SP2, PDF and other issues being discussed

Since you'r a bit south of me, could it be Yellowtail Ale?

Mike:

I know you already know most of this, having worked for more than one reseller, but the order goes roughly: (this is not an official list, it's just the way I've noticed it to work)

- Crash bugs

- Regressions (things that used to work in a previous version, broken in later version)

- serious bugs that have affected a wide range of users and been widely reported

- data corruption bugs

- bugs that affect the corporate sales demo

- escalated bugs, often from larger customers, if someone has spent more money, it only makes sense that they have some pull. probably happens at your company too.

- bugs that affect the training materials

- general bugs that cannot be worked around

- general bugs that can be worked around

- data specific bugs (something is broken only for a given part)

- interface inconsistancies

- misspellings

- random minor imperfections

- bugs that I have submitted

- bugs that someone has decided are "features" (WI, mold tools, Toolbox, splines)

Volume (how many, not how loud) of reports has to play a large role, that's easy to measure. Severity of a bug (if it is not a crash) is a little more subjective. Some people think that the fact that a deform feature can't use a projected curve as a target curve (but you can convert it into a 3D sketch and it will work) is a serious bug, but most people will never care. So there are some judgment calls, obviously, and whenever that happens, someone is going to be disappointed.

There are also some political hotbuttons, such as the WI, which is being used for a reason which not even the cynics have come up with yet.

It doesn't work for this ng, and it never worked for me, so 2-3 years ago I changed my tactics. People eventually figure this out. Look what happened to the Cadsense Wishlist. Squeaky wheels abused the system, so the system lost all credibility.

as much as people say they don't like it, money does talk. Big companies or high profile customers have pull. If you work at Polaroid and go through the channels, you have a better chance of getting a PDMWorks drawing display hierarchy problem classified a bug than if you work at Joe's Garage (the white zone is for loading and unloading only).

no. if anything, that whining frequency is easy to tune out.

better VARs tend to not abuse their access, so it means something when they escalate an issue. Again, money talks.

The people who write the bug reports from customers and VARs are different from the people who prioritize, who are different from the people who actually fix. It's hard to avoid favoritism, but somebody like Ed Eaton has been valuable to SW in many ways, so he has access that others will never have. I'm sure you (Mike) could also fall into this category if you wanted to be there. But realize that SW even tells Ed "no" sometimes.

This is not for your benefit Mike, I'm sure you know all this already, but if people want to have more access, more pull or influence with SW, here are some things you can do to make a difference:

- Report bugs in a professional way, clearly stating the problem, how to reproduce it, work around it, pose possible solutions, etc. Include data when appropriate.

- Submit enhancement requests that are well thought out, not self- contradictory

- Be careful not to report user error issues as bugs. A couple of those, and you lose credibility fast

- Contribute positively to groups like this, the SW subscription group, local user groups, etc.

- Participate in Beta

- Ask your VAR to get you involved with an advisory board

- Go to the roundtable discussions at SW World. This is a great way to meet the real players at SW and have direct input.

Really, I think you could sum it up in two words: Professionalism and Competence. Display these, and you will be heard when you speak.

matt

i think (well, know) that you have "regression" and "serious" reversed.

Not necessarily so. I know they take regressions very seriously. For one thing regressions make for very bad PR, and serious bugs slightly less so. The first thing they read in the newsgroup when new SPs are released are complaints about regressions.

'Sporky'

Right-on Matt. Thanks for taking the time to make that list and post your thoughts. I realize you have some 'insider info' every once in a while which gives you more of an eagle-eye view of things.

Of course I've done just about everything on your list but for some reason I still feel something isn't right or that something is missing.

Do you know if the SolidWorks Forum has a section for "Handling of SPR's" or "Customer Service/Relation" or anything of that sort?

I find it interesting that the subject is either not publically available or missing alltogether. Isn't SolidWorks interested in discussing such an important topic?

Maybe we could move these conversations in there, where SolidWorks could have control over the 'censor' button and we could debate with actual SW employees.

I would sign an NDA if the info got too sensitive.

Regards, Mike

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"Mike J. Wilson" wrote in news:40171dee_1@127.0.0.1:

...

I don't know of anything specifically for that purpose on the SW Forum. You might want to talk to Greg J, I think his job is the customer relations bit.

matt

Thanks for the suggestion. I have created a Customer Experience group within the SolidWorks discussion forum and would invite your thoughts and comments.

Regards,

Greg Jankowski

SolidWorks

He's everywhere, he's everywhere!!! All of a sudden, out of the blue..... :-)

WT

i have one from SP0.0 which is STILL there.

--nick e.

You forgot the "how easy is it to fix" factor. Sometimes very serious bugs wait because they take too long to fix and easy stuff gets slotted in.

Jerry Steiger Tripod Data Systems

Joe,

Thanks for responding in the newsgroup. It's been a long time since we've heard from you. I hope we hear from you more often.

Others have already made my points, so I've got nothing to add except please listen to Bryan. Speed and stability are absolutely critical for almost all of us. Unlike Bryan, I use some of those new bells and whistles, but I would gladly give them up for more stability.

Jerry Steiger Tripod Data Systems