New Bug Reporter from Archicad 24

[Minh Nguyen]

From Archicad 24, the Bug Reporter went through a big overhaul in terms of design and functionality. This article will introduce the new function of the Bug Reporter and what's new from Archicad 24.
You can learn more about the previous version of the Bug Reporter for Archicad 23 and older versions here.

What is GRAPHISOFT Bug Reporter?

GRAPHISOFT Bug Reporter is a program for reporting bugs, errors, crashes, or other incorrect functionality of GRAPHISOFT products. It gathers information about your Device configuration, System information, and about GRAPHISOFT applications you have installed on your computer. The Bug Reporter is installed in the ARCHICAD folder. It starts automatically if Archicad crashes. You can also open it manually by double-clicking its icon. It can be found:

• On Windows 10: as GSReport.exe in the folder where ARCHICAD is installed,
• On macOS: as GSReport.app inside the ARCHICAD.app in Applications\GRAPHISOFT\ARCHICAD 24 folder (right-click on ARCHICAD.app file and choose Show Package Contents to access it).

By manually opening the app, you can change the report type preference for sending future crashes as anonymous or detailed by ticking the checkbox. This preference will be reverted to the unchecked state (anonymous report) after 30 days.

What information is collected by the bug reporter?

A crash report to Graphisoft may contain the data described below. In each case, the program will individually identify which data may be needed to detect and solve the problem you have encountered.

Data category	Possible purpose of examining these data
System	OS version – API of the OS might change between OS updates, and the changed API may cause unpredicted behavior in the Application. OpenGL or DirectX version and driver information – potential driver errors mainly from outdated driver versions may cause crashes in Archicad.
Device information	Available RAM size or storage permissions – are affecting Archicad's behavior. Insufficient resources can prevent Archicad from running. Printer device setting – have an influence on printing capabilities of Archicad, Archicad might run into errors with some special configurations.
Graphisoft application information	Archicad version and configuration details – help us in the localization of a particular crash, and in the targeting of the solution for the updates. Installer logs – help us in the investigation of a crash, because faulty or incomplete installations or updates of the application can manifest in application errors.
Crash details	Execution flow information (aka call stack) – help us in identifying the error in the application code Memory sample from the crash context – help us understand the application state which terminated the execution.

GDPR Compliance

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European Union (EU) policy targeting data protection and privacy. Although it was passed by the EU, it enforces obligations onto any organization targeting or collecting data related to people in the EU. From Archicad 24, the Bug Reporter was redesigned to comply with GDPR regulation. You will now have the option to send either a detailed or an anonymous report to GRAPHISOFT. To meet the requirements, there are some noticeable changes:

• The Bug Reporter cannot be closed without sending at least an anonymous report. Previously any unsent crash reports were saved locally and would be collected when the user decided to send them later. Under GDPR, we cannot store unsent bug reports on the user side anymore (unless the user has no internet and decides to save the .REP file), therefore it must be forwarded immediately.
• Filling the email field is optional for detailed reports. This field is disabled for anonymous type according to GDPR requirements.

Program functions

When Archicad crashes, the Bug Reporter will appear to gather necessary information. By ticking the checkbox, you will agree to send a detailed crash report. Without ticking this box, the crash report will not include the user's identification. A detailed crash report will help us to identify and solve the problem faster. You can also include further details about the crash, which will help us understand the situation better. In some rare cases, we may reach out to the user directly for more information about the crash through the given email address. It will not be possible to include a personal description when sending an anonymous crash report.

Sending the Report

When you click the Send report button, the Bug Reporter will try and set up an Internet connection with a GRAPHISOFT server. If the connection is successful, your report will be submitted, and you will get a Bug ID in case of detailed crash reports.

The Bug IDs are logged in a text file called SubmissionLog.txt. This file is located at:

• On Windows 10: C:\Users\<user>\GRAPHISOFT
• On macOS: <user home>/Library/Logs

The Bug ID is necessary for identifying the bug if you want to contact Technical Support for troubleshooting the problem. With anonymous reports, there won't be any Bug ID generated.

 NOTE: In case your proxy server requires authentication, you will be prompted to give your credentials. If the connection fails, you will have the option to save your report file onto your computer as a .REP file, and send it to your Local ARCHICAD Provider at a later time.

To read more about the Crash Reporting Policy, please follow this link.