Bug Report 052404-A

(not to be confused with Bug Report 052404-B)

In or before May, 2004, AOL made a change to its server 
which caused failures in certain AOL-hosted web pages on the users.aol.com server. 
The change introduced a bug. 
This is a report of that bug. 

Forwarding Notice
 
This bug report is written in terms which your programmers will understand. 
Therefore, direct forwarding of this bug report to the America Online programming dept. is requested. 

Problem Type
 
Breakdown of advertised feature. 

Feature Affected -- Background
 
AOL provides its customers the ability to make web pages having fill-in forms. 
One of the features available in these forms is the "Required" list. 
(If you are not familiar with this feature, please see AOL's description of this feature at 
http://members.aol.com/wwwadmin/email/email.htm). 
The "Required" list lets the customer specify which input fields in the form are required; 
if a visitor to that page neglects to fill in any required field, AOL's server reminds the visitor 
to finish filling in the form. 

Feature Affected -- Specifics
 
The AOL server no longer gives informative error messages when required fields are left blank. 

History
 
I have used the "Required" list feature continuously since 1997. 
The breakdown occurred in several of my web pages simultaneously in 2004, 
even though I had not changed them. 
Therefore this rules out any possibility that the bug might be mine and not AOL's. 

Problem First Appeared: In May 2004, my customers began reporting that my fill-in forms were giving vague error messages. 
It was found that these vague error messages occur when required fields are left blank. 

Problem First Proven to Exist: May 24, 2004 

Date Reported to AOL: May 25, 2004 

Cause
 
One of AOL's programmers has broken a feature that has worked for years. 
Clearly the programmer made a change and then failed to make sure that the change didn't cause something else to break. 
Proper testing would have totally prevented this failure. 

Symptoms and Demonstration
 
The problem is easy to see and understand. 
When a required field is left blank, the AOL server gives the inappropriate and incorrect error message 

        "Sorry, we can't find that page." 

The server is supposed to give this error message (and did so, until recently): 

        "When you submitted the form, the following required fields lacked appropriate information:" 
(followed by a list of the input fields which the user left blank) 

The form below provides a hands-on demo. 

 
To see a demonstration of this bug, try this fill-in form. 
The form has two fields. Both fields are required; the AOL server is supposed to reject the form unless both fields are filled in. 
The problem appears when one or both fields are left blank. 

(Suggestion: Copy this HTML file and its accompanying .eml file to your own directory 
so that you receive an e-mail each time one of these forms succeeds.
You can still see the bugs even if you don't copy the files, 
but I will receive an e-mail each time you press Submit. 
And so long as my inbox doesn't fill up, that's not really a bad thing. 
Feel free to test it either way.)  

 
Demo 1: 

  Required field 1:  
  Required field 2:  
  
	
  



 

Closing Comments
 
This bug constitutes a reduction in the user experience and a reduction in AOL's level of quality. 
This problem is simple in nature and will not take more than an hour for your programmers to correct. 
Therefore, if this bug is not corrected by June 15, I will report it to AOL management. 


 

	Sincerely, 

	 (mr.) 
	Software Engineer and Tester (for hire) 
	Testing Pays! 
	http://users.aol.com/JEBrown800 
	Los Alamos, New Mexico  USA 

, BS Computer Science, has been a software engineer for over 20 years and an AOL user since 1996.



Caution
 
Note: As in every company, it's possible you'll delegate this bug report to a new employee. 
If you do, please keep an eye on his or her progress. 
New employees sometimes have little experience with customer support and service, 
and sometimes find it easier to blame the customer than to fully investigate the problem. 

Such behavior is unprofessional. 
My policy on unprofessional behavior is to report it to AOL management. 
So, if you delegate this bug report to a new employee, please see that he or she has adequate supervision. 

One month later, this breakdown has not been corrected.

Status: Unresolved + over 30 days delinquent

Issues:

• AOL ignored e-mail
• AOL ignored system malfunction

Concepts:

AOL complaints, AOL problems, AOL breakdowns, reviews of AOL, how AOL treats its customers

More at This Site

• Full list of my AOL bug reports (index)

Contact

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Los Alamos, NM USA