Sigasi Studio Talkback

Talkback is a Sigasi Studio service that automatically collects metadata about how Sigasi Studio is used and sends this metadata to Sigasi through a secured connection.

Sigasi Studio for Eclipse and the LSP server process of the Sigasi Studio for VS Code extension can be configured to use Talkback. The VS Code client part of our extension instead uses the telemetry setting. Veresta  and the Sigasi SDK  currently do not include Talkback functionality.

Why should I enable Talkback?

By enabling Talkback, you help us improve Sigasi Studio:

  • Talkback provides us with feature usage. This information helps us determine which features are valuable for you as Sigasi Studio user so we can adjust our product roadmap.
  • Talkback collects performance statistics that we can relate to the project sizes. Together with our in-house performance tests, this helps us keep the Sigasi Studio compiler and user interface fast.
  • Talkback helps us reduce software errors by collecting incident reports from various use cases.
  • The activation of Talkback is required to enable our free educational  and open-source  licenses.
  • Talkback is automatic and less cumbersome than feedback surveys.

The result is that you can use an always-improving Sigasi Studio.

What information does Talkback send?

Talkback and telemetry transmit meta-information about your project, operating system, Java Virtual Machine, tool usage, build performance, system statistics, license type, file system paths, and incident reports (stack traces) that occur due to software errors. We also collect MAC addresses, and IP addresses are visible when a client connects to the Talkback server. Talkback never transmits any HDL code, but it may send identifiers. All transmissions use industry-standard SSL secure connections.

We identify your Sigasi workspace using a generated identifier, specifically a standard Java universal unique identifier UUID .

Talkback stores all the information it transmits in a local log file so that you can inspect it. The data is human-readable in JSON format.

Eclipse

You can access the Talkback log in Eclipse - to verify what is being sent - by clicking Window > Preferences > Sigasi > Talkback > Talkback log.

Sigasi Studio rotates this log file every new session or when the log becomes too large.

VS Code

Talkback in VS Code only concerns the LSP server process. You can access the Talkback log - to verify what is being sent - through the Command Palette Sigasi: Open Talkback Log Folder command.

In the VS Code client extension, Sigasi Studio collects telemetry data when an error occurs within the extension itself. We use this data to fix bugs and help guide the direction of the product. Our telemetry transmission is aligned with the VS Code telemetry setting and can be tweaked using the VS Code setting: telemetry.telemetryLevel. Note that this VS Code setting is on by default.

For more information regarding telemetry, refer to the VS Code telemetry documentation .

How does Sigasi use this information?

Sigasi uses the information transmitted by Talkback for marketing and product planning and development. We use it to decide which features to develop and improve, find and fix bugs, and find and fix performance issues.

How do I enable or disable Talkback?

Talkback is always disabled by default. To enable Talkback - or disable it later - follow the steps below.

Eclipse

Click Window > Preferences > Sigasi > Talkback and (un)check the checkbox “Enable Talkback”.

VS Code

To enable or disable Talkback in VS Code, follow the steps below.

  • Open the Command Palette through Ctrl+Shift+P
  • Select Preferences: Open Settings (UI)
  • In the Setting tab, navigate to Extensions > Sigasi for VHDL & SystemVerilog > Enable Talkback
  • Check or uncheck the checkbox

Telemetry

The VS Code telemetry setting  is on by default. To enable or disable it, follow the steps below.

  • Open the Command Palette through Ctrl+Shift+P
  • Select Preferences: Open Settings (UI)
  • In the Setting tab, navigate to Application > Telemetry
  • Edit the value in the dropdown to suit your needs

What about my Firewall or Proxy?

Talkback uses the HTTPS protocol for data communication. If your firewall blocks outgoing SSL connections to our server, Talkback cannot send diagnostics. Your firewall should allow outgoing connections to https://talkback-sigasi.sigasi.com/ .

Talkback does not support Proxies. If Talkback cannot connect to our server directly because of your firewall or proxy server, you are required to purchase a commercial license .

Disabled telemetry features are against our corporate policy. What can I do?

Please send us an email so that we can discuss a solution for your company.