The Tornado launcher Support menu can be used to send support requests to Wind River Systems. All of the commands on the Support menu display a form for entering support requests. The form is the same in all cases, but it is pre-loaded with information for the Tornado component you select from the menu.

Use the menu entries for support requests as follows:

Support>WindSurf

Access the WindSurf customer support Web page.

Support>Tornado

Support requests on all Tornado host-resident tools other than the CrossWind debugger or the GNU tools.

Support>VxWorks

Support requests on target-resident software.

Support>CrossWind

Support requests on the CrossWind debugger or on the underlying command-driven debugger GDB.

Support>GNU

Support requests on the GNU ToolKit.

Support>Project

Support requests on the project facility.

Support>WindView

Support requests on the WindView software logic analyzer.

The first time you select any command from the Support menu, a special auxiliary form is displayed: the Customer Information form. You must enter this information once before sending your first Technical Support Request (TSR). Thereafter, the same information is used automatically for all future TSRs you transmit.¹ You can also get to this auxiliary form by pressing the Self Info button on a Support Request form, if you need to revise it. A completed customer information form is shown in Figure 9-1 below.

Figure 9-1:  Form: Customer Information

The following fields are available in the Customer Information form:

Reported By

Your name. This field is filled in by default from your UNIX login information.

Contact

The person who should receive replies to your support requests. Usually this is also your name; filled in by default from your UNIX login information.

Company

Your company's name.

Email Address

The electronic mail address, if available, to receive replies to support requests.

Phone Number

A telephone number where support personnel can contact you.

License Number

Your WRS license number.

Address

Your mailing address.

Report To

The default destination when you send support requests by e-mail.

	NOTE: The standard Wind River Systems support contract specifies particular contact people at your organization. Support requests should go through them. If you are one of these designated contacts, leave the Report To field at the default setting; otherwise, fill in the electronic mail address of your local contact person. Taking care of this early will expedite your support requests later on.

See Figure 9-2 for an example of the TSR form. You can fill out a TSR form in part, save it to investigate further, and return to it whenever you wish. Once a TSR is complete, you can send the request directly from the Support Request form by electronic mail, or print it out ready for faxing. In either case, the Tornado launcher keeps a history of all support requests you prepare; you can also use the Support Request form to review the history of your TSRs.

Figure 9-2:  Form: Support Request

The Support Request form has three main components (besides the separate Customer Information form). These two components are the fields to describe the problem, in the main form shown in Figure 9-2, and the buttons to act on the problem, in the top right of the same form.

Editable Fields on the Support Request Form

The following fields appear in the TSR form. Many fields are filled out by default, but you can always overwrite any of the default field values. In all the text fields, you can type as much text as you need; use the arrow keys on your keyboard to scroll within the space available.

TSR File

The file where the launcher saves this TSR for your reference. By default the launcher stores these files under .wind/tsr/ in your home directory, and constructs the file name for each TSR from the date and a sequence number.

TSR History

A scrollable list (the scrollbar appears when the list is longer than the space available) of previously saved TSRs. (This field is editable only indirectly, with the action buttons.) To view the information from any TSR in this list, click on its file name: the contents of the Support Request form are filled in with the saved TSR data in response.

Product/Release

The name and release level of the product which is the subject of this TSR. Filled in by default with the identification of the software you selected, for the host in use and to the currently selected target. If you use more than one kind of host or target, please make sure this information accurately reflects the environment where the problem occurred.

Affected Module

If you can identify the failing product component (for example, if the bug appears only when you include one particular run-time feature), specify it here.

Date

Automatically filled in with the date and time when you first opened this TSR.

Reference #

A place for any reference number your own organization may find useful to associate with this TSR.

Host/Version

The host operating system and architecture where the launcher is running. This is filled in by default to the values for the current session. If you use Tornado on more than one host, please make sure before sending the support request that the value in this field really reflects the environment where you saw the problem.

Architecture

Target architecture. The name of the selected target's architecture is filled in by default. If you use more than one target architecture, please make sure this information is accurate for your problem.

BSP

The name and version number of the Board Support Package linked into your target run-time. Filled in by default with data for the selected target.

Peripherals

List any other hardware that might be involved in your problem.

Synopsis of Problem

A terse line to identify the problem. It is to your advantage to make this line as informative as possible, because mail about this problem from the WRS support staff uses this line as its subject. Use keywords that allow you to recognize the problem.

Description of Problem

Describe your problem here, in as much detail as possible. The more information you supply, the faster a Technical Support Engineer at Wind River Systems can solve the problem. If you can exhibit specific steps that cause the problem, please include them after the tag <Demonstration>. If you have developed a work-around to the problem, that may also be a useful clue; please describe it after the tag <Workaround>.

You can type directly into this field, or use the Edit button (top right on the Support Request form) to bring up the editor specified by your EDITOR environment variable to fill out the field. If you bring up an auxiliary editor, the Support Request form becomes inactive until you exit the editor.

The Append button (immediately below Edit) allows you to include any saved information you may have already saved that is relevant to this problem. Append brings up a dialog box that allows you to specify the name of a file, and adds the contents of that file to the end of your problem description.

Taking Action on a TSR

The buttons at the top right of the main Support Request form allow you to take a range of actions with the information you enter on the form. Figure 9-3 shows the buttons available.

Figure 9-3:  Buttons on the Support Request Form

The following paragraphs describe the effect of each button:

New

Begin a new TSR; clear all editable fields to their default values. You might use this button to start over, or to begin entering a TSR after reviewing saved ones.

Save

Save the information currently specified (without transmitting a TSR).

Delete

Delete the currently displayed TSR from your saved-TSR history.

Quit

Abandon this form immediately; discard any changes entered since the last save.

Edit

Bring up the editor specified by your EDITOR environment variable on the contents of the Description of Problem field.

Append

Add the contents of another file to the end of the Description of Problem field. (This button brings up an auxiliary dialog box to specify the file name.)

Self Info

Bring up the Customer Information form shown in Figure 9-1.

Send Mail

Save the current support request, then send the support request through e-mail or print the trouble report. This button brings up the dialog shown in Figure 9-4.

Figure 9-4:  TSR Submission Dialog

If you have access to Internet mail, press the Send Mail button on this dialog box to transmit the support request. Fill in the CC to field as desired; the Mail to field comes up pre-loaded with the address specified in your saved customer information. The Print button sends a printout of the TSR, formatted in the same way as for electronic mail, to your default printer,² and abandons the dialog. Use this button to produce a printout for faxing, if you cannot use Internet mail. The View button displays the TSR in an auxiliary window, formatted in the same way as for electronic mail. The Cancel button abandons this dialog without transmitting the TSR.

1:  This information is stored in the file .wind/profile under your home directory.

2:  You can change your default printer by defining the PRINTER environment variable.