ArcGIS Pro Bug Reporting w/o the Hassle

ScottStopyak · ‎12-09-2019

I would like to report bugs with the current "stable" ArcGIS Pro. Is there a way to do this yet without having to go through the support system? I don't have time in my life to go through a lengthy zoom share issue reproduction with a non-development team support tech which will typically end in no bug even being submitted. I want to help. I just want to report an issue and be done. I want to say, "I tried this tool in this environment. This unexpected thing happened." Done. I don't necessarily want a string of follow up emails, phone calls, shreen sharing...etc. I certainly don't want to spend half a day troubleshooting or finding a work around. I know what the work around is. Use ArcMap or ArcCatalog or QGIS instead.

JoshuaBixby · ‎12-12-2019

Thomas, how many of those 76 bugs have been fixed?

ThomasColson · ‎12-13-2019

I'm looking at all of our Pro bugs, and

36 are implemented;

21 are in Product Plan

42 are New

15 are Not in Product Plan: Of those, 2 are "Won't fix" and the rest are fixed, its just how TS flags some bugs sometimes, if it's not repro in the next build, they won't flag it as "Fixed", they'll flag it as "Not in Product Plan", which is a bit deceiving.

ThomasColson · ‎12-13-2019

And to be fair, one of the "Won't Fix" ones, is actually "fixed" now....

BranislavBlagojevic · ‎12-13-2019

Thomas,

Thanks for ArcGIS Pro Bug(s) Log. In ver. 2.5 Beta 3, Help, I just counted, under Release notes, that about 160 Bugs were fixed!?!

KoryKramer · ‎12-09-2019

https://community.esri.com/ideas/17722

KoryKramer · ‎12-09-2019

Scott Stopyak‌

1. I can confidently say that I speak for all of the ArcGIS Pro development team to thank you for wanting to help improve the software by reporting issues. It really is appreciated.

2. As I was a Technical Support analyst for a few years, and I currently still keep an eye on many things coming through Technical Support, I can vouch for what Thomas Colson‌ shared - "if you write a good steps to repro, a case can be closed in a day. There are several good analysts, I've had a few take what I initially submitted and the first and only email I got was the bug confirmation."

Writing clear, numbered steps (yes, literally numbered) and pointing out what you think the bug is (was the bug step 3 or step 5?), will speed up the process. Including annotated screenshots pointing to exactly what you're talking about helps too. Or a video! Use tool names specifically. When you click a button, if you don't provide a screenshot, you'll need to describe exactly what button you clicked (e.g when you added data to the map, did you do it from the Add Data button on the ribbon, or did you right-click a feature class in the Catalog Pane to add it? To a Current Map? To a New Map? OR were you in the Catalog View and not the pane? Anyway, not to go overboard here, but just pointing out that submitting an issue REALLY quickly and painlessly, is only effective if another user can replicate what you're describing. If they can't, it will be necessary to get more information, and that will be hopefully through a call and screenshare as that will be the best way to get a full understanding; if the exchanges are done by email, I guarantee that the case will take longer).

Provide specific error numbers. The goal is to make the issue totally reproducible without the need for an analyst to call you for clarification.

There are current discussions happening around the Report Bug button on Contact Support page:

Obviously submitting a really well-written, reproducible bug will take some time, no matter how you slice it, which is why I started by preemptively thanking you and anybody else who takes the time to do so!

One other thing to remember before you put in the work would be to search the technical support site to see if you find an existing bug that describes what you're experiencing. If you do, now you just click Subscribe which not only sets you up for notifications, but also increments the count of users interested in that issue which helps in the prioritization process.

Hope this helps.

ScottStopyak · ‎12-09-2019

What if esri simply added a "Contact me / Don't contact me about this bug" toggle switch? That'd be an improvement because it helps prevent an unwanted support case from spawning, saving time for both esri support and the bug reporter.

KoryKramer · ‎12-10-2019

That's a good input, Scott Stopyak‌ I just want to check the expectation if something like that were in place.

Say you take the time to write up and submit a bug. You use the Report Bug button, which triggers the review and testing by Esri of the steps you provided. What is submitted as the bug is not reproduced by the person testing and verifying it.

You'd be OK never hearing back about that issue? My assumption is that you may run into it again as it was part of a workflow you were doing, and you'd think, "I'm pretty sure I submitted that one to Esri in the past..." But at that point there is no reference number (no case was created, no bug was logged because we were not able to produce the same result).

OR

Maybe any issue submitted does generate a case number. Would you be OK receiving an automated notification confirming that Esri received the issue and is reviewing it?

And if the issue is non-reproducible, and even though you chose the 'Don't contact' option, would you be OK receiving an automated notification that the steps were not reproducible, therefore no bug was logged. This would at least offer you the option to call in, referencing the case number provided at the start, if you chose to pursue the issue further.

Would something like that work? I'm interested to hear your, and others', thoughts.

Thank you.

ScottStopyak · ‎12-10-2019

I think notification of status changes would be good. If marked "unable to reproduce", I'd be fine with notification. If marked something else like "Fixed at 2.5.2" I'd be happy to hear that as well. So in essence, yes, I would want to follow the bug, but I would not want a support case created if I opted out. Maybe instead of contact/don't contact, it would be better if it was more like "Create a support case and contact me." Yes/No toggle.

ZachAnderson2 · ‎12-10-2019

Kory,

Please re-read what you just wrote, then think about what the ESRI Help page currently looks like for PRO, or Desktop for that matter. Why does ESRI get to demand clearly written, concise, numbered instruction with screen shots and videos but won't provide that same basic necessity to its users who painfully search for clear instructions on how to use their muddled software? Practice what you preach. Please and thank you.

Writing clear, numbered steps (yes, literally numbered) and pointing out what you think the bug is (was the bug step 3 or step 5?), will speed up the process. Including annotated screenshots pointing to exactly what you're talking about helps too. Or a video! Use tool names specifically. When you click a button, if you don't provide a screenshot, you'll need to describe exactly what button you clicked (e.g when you added data to the map, did you do it from the Add Data button on the ribbon, or did you right-click a feature class in the Catalog Pane to add it? To a Current Map? To a New Map? OR were you in the Catalog View and not the pane? Anyway, not to go overboard here, but just pointing out that submitting an issue REALLY quickly and painlessly, is only effective if another user can replicate what you're describing. If they can't, it will be necessary to get more information, and that will be hopefully through a call and screenshare as that will be the best way to get a full understanding; if the exchanges are done by email, I guarantee that the case will take longer).