8.4   What information should I include when I report a problem?

All Types of Problems

It will be faster and easier to help you if your e-mail includes the following information:

The version of Mac OS X that you are using

Click on the Apple menu and choose About This Mac.

The version of SpamSieve that you are using

Click on the SpamSieve menu and choose About SpamSieve.

The name and version of your e-mail program

In your mail program, click on the application menu and choose About <Mail Program Name>.

Errors reported in the system log

In the Finder, click on the Go menu and choose Utilities. Open the Console application and click on All Messages at the left of the window. If it shows any error messages from SpamSieve or your mail program, please copy and paste them into your e-mail.

If You Have Good Messages in Your Spam Mailbox

Please include SpamSieve’s log file and the screenshots (as described below). Also, write down the sender address and subject for each message that you’re referring to.

If You Have Spam Messages in Your Inbox

Please do not forward the problem messages using your mail program. Instead, make a new e-mail to spamsieve-fn@c-command.com and include the following items as attachments:

SpamSieve’s log file

The log file is located at:

/Users/<username>/Library/Logs/SpamSieve/SpamSieve Log.log

Go to SpamSieve’s Filter menu and choose Open Log. The Console application will open the log. Now go to Console’s File menu and choose Reveal In Finder. It should select the SpamSieve Log.log file for you.

(If, instead, you have Mac OS X 10.4, go to the Finder. Click on the Go menu and choose Home. Then open the Library folder. Inside the Library folder, open the Logs folder, then the SpamSieve folder.)

Once you’ve found the SpamSieve Log.log file, drag it into the message window in your e-mail program to attach it to your message. (In most cases there’s no need to attach the old, dated log files, whose names end with .log.bz2.)

Screenshots

To help troubleshoot problems in your mail program, please include screenshots of:

1. The message list in your mail program.
2. The rule list in your mail program (including both regular rules and mailing list manager rules, if applicable).
3. The individual SpamSieve rule(s) that you created in the mail program.

To take a screenshot, hold down the Apple and Shift keys and press the number 4. Then use the mouse to select the area of the screen that you want to take a picture of. This will create a file called Picture 1 on your desktop. Pressing the keys again will create Picture 2, etc. You can drag these into the e-mail window to attach them to your message. If you’re using Apple Mail, be sure to set the Image Size pop-up menu at the bottom of the message window to Actual Size.

The False Negatives folder

In the Advanced tab of SpamSieve’s Preferences window, make sure that Save false negatives to disk is checked. When you train a message as spam that SpamSieve thought was good, it will save that message as a file. Click the Show button in the Preferences window to open the folder. You can then drag the folder (or particular files in it) into the message window in your e-mail program.

If a spam message gets through and is not saved in the False Negatives folder, this likely means that there is a setup problem and that SpamSieve was not given an opportunity to filter that message. Please see the Why is SpamSieve not catching my spam? page for information about how to fix setup problems.

If SpamSieve or the mail program hangs or freezes

Please open the Activity Monitor program (in the Utilities folder in your Applications folder). Select the program in the list. When it is slow or hangs, choose Sample Process from the View menu. Then save the resulting data to a file and submit it via e-mail.