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose or noninfringement. This service is provided gratuitously and, accordingly, IBM shall not be liable for any damages suffered by you or any user of the service.
• While IBM intends to maintain this Service, IBM reserves the right at any time to alter access, features, capabilities and functions of this Service. IBM may terminate this Service at any time without notice to you.
• You may not download or upload or otherwise export or reexport images or files from or to systems providing this Service except in full compliance with all United States and other applicable laws and regulations. In particular, but without limitation, none of the images or files provided or received by this Service may be downloaded or uploaded or otherwise exported or reexported (i) into or received from (or to a national or resident of) Cuba, Haiti, Iraq, Libya, Yugoslavia, North Korea, Iran, or Syria or (ii) to anyone on the US Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals or the US Commerce Department's Table of Deny Orders. By downloading or uploading images or files from or to systems providing this Service, you are agreeing to the foregoing and you are representing and warranting that you are not located in, under control of, or a national or resident of any such country on any such list.

Email Via Internet

Relatively small testcases can be sent via e-mail to aasc@austin.ibm.com. The allowable size of the testcase depends mostly on intermediate mail gateways. It is generally not advisable to send testcases larger than approximately 4MB via e-mail. Testcases sent via e-mail in the correct format are automatically processed, making them almost immediately available for analysis. See the "File Naming Convention" section of this document for more details.

FTP Via Internet

Sample file names for the tarred and compressed files:

 
   ad1000.tar.Z         (item number.tar.Z) 
   1x234.001.tar.Z      (problem_report_#.branch_office_#.tar.Z) 
   1x234.1234567.tar.Z  (problem_report_#.customer_#.tar.Z) 

FTP it to our testcase repository:

 
   ftp 198.17.57.67       (or "ftp testcase.software.ibm.com") 
   login:  anonymous 
   password:  <your complete email address> 
             (e.g., "customer@wallyworld.com") 
   bin                    (change to binary transfer mode) 
   cd aix 
   put 1x234.001.tar.Z   (for example) 
   ls -l 
   quit 

Note: If FTPing, <>do not create a separate directory on the testcase server.

Note: Testcases should be archived into a compressed tar archive using relative path names. Use of the following naming convention will allow our tools to automatically move the testcase to the proper directories and update the PMR to indicate that the testcase is available. Failure to use this naming convention could cause delays in processing the testcase.

If the testcase files cannot be associated with an existing PMR or XMENU item, they will be tagged as lost and eventually deleted.

Testcases associated with PMRs

 
 ppppp.bbb.ccc.tar.Z 
     |   |   |   | | 
     |   |   |   | Indicates that the archive is compressed. 
     |   |   |   | If you have the gzip command available, 
     |   |   |   | this will be .gz rather than .Z. 
     |   |   |   | 
     |   |   |   Indicates a tar archive. 
     |   |   | 
     |   |   The 3 character country code. 
     |   |   (May be omitted if the country code is 000.) 
     |   | 
     |   The 3 character branch office number. 
     | 
     The 5 character PMR number. 

Testcases associated with XMENU items

 
 xxxxxx.tar.Z 
      |   | | 
      |   | Indicates that archive is compressed. 
      |   | If you have the gzip command available, 
      |   | this will be .gz rather than .Z. 
      |   | 
      |   Indicates a tar archive. 
      | 
      The XMENU item number. 

Testcases should be archived into a compressed tar archive using relative path names. The following is an example of how to create a compressed tar archive.

• Place the testcase files into a separate directory using commands similar to those in the following example. In this example, we'll use a directory named /tmp/testcase.

   
      cd /tmp 
      mkdir testcase 
      cp file1 file2 file3 testcase 
  

• Execute one of the following commands to create the compressed tar archive. Using the gzip command (if available), will generally produce a significantly smaller file.

   
     With the gzip command: 
     tar -cf- testcase | gzip -9 >9x999.999.999.tar.gz 
     Without the gzip command: 
     tar -cf- testcase | compress >9x999.999.999.tar.Z 
  

The following example will uuencode and send the compressed tar archive created in the previous section. You should substitute the correct filename when sending your testcase.

 
   uuencode 9x999.999.999.tar.gz 9x999.999.999.tar.gz | \ 
   mail -s "AIX_Testcase:9x999.999.999.tar.gz" aasc@austin.ibm.com