wombat1417

Chg:0000 SE Improve the logic for enabling and disabling the Delete Unit button when editing a group. The designer should not be able to delete an installation, not the last ship/sub/land unit in the group. http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.php?showtopic=3431 Tried the suggested test in 3431 above. The installation cannot be deleted as the Delete button is greyed out, so that part works. I don't understand the "not the last ship/sub/land unit in the group" part, though.

- Chg:0000 GE Answering yes to RTB ASW bird out of weapons message will now RTB, answering no will leave it on station. (thanks Wombat) http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.php?showtopic=2495 Appears to be fixed in 2009.015 based on rerunning the test scenario.

File Name: Defection File Submitter: wombat1417 File Submitted: 1 Mar 2009 File Category: NACV DB Used: N/A Authors: Jun-Seop An Battleset-NACV: .sca - HDS2 - HDSA Another "Hunt for Red October", but in the rarely-used HDSII Battleset. From 1998. Click here to download this file

I don't know about this. If you run the "Bear4" save and click Blue BBA for an Attack, you can click any of the 4 helos around Red ZVS. The selected helo is then jumped to on the Select Group list.

If that's a building truss from a pre-fab building, they have to be pretty big things. The caps seem to have holes through them, so some kind of cable could have gone through them. For some reason, it's looks sort of WWI-ish. Could these be concrete anchors for the mines of the North Sea barrage?

Ditto.

All fixes are confirmed in beta 2009.012.

At the time, the EC2000 battleset was not included in the beta I was using. I didn't think anybody else had it either.

File Name: Captain Strangelov File Submitter: wombat1417 File Submitted: 22 Feb 2009 File Category: NACV DB Used: N/A Authors: Norm Lunde Battleset-NACV: .sc2 - Orig - Original A fanatical Russian boomer captain sets out to nuke New York City. From 1992. Click here to download this file

Part Three: Preparing the Bug Report Following a mind bout of flu, I completed the testing phase begun in Part Two, including the suggestion that Victor in the Pacific made, and ended with a huge amount of information. The final task is figure out how much of it to use and then to organize it into useful form. Over time, a standard report format has evolved. Here it is with all the blanks filled in, after which it will be explained: Defect Name: Retargeting Problems Build: 2009/007 Repeatable: Yes Operating System: Windows Vista SP1 DB used: HCDB-090128 Scenario used: Test Scenario "INTTEST2.SCm" for EC2003 GIUK Long Description: Launch Air attacks cannot be changed to Land or Sea attacks. Sequence to reproduce: 1) Open and run saved game "Air2Air" in EC2003 GIUK battleset. 2) Blue Plane group ADA was launched to attack Red Helo group ZTH; AEA was launched to attack ZUH. 3) Click ADA and try to have it attack any of the three Land targets. Repeat with AEA. 4) Click ADA and try to have it attack either Sea target. Repeat with AEA. Expected behaviour: ADA or AEA should follow orders to attack the Land or Sea targets. Observed behaviour: ADA or AEA cannot be changed to Land or Sea attacks once they have been ordered to attack aircraft. Additional information: 1)ADA and AEA can repeatedly be switched between either Helo target. 2) Attempting to Clear the course will change the target to None on the Unit screen (see "Screenshot.jpg"), but you still can't attack Sea or Land targets. 3) Launch Patrol and Launch Ferry missions also cannot be diverted once assigned. Attached File(s): TestFiles.zip Defect Name: You have to call it something; something self-explanatory is best. Build: Which beta is being tested. Repeatable: Hopefully Yes, because a non-repeatable bug is that much harder to track. Operating System: It is possible that the Computer Gods will let something misbehave in one OS and not another. DB Used: Some problems are database-specific. Though most players will be using the most current version of the standard Harpoon database (currently HCDB-090128), others will use one of the speciality databases. Scenario used: As mentioned earlier, a specially-written test scenario is preferred. For ease of use, also state the battleset it runs with. Long description: Long enough to get the point across. Sequence to reproduce: Here's where you can go into detail about getting the bug to show. Be very specific: The more information you can provide, the more helpful it is for bug hunters. Expected behavior: What you think is supposed to happen. Observed behavior: what actually did happen. Additional information: Any items that could be of possible use that didn't fit anywhere else, including all that extra information. Strictly speaking, the Launch Patrol and Launch Ferry mentions should be split off into two seperate bug reports, but again I hoped that fixing one would also fix the rest. If not, the issue can be taken up later. Downloads: All the files necessary to demonstrate the problem have to be copied into a .zip file and uploaded to the post. In this attachment are the original test scenario INTTEST2 (just in case); InitialSetUp (the first save with the AWACS up); Air2Air (the save with the F4s launched and targeted); and Screenshot (showing the Clear course failure). I'm pretty much satisfied with the results of my efforts. This all now would get wrapped up into a post to the Issue Tracker section (if it wasn't a tutorial for an already solved problem) where an interested party will pick up on it and either confirm or debunk the findings. TestFiles.zip

Checked more, works as you say.

I took Herman's "BOL range incorrect 2005" file and opened the save in .011. It opens with a "Saved Game Limited Functionality" window that says "The saved game you are loading is outdated and may result in Unit Window corruption". In this case, the Unit Windows seems to be fine. Will check more later.

File Name: Stacked Deck File Submitter: wombat1417 File Submitted: 15 Feb 2009 File Category: IOPG DB Used: n/a Authors: unknown Battleset-IOPG: .scc - HDS2 - HDSC Bahrain and France escort a Gulf convoy Click here to download this file

I don't seem to have an Export DLL folder, so I created one. Alt-3 produces the SA and the warning klaxon.

If you're using .008 or .009, the problem should not, of course, be happening as it was actually fixed there. (The problem hadn't occurred until the earlier 2009 betas probably as an unintended consequence of trying to fix something else.) That it was definitely broken in .007 made it a good basis for the how-to and why-did posts. AArm is a favorite test loadout for me because the aircraft weapons are usually some long-range AAM and the Mavericks, which can be used against either Land or Sea targets. Clearing the course actually didn't occur to me. I was too focused on trying to switch targets on the fly. I'll have to see if that works and amend the post. I also forgot to mention that sometime in the past the Computer Gods would take the "Save Every 0 Minutes" and do a continual save. I haven't seen this lately. If it should happen again and the ritual sacrifices do not placate them, "Save Every 60 Minutes" gives you more than enough time to find a good save point. Happy Bug Hunting.

A serendipitous discovery on my part. I'm still not sure I can get my VCs to work properly...

Part Two: Working Through The Testing Process. "...there is a problem (2009.007) re-assigning aircraft missions (probably any intercept ship/sub/air). Once a plane group is told to intercept a certain group it is very difficult in many cases to assign that plane group to attack different target or otherwise change tasks." This was the task at hand that lead to the creation of the Test Scenario in Part One. Now I'm going to use that Test Scenario to try to generate some Saved Games that catch the bug in the act. The most common way to dispatch aircraft is to use the Launch button. Pressing this at any airbase gives you the option to Attack a target; to Patrol at a certain point; or to Ferry aircraft from one place to another. After thinking through the process, I decided the best way to approach the problem was to a) launch an Attack mission against the helos and see if I could switch targets between them or Land and Sea targets; Launch a Patrol mission and try to attack air, sea or land targets; c) launch a Ferry mission and try to attack air sea, or land targets. AH HA! The more astute are saying. How can you Ferry aircraft when you only have one base. Double AH HA! Where are the subs? Answer one: I screwed up. I forgot all about the ferry option until I actually started testing, so I modified INTTEST into INTTEST2 to add another. Answer two: I personally find it difficult to test anything involving subs. My pious hope was that if the fix works for Land, Sea and Air targets that it will also work for Subs. If not, I'll deal with it then. So, let the testing begin. After selecting the EC2003 GIUK battleset, load the User Scenario INTTEST2.SCm and up it comes. Before you do another thing, though, you have to prepare the board. First, under Settings, then Game Options, Set the Save Every to 0 minutes. This allows you to save the game at the point you want without it being automatically overwritten during the testing process. Second, use the ALT-I key combination to label all the icons on the Group and Unit maps. This makes tracking everything so much easier. Finally, get the AWACS airborne with radar active. All the Red targets, including the helos in about a minute, will be visible. Since this is going to be the baseline from which all the tests will be run, I saved this as SETUP.hpm so I can open it again and again as needed. Screenshot 3 shows this in operation. Now I'll start running my first series of tests. I'm going to Launch 2 groups of 2 F4S with AArm loadouts from Blue airfield AAa. One group will Attack Red helo ZTH; the other, Red helo ZUH. En route, I will try to get them to switch targets with each other. If they do or they don't, I will try to get them to Attack the Land targets at ZZb and ZYb. If they do or they don't, I will finally try to get them to Attack the Sea targets at ZVS and ZWS. I'll run the test at low time compression, no more than 10 or possible 30 seconds so as to try not to miss anything. Screenshot 4 shows this test underway. ADA is to attack ZTH and AEA is to attack ZUH. (This is a good place to make a save because the test in underway in its initial stages and can be opened again and again as needed. Having the aircraft up and assigned also cuts down on the time that the programmers have to spend on unnecessary fiddling around. This test was saved as Air2Air1.hpm.) As the Phantoms flew, I tried several times to get them to switch off on their assigned targets. Evertime I tried this, they complied without problems. Then I tried to get ADA to Attack Land target ZZb and AEA to Attack ZYb. This time, they did not comply no matter how hard I tried to get them to attack either target. I then tried to get them to go after the Sea targets. Again, nothing would dissuade them from their single-minded pursuit of the helos. I let them have their way and destroy the helos. Surely now, I thought, they would let me assign them to Land or Sea attacks, but surprisingly, they would not. ADA would obey no order but Land Air. AEA, though, still with AAM and a target available was willing to attack it (as Screenshot 5 shows), after which it too would only obey the Land Air order to either Blue airbase. By now, I'm satisfied that there is a bug and that I'm fairly confident that I have at least some basic information to work with. Now I'll start running whatever variations on problem I can think of on the theory that it's better to have too much than too little to work with. Rather than bore you all to tears, I'll just end at this point as they are all going to be summarized in the next installment, when I write up the formal bug report. If you can't wait, both INTTEST2 and SETUP are contained in the .zip file. Part_2.zip

This is all going to got into a new Harpoon book, right?

Just in case those new to the testing procedure are still unsure about how to go about it, I'd like to present the basics of how I test a bug, step by step, in a series of posts. This post will deal with creating a Test Scenario. (Tony, I'll probably be repeating a lot of what you've already said, but I like to be thorough.) Part One: Writing A Test Scenario A Test Scenario is created to try to replicate a bug that you or someone else has found and reported. A Game Save from a Test Scenario is preferable to a Game Save from a Combat Scenario because a Test Scenario can be stripped down to the bare minimum to test the bug, while a Combat Scenario usually has so much action going on that it may be more difficult for the house programmers who have to repair the bug to run the problem down. The Test Scenario will be created using the Scenario Editor. In this case, the problem concerns a difficulty in Beta2009.007 with making aircraft that are an Intercept mission change to attack a new target . To cover all the bases, I eventually decided the minimum I needed was a Blue airbase with a dozen multipurpose aircraft, a Red airfield with at least 2 aircraft, two bases and two ships. Also, I prefer to have enemy targets that don't shoot back to keep things less complicated. Open the Scenario Editor. I tend to use the EC2003 battleset as my testbed as I gotten more familiar with it. I used the arrow keys alongside the Group map to put Iceland in the center of the screen. Now click Groups in the options line and Create New Base. Choose the Blue side and go down the base list to "Keflavik, Iceland, Blue". After Keflavik pops onto the map, scrolling down the Edit Airfield list allowed me to select the F-4S Phantom as my multipurpose aircraft and to add 12 of them to the base. (Screenshot 01 shows the process to this point). I gave them a 100% chance of inclusion and closed the Edit Aircraft box and the base selection box. To cut down on the waiting time to find the enemy, I also like to include an AWACS, so I added an E-3 Sentry RSIP to the base. If everything worked, clicking the Blue airfield shows that it is BLUE Airfield, AAa at Keflavik, Iceland with 13 Planes. As a final step, I clicked the Ready Air and changed the loadout on 8 of the F4s from Intercept to AAmr. Now you need targets. I figured that I would need 2 bases, 2 ships and an airbase with at least 2 aircraft so the the attacking Blue aircraft have targets to switch off against. Using the same procedures as for Blue, I created Red Land targets at Crossroad Echo, Iceland; Antenna Farm, Iceland; and Dispersement 1, Iceland. At Dispersement 1, add 2 Russian Mi-24K Hind G2 helos. My live air targets will be those 2 Hinds. To get them airborne, I clicked Dispersement 1, then Launch Air. I launched one helo to Patrol about 60nm due west of the airfield, and the second to patrol about 60nm due east. I selected a Delta 1 minute launch for both. Finally, my Sea targets are a couple of Russian Okean intelligence vessels. I posted them separately about 60nm west and northwest of Keflavik. (Screenshot 02 shows everything done up to this point.) Finally, I clicked File, then Enter Game Limit. 1 Day will be more then enough to complete this test. As far as I can figure, this scenario now contains everything needed to test the fix. To save it, click File one last time, then Save Scenario As. In the Save User Scenario As screen, select a Folder the scenario will be saved to. Under File name, replace the * with a filename of no more than 8 characters; it will automatically be saved as an EC2003 battleset. My file is named "INTTEST". My completed test scenario is attached here for documentation purposes. If you wish, print out this section and uses it a a step-by-step guide for using the Scenario Editor to duplicate it. INTTEST.zip

File Name: Collision File Submitter: wombat1417 File Submitted: 8 Feb 2009 File Category: GIUK DB Used: N/A Authors: Cobalt Shiva, 1993 Battleset-GIUK: .sc9 - HDS2 - HDS5 A small-scale tactical exercise. Click here to download this file

No concerns. Just reporting.