Reporting Simplebim Bugs
We try our best to make Simplebim stable and reliable, but sometimes we (like all software companies) unfortunately fail in doing so. When something goes wrong it is important that we get to know about it. And when we learn about it, we can best fix the issue when we can reproduce it in our development environment.
You may report bugs any way you want and it is always helpful and we appreciate it. However, by following the guidelines below we have the best chances of fixing the bugs, together.
Which Simplebim version are you using?
If you are using an older version of Simplebim there is a good chance that the bug you report has already been fixed. When you are reporting a bug, please include information about the version your are using. You can find instructions here. You can also take a look at the release notes to see yourself if the issue has already been solved.
What is the error message?
When Simplebim gives you an error message the message dialog often has the option to copy the error message to the clipboard. A screenshot of the dialog is good, but pasting the error text into your message is even better. The full error message is gibberish to you, but usually it tells us a lot.
How did the error happen?
Is is the best scenario when we can reproduce the bug in or development environment. When we can reproduce, we can ‘step’ through the source code and see exactly where things go wrong. And once the issue has been fixed we can test the fix.
The format for the instructions for reproducing issues are step-by-step instructions. They usually start from importing an IFC file and then performing a set of actions in Simplebim in a specific order. There are a few options for this
- Bullet point list describing the steps
- A series of screenshots describing the steps
- A video describing the steps
ictures and videos are really good, because they tell us things that you may not notice or think are relevant, for example which language version of Simplebim you are using.
One model or all models?
When a bug occurs there is usually an IFC model involved. It is important for us to know if the bug happens with all IFC models or with only some models. It helps us a lot if you try to reproduce the bug using our Getting Started model that is installed with Simplebim. We know that this model is valid and does not contain anything out of the ordinary. You can find the Getting Started model in the Simplebim installation folder, for which the default (on a English language Windows) is: C:\Program Files\Datacubist\Simplebim 10\GettingStarted
f the bug can only be reproduced using your model it helps a lot if we can get your model for testing. If you are uncomfortable with sending the whole model it is often enough to get a small part of your model. We have had cases where just one object is enough, for example when calculating the quantity for a specific object does not produce the correct result.