Do you have a suggestion for a feature you would like added to Xojo? Have you found a bug? In either case, the best way to report this to us is to use the Xojo Feedback app.
What is the Xojo Feedback app?
Xojo Feedback is a desktop app (Windows, OS X and Linux) that tracks all features, issues and bugs in Xojo projects (we call these items Feedback Cases). Feedback is our way of providing transparency to our customers and as a customer, you can use Feedback search the cases that have been submitted and to submit cases.
Since we just recently shipped Feedback 2015 Release 1, I thought it would be a good time to give you an overview of how it works and why you should be using it.
Why Use Xojo Feedback?
Simply stated, it is because Feedback also serves as the project tracking system for Xojo. If an item is not being tracked in Feedback, then it is not likely to get addressed. This includes bug reports and feature requests. Reporting issues in the forum is a great way to bring it to the attention of others or to get a quick answer. But if the issue is a bug or feature request, it needs a Feedback Case in order for it to get assigned to a project so it can be tracked. This is why you’ll often see Xojo staff reminding people to also “create a Feedback Case for this” or to asking “for the Feedback Case number.”
Using Xojo Feedback
To get started with Xojo Feedback, you download and install the app for your OS. On first launch you will have to log in using your Xojo ID. This is the same account you use to log in to your account at Xojo.com or on the forum.
The first thing you’ll see when Feedback starts is a dashboard that displays a highlight of cases you have submitted, including those that require additional information, your Top Cases and your Recent Cases.
On the left side is a Navigator that gives you quick access to the Dashboard, Top Cases, Favorites, Your Cases and much more.
To create a Feedback Case, you first have to search to see if a similar case already exists. In the search field at the top, enter what you would type as the summary for your case and press return to search. If the search results show a similar case, you can just double-click to open it and add additional comments to it or you can click the “start” button at the bottom to mark it as a Favorite so you’ll get notified of updates or status changes.
If you don’t see a similar case, you can create your own case by clicking the “Create New Case” button. In the Create New Case screen, you’ll need to supply all the relevant information, including: Summary, Product (usually Xojo), Category, Case Type, OS, Visibility and Steps to Reproduce (if it is a bug) or Details (if it is not).
Bug reports that have reproducible steps are obviously the ones that are far more likely to get fixed, just like with your own software. In addition, cases that have attached sample projects demonstrating an issue are fixed far more often than cases that do not provide steps or a sample project. We encourage you to include all relevant attachments. Sample projects are the most valuable, but be sure to include everything needed so that the sample project runs. You can also include screen shots, videos or whatever else you think is helpful.
When submitting Feature Requests, rather than getting too specific, it is always good to try to describe the problem you need to solve and how the new feature would be beneficial.
Generally, your Feedback cases will have Visibility set to “Everyone”, which means that others will be able to find, read, favorite and comment on Feedback cases you’ve created. But there may be times when you want to create a Feedback case that is private and only visible to you and Xojo. You can easily do this by changing the Visibility to “Only me and Xojo”. Additionally, you can even add private comments to public Feedback Cases, should you have other information or a sample project that you want to provide, but cannot do so publicly.
Status Changes
As a Feedback case progresses through the system, its status will change. A case will switch from “Needs Review” to “Reviewed” after someone has read the case. Cases that we verify have a status of “Verified”. When a case is completed, it gets a status of “Fixed” or “Implemented”. Remember that Fixed or Implemented cases may not yet be included in a shipping release (it could still be in internal testing or Beta). So always read the release notes to check if a particular case is included in the release you are using.
Last Thoughts
For more information about Xojo Feedback, including searching and customization tips, you can read the Help (Help-Feedback Help) which shows the Help page in the doc wiki.
For other tips, you might also want to read The Art of Good Bug Reports blog post from Norman.
Note: The Linux version of Feedback only works on 32-bit versions of Linux. If you are using a 64-bit version of Linux, for now your best option is to set up a virtual machine with a 32-bit Linux (Linux Mint works well) and run Feedback from there.