Problem Report format

The format of a PR is designed to reflect the nature of GNATS as a database. Information is arranged into fields, and kept in individual records (Problem Reports).

Problem Report fields are denoted by a keyword which begins with `>' and ends with `:', as in `>Confidential:'. Fields belong to one of three data types:

ENUMERATED

One of a specific set of values, which vary according to the field. The value for each keyword must be on the same line as the keyword. These values are not configurable (yet). The following fields are ENUMERATED format; see the descriptions of fields below for explanations of each field in detail:

>Confidential:   >Severity:       >Priority:
>Class:          >State:          >Number:

TEXT

One single line of text which must begin and end on the same line (i.e., before a newline) as the keyword. See the descriptions of fields below for explanations of each field in detail. The following fields are TEXT format:

>Submitter-Id:   >Originator:     >Synopsis:
>Category:       >Release:        >Responsible:
>Arrival-Date:

MULTITEXT

Text of any length may occur in this field. MULTITEXT may span multiple lines and may also include blank lines. A MULTITEXT field ends only when another keyword appears. See the descriptions of fields below for explanations of each field in detail. The following fields are MULTITEXT format:

>Organization:   >Environment:    >Description:
>How-To-Repeat:  >Fix:            >Audit-Trail:
>Unformatted:

A Problem Report contains two different types of fields: Mail Header fields, which are used by the mail handler for delivery, and Problem Report fields, which contain information relevant to the Problem Report and its submitter. A Problem Report is essentially a specially formatted electronic mail message.

Example Problem Report

The following is an example Problem Report. Mail headers are at the top, followed by GNATS fields, which begin with `>' and end with `:'. The `Subject:' line in the mail header and the `>Synopsis:' field are usually duplicates of each other.

Message-Id:  message-id
Date:        date
From:        address
Reply-To:    address
To:          bug-address
Subject:     subject

>Number:       gnats-id
>Category:     category
>Synopsis:     synopsis
>Confidential: yes or no
>Severity:     critical, serious, or non-critical
>Priority:     high, medium or low
>Responsible:  responsible
>State:        open, analyzed, suspended, feedback, or closed
>Class:        sw-bug, doc-bug, change-request, support, 
duplicate, or mistaken
>Submitter-Id: submitter-id
>Arrival-Date: date
>Originator:   name
>Organization: organization
>Release:      release
>Environment:
   environment
>Description:
   description
>How-To-Repeat:
   how-to-repeat
>Fix:
   fix
>Audit-Trail:
appended-messages...
State-Changed-From-To: from-to
State-Changed-When: date
State-Changed-Why:
   reason
Responsible-Changed-From-To: from-to
Responsible-Changed-When: date
Responsible-Changed-Why:
   reason
>Unformatted:
   miscellaneous

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