Reporting & Reviewing Issues

[rgleason]

Please follow these guidelines when filing issues:

• Do not report multiple problems in a single GitHub issue.
• Label Issues as "Bugs" or "RFE" (Request for Enhancement)
• Bugs and RFE must be specific and actionable.
• Bugs must be repeatable (reporter should double check this) and be fully described, step by step so that someone else can repeat it.
• Be specific about what happened vs. what you expected to happen, beyond just "it should work well".
• Include your environment details (OS name and version, OpenCPN version, Weather Routing plugin version).
• List exact steps to reproduce the issue so developers can replicate it.
• Attach relevant logs, screenshots, or screen recordings if possible.
• When the Bug or RFE has been fixed or improved, OP (original poster) should test it.
• OP should then close the Issue once it is resolved.

Maintainers and Programmers will:

• Try to reduce all outstanding issues from 60 down to a more manageable 20 maximum.
• Close/Remove all duplicates.
• Close/Remove all Issues not germane to Weather_routing.
• Close/Remove all unattainable Issues.
• Convert all Issues that are really discussions, to Discussions.
• Check/Test that all Bugs are still valid
• Rewrite/Close all unclear RFE/BUGS.
• Simplify interface with defaults, and automated actions, in hopes that WR can be used by Android.

I ask for users help doing this, in particular OP Original Posters, and help retesting for bugs listed.

[rgleason]

As and Example, Sebastien wrote re one Issue:

Please follow these guidelines when filing issues:

1. Do not report multiple problems in a single GitHub issue.
2. Be specific about what happened vs. what you expected to happen, beyond just "it should work well".
3. Include your environment details (OS name and version, OpenCPN version, Weather Routing plugin version).
4. List exact steps to reproduce the issue so developers can replicate it.
5. Attach relevant logs, screenshots, or screen recordings if possible.

---

Example

Currently, this issue has about 4 different problems, and only one of them is actionable (data backup).

1. Export Route Button Crash

   • The application crashes specifically when using the "Export route" button
   • The crash occurs after using the "Export" button followed by "Export route"
   • File a bug specific for the crash, add steps to reproduce and stack trace if available. Or add reference to existing bug

2. Date/Time Issues After Crash

   • After restarting OpenCPN and Weather Routing (WR) following a crash
   • The date shown is yesterday's date rather than today's - Which date? There are many dates in OpenCPN and the WR.

3. Data Backup Problems

   • Backup of modified data doesn't happen when creating a new weather-route

This may have been fixed in #222, but the reported issue is too vague to be sure.

4. Export Folder Issues
   • No option to select a destination folder for GPX file export
   • Current export folder location is outdated (set up by Dave two years ago)

When a bug report says "It should work well" as the expected behavior, it's problematic for several important reasons:

1. It's too vague and subjective - developers need to know exactly what "working well" means in this specific context.
2. It fails to provide a clear success criteria that can be tested against
3. It assumes everyone shares the same understanding of how the feature should function, which is rarely the case.
4. It doesn't help distinguish between actual bugs versus user misunderstandings or feature requests.