How to turn on detailed logging to see what NetBeans does behind the scenes?

To turn on the detailed logging, go to the Menu | Tools | Options | Miscellaneous | Ruby and check the Ruby IDE Logging checkbox(es). On Mac OS X this preference is found here NetBeans | Preferences | Miscellaneous | Ruby.

To view the log, go to Menu | View | IDE Log File. Often the content of this log is very helpful for the developers when tracking down a bug in the IDE.

When you are attaching a log file with detailed logging to the issue, it's best to follow these steps:

1. run the IDE with detailed logging turned on (see above)
2. reproduce the scenario which causes the issue you are encountering
3. after reproducing attach the log file to the issue. The log file is in the <nb-installation-dir>/var/log directory.