User:Jcreer/SMS:Bug Trace

When SMS experiences issues that cannot be immediately resolved, the Aquaveo support team may request that the user provide some additional information about the bug which has been captured by the machine running the software.

Bug Trace

When SMS appears to have bug, performing a trace can help Aquaveo's developers isolate the cause. Having a bug trace report significantly increase the speed in which issues with the software can be resolved. A bug trace report will on help with issues where SMS is crashing or hanging. It will not help with issues related to invalid inputs, invalid model results, or similar issues.

Aquaveo support will provide the necessary files to perform a bug trace. To perform a bug trace, the following files are needed:

• smsTrace***.exe – This file will contain a number in the file to match the version of the software such as "smsTrace122.exe" or "smsTrace 123.exe".
• trace_configure.bat
• trace_clear.bat

Perform a bug trace by doing the following:

1. Run the "trace_configure.bat" file.

   This will create two files ("debug_xms_trace.dbg" and "debug_xms_log.dbg") in the "C:\temp\" directory. If there is already a file called "DebugLog.txt" in the temp directory, it will be deleted during this process.

2. Copy the "smsTrace***.exe" file to the where SMS is located on the machine.

   For example, "smsTrace123.exe" would be copied to "C:\Program Files\SMS 12.3 64-bit" if this is the directory where SMS 12.3 has been installed.

3. Run the "smsTrace***.exe" until finished tracing.
4. Execute the SMS function that causes the issue.

   This should be an issue that causes SMS to crash or hang.

5. Return the "C:\temp\DebugLog.txt" to Aquaveo technical support.

   This file contains the trace and may be viewed in an editor. Aquaveo technical support can be reached at: support@aquaveo.com

6. Run the "trace_clear.bat" file.

   This will remove the "debug_xms_*.dbg" files.

Once Aquaveo developers have the "DebugLog.txt" file, they will begin working on a solution. Be advised that solutions to bugs typically take 1–2 months to be resolved and may take much longer depending on the issue. This is the time it takes to have the developer fix the issue and for it to pass quality controls to make certain the solutions to the bug does not cause other issues with the software.

Bug Trap Files

Bug trap files are generated automatically when SMS crashes. These files are stored in the user's temp directory. To locate these files:

1. Open a windows explorer window
2. In the search bar enter: %temp%
3. Locate the zip files that contain "_error_report_"