Re: egcs-1.1.2 bug report

[Richard Earnshaw <rearnsha at arm dot com>]

> >>   -  Put a summary of the bug in plaintext at the top, e.g. "compiler
> >>      crashed on C code".
> >
> >Not good enough, I would ignore such a message as a front-end problem.
> 
> I wouldn't.  The g77 front end rarely crashes these days; the gcc back end
> is most likely to be where the g77-related ICEs happen.  So "compiler crash"
> or "ICE" on "Fortran code" would not only get *my* attention, it should
> get the attention of back-end people.
> 

You have missed the point.  Is it for a SPARC, ARM, MIPS, RS6000, ...?  I 
only work on the ARM back-end (much as you only work on the Fortran front 
end).  Probably in excess of 90% of all bug reports have nothing to do 
with the ARM port (probably more than 50% are i386/linux).  I don't get 
paid to look at gcc bugs, I do it in my own time; I'm not going to spend 
hours every day filtering the <10% relevant reports out of indecipherable 
tar files.

> But, it is certainly the case that, without the diagnostic *itself*
> available as plain text, some back-end people might overlook the
> bug report.
> 
> >What I'd like to see at the *top* of each report is something like the 
> >following:
> >
> >	Language:	C
> >	Version:	gcc 2.95
> >	Target: 	sparc-sun-solaris2.5
> >	Host:		i386-unknown-linux
> >
> >The only line in the above that I would consider optional is the Host 
> >line, and then only if it is the same as the target.  Maybe the 
> >Canadian-cross people would want to go even further.
> 
> I think asking people to send the output of the problematic command,
> with the `--verbose' option as one of the first options, as *plaintext*,
> would address much of that.
> 
>         tq vm, (burley)

I'm suggesting that the compiler (when crashing) asks the user to re-run 
with the -create-bug-report option and to mail the output to the bug list. 
 That way we get well-formed reports with all the relevant details at the 
top.  An option that did all that would automatically include all the gory 
details such as the --verbose information.

R.