[thelist] What happens when the client requests a bug fix that the developer can't replicate?

[Hassan Schroeder]

Chris George wrote:

> The client experiences a bug with the application that causes the file
> download to fail. This bug has caused us to miss our launch date by
> quite a few weeks. The problem from our side of the fence is that he has
> one of 2 machines that can produce the error. We have tried with the
> same overall specs and can not produce said error.
> 
> We have a spreadsheet documenting what it *does* wok on, but for the
> most part, we're blindly trying to squash this bug. 

Install a sniffer (Ethereal, or ...) on at least the server in
question, and if possible on the client's system that's failing.
Capture until failure occurs, and then analyze the traces. (Make
sure the clocks on both systems are sync'd to an NTP source so
timestamps match up.)

Also, your server may have some kind of trace facility, and your
application should be instrumented to record (in debug mode) the
transfers at as granular a level as possible.

That's a start, anyway :-)

Good luck,
-- 
Hassan Schroeder ----------------------------- hassan at webtuitive.com
Webtuitive Design ===  (+1) 408-938-0567   === http://webtuitive.com

                           dream.  code.