Gathering support information in API Designer

When you report an issue with the API Designer application, enable debug mode and provide as much information as possible.

To report an issue with API Designer, enable debug mode, collect the recommended information, and submit it with your report. Including the information will help IBM resolve the problem more quickly.

Enabling debug mode on Mac

Start API Designer with debug mode enabled:

  1. Start a terminal or command prompt.
  2. Navigate to the directory where API Designer is installed.
  3. Run the following command to start API Designer in debug mode:
    DESIGNER_DEBUG=true open API/Designer.app/

    If you add DESIGNER_DEBUG=true to your .bash_profile, then every time you start API Designer it will open in debug mode.

Enabling debug mode on Windows

Add a Windows environment variable that enables debug mode for API Designer:

  1. Type "Environment" in the Windows search bar (on the task bar) and select Edit environment variables for your account.
  2. In the Environment Variables dialog box, click New in the "User variables" section.
  3. In the New User Variable dialog box, add the following variable settings and then click OK:

    - Variable name: DESIGNER_DEBUG

    - Variable value: True

  4. Click OK to save your change.

Enabling debug mode on Linux

To start API Designer with debug mode enabled, add the following command to your .bash_profile:

EXPORT DESIGNER_DEBUG=true

Information to gather for support

Gather the following information about your problem and include it with your report.

  • Operating system where you are running API Designer (Mac, Windows, or Linux)
  • Product versions for API Designer and the API Manager that is connects to:
    1. Open API Designer.
    2. Click the Help icon Question mark inside a circle on the navigation bar.
      The Help icon is on the banner
    3. On the Help page, click the Product information tile.
    4. On the Product information page, note down the following values for the following labels on the page:
      • Connected to API Manager Product version
      • Package
  • HAR file

    The HAR file contains the information about your browser's interaction with the web, and can be helpful in determining why your problem is happening. Complete the following steps to export the HAR file from the browser where you use API Designer:

    1. Open API Designer.
    2. Open the browser's developer console; for example in Google Chrome, click Customize and control Google Chrome > More tools > Developer tools.
    3. In the developer console, click the Network tab.
    4. Click Download HAR file to download the HAR file.
  • Are you using API Designer in Online mode or Offline mode?

    If you're using Online mode, are you connecting to a local test environment, or to an API Manager server?

  • When does the problem happen?

    Provide reproducible steps with optional screen captures or video so the support team can recreate the problem.

  • Supporting data.

    Provide any related data that would be useful while examining the problem; for example, a copy of the API or Product that you were using.

  • How often does the problem happen?

    Is the problem intermittent? Does it happen constantly? Does it only happen with certain artifacts (for example, only with a particular API)? If the problem is associated with an artifact, try to include it with your report.