DevNotes_HelpDesk

Manning the Help Desk

On average, [email protected] receives a new query about every 10 days. But note that we have also started to see a handful of Users posting queries as GitHub issues, so do keep an eye on the repos too!

Some queries will be trivial to answer. Others may require some back-and-forth with the User to ascertain what the actual problem is (ie, it might not be what the User says/thinks)!

We have historically tried to be responsive to queries, and have been lauded in public for this. So be assured that the help we offer is appreciated!

In general, Users will be only too glad to work with you; after all, they want a resolution. But note that commercial Users may be a little more circumspect or reticent to send files for understandable reasons.

Current Roster

Month	Primary	Secondary
December, 2024	Steve King	Paul Butler
January, 2025	Paul Butler	Jeff Krzywon
February, 2025	Jeff Krzywon	Miguel Gonzalez
March, 2025	Miguel Gonzalez	TBD

What to do

Queries tend to fall into two camps: either SasView is not installing/starting/running or generally not doing what the User thinks it should be, or the User is really pushing the envelope and wants to know how to do something 'advanced'.

If SasView is not installing/starting/running then you will need to try and extract as much information as possible from the User. For example (not every question will be relevant in every circumstance):

• which specific version of SasView are they attempting to use?
  • version number?
  • is it a release or an alpha/beta?
• running on what platform?
  • if it is a Mac, is it Apple silicon (M1/2/3 processors) or Intel architecture?
• using which operating system?
  • this has become more of an issue for Macs running older OS's which then don't support newer dependencies in SasView
  • whilst it can then be tempting to encourage a Mac owner to upgrade their OS, remember that a whole bunch of their other apps may then need upgrading or just stop working!
• how much memory is in the computer?
  • less of an issue these days, but sometimes a User is unaware how big their data is when it's imported!
• is it an institutional computer or the Users own?
  • increasingly institutionally-provided computers have more and more restrictive policies applied to them
  • if it is an institutional computer, do they have access to a non-institutional computer that they can try installing/running SasView on?

If SasView is not behaving as the User expects, ask them:

• if they are using a Mac, did they remember to install the Xcode tools?
  • https://www.sasview.org/faq/#do-i-need-to-install-python-or-c-or-any-compilers-before-i-install-sasview
• what, specifically, were they doing when they encountered the problem?
• is it reproducible?
  • if it is, try and elicit step-by-step instructions, screenshots, Powerpoints, even movies of the sequencing!
• has what they are doing worked in the past?
  • in the same version of SasView or a previous version of SasView?
  • with the same dataset, or a different dataset?
• is there any information in the Log Explorer or sasview.log?
  • if the answer to this is 'no', try getting them to invoke SasView from a command terminal rather than clicking on the icon
• are they trying to use a GPU?
  • do they have one?!
  • is it OpenCL compatible?
  • are they using the latest drivers?
  • did they run the GPU tests? did they pass?
  • have they previously set SAS_OPENCL='None'?

Try replicating what the User was doing yourself.

And then based on the information you have obtained and your own experience either, offer a solution, or a suggestion (either to provide a workaround or to elucidate another clue), or ask the other members of the Developer Community for help! The latter is probably more likely with the 'advanced' queries.

Another source of advice is the FAQ, although some of it needs updating.

But remember, YOU are not expected to know the answer to every query!

IMPORTANT: If the User really has found a bug, and they do, don't forget to write a GitHub issue for it and to label it 'Defect'!

Lastly, always cc: [email protected] on your replies to the User so that the conversation thread gets updated and others can chip in with advice.

Other Suggestions

• Consider creating and using a SasView-specific mail signature when replying to Help requests. For example:

  <your name>

  On behalf of the Development Team

  SasView is a not-for-profit collaboration. If you would like to get involved, please visit https://www.sasview.org/contribute/ 

• Create a rule on your email Inbox that sends traffic from [email protected] & [email protected] to a 'SasView Queries' folder; that way you will be able to search the folder for solutions in the future!