Friday, March 23, 2007 12:07 AM
BriSmith
What makes a Good Repro when logging a support call
Sometime on a support call the customer will say "I have a great repro - just open this mpp file and things will crash!". Unfortunately this is a little like seeing an automobile wreck and trying to work out how the cars got where they did - and which direction they possibly came from. The mpp is already bad - but how did it get that way? The perfect repro is starting from a new project, doing a set a steps and then something bad happens. Even better is when following the same steps on our machines still gives the same problem!
Having a good repro also helps when working with Project Server 2007 issues - and the more information you have for us then the better we can help you. This may be in terms of getting to a resolution more quickly - or understanding the root cause of something that can be avoided until we get a good fix. Help us to help you! It isn't unknown that when working a call we suspect a specific problem - but can't get confirmation directly, but the clues are all over the logs. You know what the issue is; you know that we know that you know what the issue is...
This leads me on to one of my favorite current issues - but this will have to wait for my next blog - "An unexpected error has occurred". What's the deal with this message - and how can you recover?