Open Radar

 
03-Jul-2013 12:32 PM Tom Harrington:
Summary:

Radar web is flaky as hell and often makes it impossible to file a bug for days at a time.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Go to http://bugreporter.apple.com/ and enter valid login credentials.

Expected Results:

It would be possible to log in and file a bug.

Actual Results:

A significant percentage of the time, the site instead displays a message reading:

“An error has occurred. Please report the error to Apple Inc. by emailing the error detail to devbugs@apple.com.”

At this point it is impossible for the user to access Radar web.

A screenshot is attached.

Regression:

Longstanding issue.

Notes:

Developers are often reminded that filing Radars is an important part of the process of getting issues resolved. The phrase “Radar or GTFO” is in common use online in places like Twitter, when someone complains of a problem but has not filed a bug. As a result it’s discouraging and frustrating that Apple’s bug reporting process is so unreliable as to make filing Radars a difficult or impossible task. If I have an issue I’d like to report, but run into this error, I need to just keep trying repeatedly until it eventually becomes possible to file the report.

In short, Apple representatives emphasize the value of Radars, but Apple’s bug reporting system frequently stands directly in the way of actually filing them.

Some notes on the occurrence of the error:

1. Once this error appears, it usually appears consistently for hours or even days, during which it’s impossible to access Radar web.
2. Based on conversations with other developers, the error is not global but affects individual developers at different times.
3. Despite the error message’s reference to “emailing the error detail”, there’s no real detail to send.
4. Contacting devbugs@apple.com does not resolve the problem any faster than simply waiting it out. By the time they respond (a few days later in my experience), the error has usually cleared up.


11-Jul-2013 11:20 AM Apple Developer Bug Reporting Team :
Engineering has provided the following:

We verified the login access for you works fine. Kindly clear the cache, etc. and try to relogin to bug reporter and verify the issue is resolved.

Please let us know whether that helps you resolve the issue by updating your bug report.


11-Jul-2013 11:34 AM Tom Harrington:
It's not a question of whether I can log in right now.

The problem is that this issue comes up all the time. It's an ongoing, chronic issue. It might be working OK at the moment but that doesn't address the recurrent, persistent nature of the problem. The problem doesn't exist all the time but it always comes back at some point. At random times it becomes impossible to access Radar for days at a time.