To fix bugs in many organizations have adopted different CTS (Change Tracking Systems). All these systems can vary performance, design features, but there will always be something in common, the very essence that unites them – the presence of bug reports.
The first thing that must be created after the launch of the tracking system (or project it), is to create a message template (cases). That well-designed template that takes into account all possible duplicate information, one of the basic principles of successful operation of such a system.
Formalization will significantly save time and simplify the subsequent search and avoid unnecessary confusion in terminology. Example of minimum required fields below:
Highly desirable, almost all (except, perhaps, prisodinennyh files) all the above fields to make mandatory. Depending on the software product and "process" adopted by the company, most likely there will be other fields, whether these fields are optional to fill, or as required, to solve the company’s management.
When filling out the fields must adhere to certain rules. The headline should be, if possible, a short and succinct. It is desirable that everyone who looks at it the first time, knew immediately what can be discussed.
In drawing up the description of the error in most cases, you must specify the steps to reproduce it and the result to which they lead. Every mistake is desirable to repeat several times, and specify how many attempts failed. Be sure to keep all the materials to investigate the bug as soon as he appeared, and not wait for the next attempt. The next time it might not appear to catch it later may be quite difficult. In addition, the repetition will once again make sure that this is a bug tested software, not a bug of the tester (which, alas, also happens quite often).
Write briefly and clearly. Do not need a long history with useless details. But even in the extreme fall is also not necessary in this case there is a risk to make the report incomplete and unclear.
Try to look at a mistake in terms of product user (not developer), and from this point of view to describe it. Write better in the third person does not need to write on my own, like "I did, and it poluchulos …", right "was to do something to get it …".
One bug report refers to only one problem. Avoid combining several errors in one. If the error is a consequence of some other, create a new case and refer to it by specifying its id and name.
Correct written retroactively, too, is wrong (except, perhaps, the grammatical errors). Better to write somewhere below what was wrong.
In many cases it makes sense to attach a screenshot. It’s pretty convenient and avoids the long and often vague statement of fact, the engineer-tester, and the message recipient to quickly understand it, using visual aids.
Summarizing the above, follow these rules: