Squashing a Bug

On Tuesday after class we decided to scan the VTK BugTracker again to select a different bug to work on.  After looking at all of the bugs (yes we looked at every open bug) we decided to work on "0010854: vtkSTLWriter should warn when input is not all written".


Basically, vtkSTLWriter only writes up to 3 points for each polygon, however, there is no limit to the number of points that can be input. This is how it is meant to function. The problem is that there is no alert to the user when not all of the input is being used. So, whenever the input exceeds 3 points, the user should be warned that the output does not reflect the input.

We then decided on a strategy for tackling the bug.

1. Locate the vtkSTLWriter code.
2. Incrementally count the number of points passed to the method in the points list.
3. Implement a conditional statement to check the number of points (whether or not it exceeds 3).
4. If True, display warning message via standard output to the user informing them that only the first 3 points were being used.

We also located the segment of code that handles vtkSTLWriter.  The fix should not be too difficult, and hopefully we will be able to have our submitted code approved by the revision committee.

Overall, this was a very productive meeting.