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@c Copyright (C) 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998,
@c 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@c This is part of the GCC manual.
@c For copying conditions, see the file gcc.texi.
@node Bugs
@chapter Reporting Bugs
@cindex bugs
@cindex reporting bugs
Your bug reports play an essential role in making GCC reliable.
When you encounter a problem, the first thing to do is to see if it is
already known. @xref{Trouble}. If it isn't known, then you should
report the problem.
@menu
* Criteria: Bug Criteria. Have you really found a bug?
* Reporting: Bug Reporting. How to report a bug effectively.
* Known: Trouble. Known problems.
* Help: Service. Where to ask for help.
@end menu
@node Bug Criteria,Bug Reporting,,Bugs
@section Have You Found a Bug?
@cindex bug criteria
If you are not sure whether you have found a bug, here are some guidelines:
@itemize @bullet
@cindex fatal signal
@cindex core dump
@item
If the compiler gets a fatal signal, for any input whatever, that is a
compiler bug. Reliable compilers never crash.
@cindex invalid assembly code
@cindex assembly code, invalid
@item
If the compiler produces invalid assembly code, for any input whatever
(except an @code{asm} statement), that is a compiler bug, unless the
compiler reports errors (not just warnings) which would ordinarily
prevent the assembler from being run.
@cindex undefined behavior
@cindex undefined function value
@cindex increment operators
@item
If the compiler produces valid assembly code that does not correctly
execute the input source code, that is a compiler bug.
However, you must double-check to make sure, because you may have a
program whose behavior is undefined, which happened by chance to give
the desired results with another C or C++ compiler.
For example, in many nonoptimizing compilers, you can write @samp{x;}
at the end of a function instead of @samp{return x;}, with the same
results. But the value of the function is undefined if @code{return}
is omitted; it is not a bug when GCC produces different results.
Problems often result from expressions with two increment operators,
as in @code{f (*p++, *p++)}. Your previous compiler might have
interpreted that expression the way you intended; GCC might
interpret it another way. Neither compiler is wrong. The bug is
in your code.
After you have localized the error to a single source line, it should
be easy to check for these things. If your program is correct and
well defined, you have found a compiler bug.
@item
If the compiler produces an error message for valid input, that is a
compiler bug.
@cindex invalid input
@item
If the compiler does not produce an error message for invalid input,
that is a compiler bug. However, you should note that your idea of
``invalid input'' might be someone else's idea of ``an extension'' or
``support for traditional practice''.
@item
If you are an experienced user of one of the languages GCC supports, your
suggestions for improvement of GCC are welcome in any case.
@end itemize
@node Bug Reporting,,Bug Criteria,Bugs
@section How and where to Report Bugs
@cindex compiler bugs, reporting
Bugs should be reported to the GCC bug database. Please refer to
@uref{http://gcc.gnu.org/bugs.html} for up-to-date instructions how to
submit bug reports. Copies of this file in HTML (@file{bugs.html}) and
plain text (@file{BUGS}) are also part of GCC releases.
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