POSC Request Tracker Instructions and E-mail Submittal Form Introduction ------------ The POSC Request Tracker ("Tracker") is used by POSC to accept, track, and respond to various types of requests related to POSC offerings. Users may submit requests to the Tracker to report defects, to request enhancements, to ask questions, to make recommendations, to ask for clarification, or to get general help. The Tracker provides e-mail notification to the individual submitter of the progress of the request in the system. Each request and the POSC response to each request are posted in the appropriate POSC news groups on UUNET. Please contact the POSC Help Desk (help@posc.org) if you need additional information on subscribing to tho se news groups. E-mail Submittal Instructions ----------------------------- The Tracker accepts requests submitted by e-mail. Following this description is text showing the exact format for e-mail submittal. The format must be followed explicitly in order to have a request registered correctly in the system. After completing the request form, send it by e-mail to: problem@posc.org. To be processed electronically into the Request Tracker, the request form must be in the body of the message, not as an include or enclosure file. Additional comments or other information included in the e-mail will not be read by the Help Desk staff. If you have comments or questions on submitting a request, e-mail them to help@posc.org. This mail box is read directly by the Help Desk staff. When your request is processed into the Tracker, the Tracker generates an e-mail notification confirming its receipt. If you not receive this confirmation message within two business days after submittal, contact the POSC Help Desk by e-mail at help@posc.org, or by telephone at 713 784 1880. The form is self-explanatory in most areas; however, the product definitions require some additional detail to ensure the correct classification is made. Included after the product definitions are some guidelines for preparing the problem description. Product Definitions ------------------- The following is a list of the various product types currently used by POSC; the types generally follow the deliverables available from POSC or other sources. There are some subtle variations which you should follow, so please review this list prior to submitting a request. Epicentre DM Applies to Entity Definitions or other definitions within the Data Model description itself. Epicentre Spec Applies to the written specification for areas other than Entity Definitions, generally the discussion portions of the documentation. Epicentre EXPRESS Applies to requests specific to the EXPRESS file. These requests should be very specific to the EXPRESS file, such as "file will not load." For requests related to a definition, specify the product as Epicentre DM rather than Epicentre EXPRESS. Relational DDL Applies to the DDL file specifically, and can include questions about definitions in Tables, etc., which in turn will be generated by creating a new projection from Epicentre. DAE Spec Applies to the specification for Data Access and Exchange. Sample Implent'n Applies to any request related to the various Sample Implementations for Data Access and Exchange. In general, this product designation is for questions associated with the source code, make files, etc. Relational Implent'n Applies to the computer programs associated with access to the spatial data types using the supplemental libraries. Care should be taken to differentiate questions related to DDL from questions about the actual routines. DAE Doc Applies to any written documentation for the Data Access and Exchange products other than the published specifications. This applies to Release Notes, User Guides or other written materials delivered as part of the implementations. Data Exchange Applies to any documentation relating to Data Exchange, including: PEF Spec - POSC Exchange Format specification) PEF R/W - PEF read/write routines included in the Sample Implementation. Epigramme Toolkit - documentation and routines included in the specification. Ref_Entity Applies to any question regarding Reference Entities and their values or usage. For questions related to definitions of entities, specify the product as Epicentre DM rather than Ref_Entity. Style Guide Spec Applies to the Prentice Hall published specification. CGM*PIP Spec Applies to the CGM*PIP document published by POSC. The specifications for both PIP/I and PIP/II are included in the same document. Submissions should indicate the PIP level in the "product_version" attribute. BCS Spec Applies to the Base Computer Standards specification. Browser Applies to the operation of the Epicentre Data Model Browser product, including errors in the computer program or failure to operate correctly. For questions related to definitions in the Epicentre Data Model, which are viewed in the Browser, specify product Epicentre DM rather than Browser. Training Applies to the training materials. Issue Applies to topics that are not related to a specific deliverable. Help Applies to requests for assistance of a general nature, for example "Need copy of Maintenance Agreement." Problem description field ------------------------- The problem description field should include as much detail as necessary to thoroughly describe the request. For requests which are classified as enhancements or recommendations, the problem description should include the business justification. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- E-mail Submittal Form The following is the e-mail submittal form. Comment lines (#) are not required and can be deleted after familiarization with the form. #------------------------------------------------------------------------- # # You may submit a request by completing this form and mailing # it to problem@posc.org. Please send only one form per e-mail # message. # # All attribute values must be supplied on the same line as the # appropriate "!attribute:" keyword, except the problem_description. # # All problem description text must be supplied between the delimiters, # as shown in the following example: # !problem_description: !text # This is an example problem description # with two lines. # !end_text # # Attribute values must be entered exactly as shown, including # capitalization, to be registered. # # The value "Any" is used to indicate that you do not know which of the # choices in the allowable range is applicable. # # The value "All" is used to indicate that the problem occurs on/in every # choice in the allowable range. # # All comment lines (lines beginning with a #) will be ignored. #------------------------------------------------------------------------ # Please enter your name: # !submitter: #------------------------------------------------------------------------ # Please enter your e-mail address: # !submitter_email: #------------------------------------------------------------------------ # Please enter your phone number: # !submitter_phone: #------------------------------------------------------------------------ # Please enter your fax number (optional): !submitter_fax: #------------------------------------------------------------------------ # Please enter your company name: # !submitter_company: #------------------------------------------------------------------------ # Please enter your company's address (city, state, or country is # adequate): !submitter_address: #------------------------------------------------------------------------ # Please enter the name of product you are submitting against. # See Product Definitions in the instructions for this form. # # Product Names: Epicentre DM, Epicentre Spec, Epicentre EXPRESS, # Relational DDL, DAE Spec, Sample Implent'n, Relational Implent'n, # DAE Doc, PEF Spec, PEF R/W, Epigramme Toolkit, Ref_Entity, # Style Guide Spec, CGM*PIP Spec, BCS Spec, Browser, Issue, Help # Enter the value Help if your question is of a general nature and # not related to a specific product. !product_name: # #------------------------------------------------------------------------ # Please enter the version of the product you are submitting against. # Note that the values "I/3" and "II/2" are for use with the CGM*PIP # specification. # Version range: Any, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 2.0 snapshot, I/3, II/2 # !product_version: #------------------------------------------------------------------------ # Please enter the database system in which the problem occurs. # This is used to further identify the exact nature of the problem. # The database systems are: Oracle 6, Oracle 7, SQL 92, OODB, UniSQL, # Sybase # !product_subsys: #------------------------------------------------------------------------ # Please enter the type of request. # Request type range: Defect, Enhancement, Question, Recommendation, # Clarification, Help # !request_type: #------------------------------------------------------------------------ # Please enter the severity of the request. # Severity range: Showstopper, Severe, Medium, Minor, Help, Misc # !severity: #------------------------------------------------------------------------ # Please enter the hardware on which the problem occurs. # Hardware range: Any, Sun 4, HP9000, PC/DOS, Macintosh, RS6000, # SPARC10, DEC5000, All # !hardware: #------------------------------------------------------------------------- # Please enter the operating system on which the problem manifests itself. # OS range: Any, SunOS, HP-UX, AIX, Ultrix, Solaris, System 7, # Windows 3.x, DOS 6, All # !os: #------------------------------------------------------------------------ # Please enter the operating system version of the operating system: # OS version range: Any, 4.1.1, 4.1.2, 8.05, 4.0.3, 8.07, 7.0, All # !os_version: #------------------------------------------------------------------------ # Please enter a one-line (80 characters maximum) problem synopsis. # This is the Problem Title: # !problem_synopsis: #------------------------------------------------------------------------- # Please enter a detailed description of your request. # For the description, the attributes "!problem_description:" and # "!text" must remain on the same line. The description of the problem # must start on a new line and may contain multiple lines. The # description must be followed by the attribute "!end_text" on a new line. # Please enter a description between the following delimiters: # !problem_description: !text !end_text # End of e-mail format. Mail message to problem@posc.org. An e-mail # message acknowledging the submittal will be returned to the e-mail # address entered in this submittal form (not a reply to the address from # which the form is sent).