Google talk(ed) to me / How to support a bug report ?

Hi Reader,

I not only observe or dig out bugs with products I use/see but as a 'so called' good tester I take responsibility to inform the organization what I observe (Psst ! will you believe I noticed a low severity bug in an ATM)

One such example of me submitting a defect/bug I noticed in Google Talk Beta is here for you -
From: Pradeep.S pradeep.srajan@gmail.com
To: Google Team talk-feedback@google.com
Date: Nov 30, 2005 9:39 AMSubject: Re: [#39773933] Application Window - blank/jitters - copy paste of mail id from Gmail !

Hi,

Problem description : In order to add a contact, copy paste of user name from one of the mail recieved in Gmail from another Gmail account to the Contact field available in Google Talk results in the contact field to go blank/jitter.

Reproducibility : 100%

Steps to Reproduce :

1) Keep the Gmail signed in and open one of the recieved mail which hasthe 'From' field : xxxx@gmail.com .
2) Sign in to Google Talk and click the mouse on "Add Contacts" so that the cursor keeps blinking.
3) Copy ( using Ctrl - C )the username part from the mail opened by following step one of this test procedure
4) Click again on the Search contacts field where the cursor is already blinking and paste (using Ctrl-V).

Expected result : As per your design , if the contact does not exist the list section is blank.

Actual Result : After the paste operation there are few black dots/blank/jittered displayin "Search for Contacts" field.

OS : Win XP : ProIE : 6.0.2800
Other info :
1) Logged in MSN messenger.
2) Parallely logged in Yahoo messenger through www5.meebo.cominterface.

Regards,
Pradeep Soundararajan

IssueType: bugsLanguage: enOS: winxpproNetwork: corporateLANWireless: noClient: talkProblem: friends.addorremove"

Well , I did get a mail of acceptance of the Bug/defect from the Google Talk team.


1) I was amazed to see their prompt replies and this I feel this is one of their pros for which Google is being/becoming the most admired company.

2) Did you know , there is a datalogger along with Google Talk Beta, they would ask you to enable it if they need some logs for any issue you may observe in future. ( Psst ! its something like Microsoft "Send Report" for the rare crash/hang you may wuld have noticed infrequently)

3) My intent of putting up the above is not to showcase the bug but to inform you all what data an organization would need if you have to raise a CR/Bug/Defect.

4) A checklist of how to raise/inform an issue to an organization is ...
a) Operating System details ( version/patches and not whether it is pirated or not :D )
b)Internet browser - Internet explorer ,Firefox ,Mozilla ,Netscape...
c) Whether anyfirewalls/antispyware/spam/virus areenabled ?
d) Clear steps of reproduction , Screen shots , Logs ( if available)
e) Other information that will make them understand/solve/support your claim of having found a defect/bug.

Hope this helps atleast one reader ! being good at something isnt a curse always.
Help organizations to resolve the bugs you notice by reporting them in a way where developers/analysis team spends less time to accept/resolve/reject your claim.

Thanks and Regards

Pradeep Soundararajan
pradeep.srajan@gmail.com

update_1 : sorry folks ! thrice i tried to insert/add the screenshot i gave but failed, will do it once am back to office.
update_2: Unable to load *.bmp images - If anyone from google looks at this , pls try to fix it !