Contact TobsCore: how to report an error and what happens next

The address

All messages go to [email protected]. The TobsCore editors read this mailbox as a team, and there is no personal address. Plain text works best: a log pasted into the message body is easier to search than an attachment.

What to include in an error report

A report that can be reproduced gets fixed fastest, and that takes five things:

1. The page address, and ideally the heading of the section.
2. The exact command or code you ran, copied, not retyped. If you changed a listing, say what you changed.
3. The complete output, including the first error message. Compilers and Git often print the useful line first and the summary last.
4. Your operating system and tool versions: the output of uname -a or cat /etc/os-release and of the tool's --version flag.
5. What you expected instead, if it is not obvious from the page.

A report in that shape fits on one screen:

Page:     https://tobscore.com/skript-fuer-die-vorlesung-informatik-i/
Section:  Comparing float values in C

Command:
$ gcc -std=c11 -Wall -Wextra compare.c -o compare
/usr/bin/ld: /tmp/ccFzgwI6.o: in function `nearly_equal':
compare.c:(.text+0x7d): undefined reference to `fmaxf'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status

System:   Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie), gcc (GCC) 14.4.0
Expected: the program to build as shown on the page.

This particular report describes a slip on the reader's side, not an error on the page. The page builds with -O2 and links with -lm, and the command above drops both. With -O2 alone, gcc 14 replaces the fmaxf call with inline code and the link succeeds, so the same file can build on one machine and fail on the next. Reports like this still get a short answer that points to the difference.

Which questions get an answer

Messages about published content are answered: a command that fails, an output that differs from what the page shows, a version where a default changed, a broken outbound link, or a statement that is simply wrong.

Messages that are not answered:

• debugging requests for private code that is unrelated to a listing on the site;
• homework, exam and assignment questions;
• requests to write code to order, review a project or recommend a hosting provider;
• offers of guest posts, sponsored content or link exchanges.

Suggestions for a topic no guide covers yet are read, and some turn into new pages, though they do not get an individual reply.

Corrections policy

A confirmed error is fixed on the page itself. The guide then shows a new "updated" date, and if the fix meant re-running the examples, the tested line names the versions used. Corrections are not announced separately, and reporters are not named on the page.

What happens to your message

Your address and your message serve one purpose, handling the report and replying to it. The privacy policy explains what is stored, why, when it is deleted and what you can ask to have removed.

If a report contains a log with hostnames, IP addresses or user names, consider replacing them with documentation values such as example.com or 203.0.113.10 before sending. Keep the shape of the log intact, though. An unusual path, for instance a toolchain installed under /opt, is often the very detail that explains the error, so mask names, not structure.