philip Mon Jun 30 18:09:11 2003 EDT
Added files:
/php-bugs-web search-howto.php
Log:
Initial commit of a search howto.
# Have a couple days of reviewing before linking.
Index: php-bugs-web/search-howto.php
+++ php-bugs-web/search-howto.php
<?php /* vim: set noet ts=4 sw=4: : */
require 'prepend.inc';
commonHeader('How to search the PHP Bugs database');
?>
<h1>How to Search</h1>
<p>
The PHP bug database has been logging bugs since January 25, 1998. This HOWTO
will allow for a useful experience while scouring the bug database. Do note
that a lot of information is entered in by the general public and
therefore cannot be fully trusted. Also, the information contained within
a bug report is what setup found the bug, so other setups may apply.
</p>
<h3>Basic Search</h3>
<p>
Within every <a href="http://bugs.php.net/">bugs.php.net</a> webpage header is
a search box, this is the <i>basic</i> search option. You may enter in a
numeric bug ID to redirect to that bugs page or enter in a search term to
perform a default bug search. Load the advanced search to view the default
values.
</p>
<h3>Advanced Search</h3>
<p>
Some explanations for most of the PHP bugs <a href="search.php">advanced search</a>
options.
</p>
<table cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" border="1" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<tr class="headerbottom" align="left">
<td><strong>Feature</strong></td>
<td><strong>Explanation</strong></td>
<td><strong>Possible reasons for use</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Find bugs</td>
<td>The main search text box for your search terms with each term being separated
by a space. The searched database fields are: author email, subject, and description.
Minimum term length is three characters. There are three types of searches:
<ul>
<li><i>any</i> : (default) One or more (any) of the search terms may be present.</li>
<li><i>all</i> : All search terms are required.</li>
<li><i>raw</i> : Allows full use of MySQL's
<a href="http://www.mysql.com/doc/en/Fulltext_Search.html">FULLTEXT</a>
boolean search operators.</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td>For <strong>any</strong>, you might search for a function and its alias while
not caring which shows up. Or a name that has changed in PHP 5 from PHP 4.
Use of <strong>all</strong> makes sense if you require every term in your
results, as this can provide precise searching. The <strong>raw</strong>
option is for custom searches, like you might require one term but also want
to disallow another from the result. Also, adding optional terms always
affects relevancy/order.
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Status</td>
<td>Each bug has a status, this allows searching for a specific (or all) status
type. Here are a few explanations:
<ul>
<li><strong>Open</strong> : This also includes <i>assigned</i>, <i>analyzed</i>,
<i>critical</i>, and <i>verified</i> bugs. (default) </li>
<li><strong>Feedback</strong> : Bugs requesting feedback. Typically a bug that
requests feedback will be marked as <i>No Feedback</i> if no feedback transpires
after 15 days.</li>
<li><strong>Old feedback</strong> : Bugs that have been requesting feedback for over
60 days.</li>
<li><strong>Fresh</strong> : Bugs commented on in the last 30 days that are not closed,
duplicates, or bogus. Only developers and the original author can affect this
date as public comments do not.</li>
<li><strong>Stale</strong> : Bugs last commented on at least 30 days ago that are not
closed, duplicates, or bogus. Only developers and the original author can affect
this date as public comments do not count.</li>
<li><strong>All</strong> : All types, even bogus.</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td>If you're only interested in critical bugs, or want to see which have been verified,
or perhaps just those seeking feedback.
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Category</td>
<td>Bugs are categorized although sometimes it might seem like a bug could be in
multiple categories. You may choose a specific category or allow any, and
also disallow certain categories. If you're unable to locate a bug, consider
trying a <i>feature request</i> or <i>any</i> status.
</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>OS</td>
<td>Bugs that may be specific to an operating system. This value is entered in by the
reporter as the OS they used while finding the bug so this may or may not have meaning.
Also, the value isn't regulated so for example Windows may be written as Win32, Win,
Windows, Win98, NT, etc. Or perhaps a distribution name rather than simply Linux.
The query uses a SQL LIKE statement like so: <i>'%$os%'</i>.
</td>
<td>Although not an accurate field, it may be of some use.</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Version</td>
<td>Limit bugs to a specific version of PHP. A one character integer of 3, 4 or
5 is standard. Entering a length greater than one will perform a SQL LIKE
statement like so: <i>'$version%'</i>. Defaults to both 4 and 5.
</td>
<td>Limit returned bugs to a specific version of PHP. This is fairly reliable as initial
version entries are standardized, but on occasion people are known to enter in bogus
version information.
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Assigned</td>
<td>Some bugs get assigned to PHP developers, in which case you may specify by
entering in the PHP username of said developer.
</td>
<td>Example use is limiting the bugs assigned to yourself.</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Author email</td>
<td>Takes on an email address of the original author of a bug.</td>
<td>Looking for all bugs that a particular person initiated.</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Date</td>
<td>Limit bugs that were reported by a specific time period. This is not only the
amount of time since a comment or developer remark was last made, but this is
the time when the bug was originally reported.
</td>
<td>Looking for recently reported bugs. For example, choosing <i>30 days ago</i>
will limit the search to all bugs reported in the last 30 days.</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h1>Bug System Statistics</h1>
<p>
You can view a variety of statistics about the bugs that have been
reported on our <a href="bugstats.php">bug statistics page</a>.
</p>
<?php
commonFooter();
?>