Outlined below are several ideal methods or tips by which to describe bugs and to communicate with support. We realize that many bugs are unique and they must be handled individually, but the notes below provide a good guideline.

It is strongly suggested that smlib users compile and run the ui_test utility program (Smlib/ui_test/ui_test.sln) to aid in testing and bug reporting. This is a valuable visualization tool that allows users to understand smlib code implementation and test specific examples. By testing or reproducing a bug in ui_test, a user can be sure the issue exists in smlib. In other words, the user's application will not be needed to reproduce the bug. This method also ensures that the user and SMS support are running the same code with the same input parameters (tolerances, etc). This method also makes it easier for us to include the issue in our regression test suite.

Once compiled, ui_test can perform many tasks without recompiling. Besides reading object files and displaying them with rotate, pan, zoom, etc., ui_test can tessellate objects, repair objects, run scripted demonstrations, and redisplay objects shaded or with a control polygon, etc. Ui_test can also boolean two objects.

We have a number of example test programs under Smlib/Examples. These example functions simplify a test case or a bug report by testing only one smlib function at a time. For example, they might read object 1, read object 2, and perform an operation. These not only provide useful example code, but each one can be included in the ui_test project to demonstrate results. The file "Template.cpp" is shipped with ui_test as a very basic example. Users are encouraged to substitute "Template.cpp" with their own "Test" functions by copying example code or their own application code and reading smlib objects from native files that can then be used as input into smlib functions.

Although, it is possible to provide support with geometry data in other file formats (iges, step, etc), it is preferred to send smlib native ASCII files. This practice will eliminate the possibility that the issue occurs during translation. Please use WriteToFile() on any smlib object to create a file with the file extensions listed below:

Please do not use .txt nor .dat

When writing individual smlib objects, the header should not be written to file. This can be accomplished by passing in "true" for bSkipHeader.

Prog_test is a way of testing for regressions. Most users will not need or use prog_test except possibly as code examples.