Forum Discussion

matthew_kerr's avatar
matthew_kerr
12 years ago

Adding materials to a review


Hi. I am reviewing CC and I figured what better way than to do a review of my project. We are using IBM Rational Synergy 7.2 and Eclipse. I have installed CC and the Eclipse plug-in.



Our typical process would be to create a baseline in Synergy, copy the baseline to a folder which is accessable by the reviewers, and run the review. We would then capture review comments in a spreadsheet and use the baseline as a means for identifying the objects under review. We would then actions the review comments. Finally, we would create diffs of the files so the reviewer can see if the comments have been actioned and close off the review.



I am currently trying to do the same process with CC. I have created a baseline in Synergy and copied this to the file system. I then create the review in CC and try to attach the folder to the review - and this is where I get stuck. The Web interface only allows me to add files. The GUI wants me to add tasks but if I skip this step, is also will not let me add a folder.I'm still not sure how to add materials from the GUI. How do I add a folder and its contents?



I had a quick look at the option to add incomplete tasks with the GUI. It has left me thinking that the work flow CC wants me to follow is review tasks before completing them. This might be a nice thing to do in the future, but for now, all I want to do is review a baseline. How should I go about doing this?



I anticipate that code development will progress (from the baseline) while the review is going on. Is there anything I should consider? Or when the review is complete, does the reviewer need to work out what changes are a result of the review, and what changes are due to other work?



Also, if we review from the web client, or even the Eclipse plugin, what is thee best way to navigate through the code? I assume I should use Eclipse and switch between the CC perspective and C++ perspective?



Also, can the code be updated as the review proceeds? Can the reviewer see these changes as they occur? Or can they only see propsed changes as identified in comments?


  • codyc's avatar
    codyc
    SmartBear Alumni (Retired)
    12 years ago
    Hi Matthew, 



    I apologize for the delay -- It seems the service we used to notify us of forum posts is now defunct.  We're working on remedying that.



    Also -- I have to admit that I'm not a Synergy guy, my SCM expertise is more with Git, SVN, and other free SCMs.  If I make a bad assumption about the terms you're using, please correct me.  :)  



    > We are using IBM Rational Synergy 7.2 and Eclipse. I have installed CC and the Eclipse plug-in.



    First, let me note that our Eclipse plugin does not currently support Synergy.      Our Synergy Integration is via our command line client, and our GUI client.  For the best experience, I'd recommend using one of those to attach your Synergy changes to reviews.  



    >     Our typical process would be to create a baseline in Synergy, copy the baseline to a folder which is accessable by the reviewers, and run the review.



    Hmm.  I'm a bit curious what you would be reviewing at this point.  If I understand correctly from     some quick reading, a baseline is like a release branch.  It's a snapshot of the current state of your project, onto which you are going to apply changes for bug fixes or new features.



    Code Collaborator isn't designed to review the entire state of a project.  Instead, developers add the set of *changes* they've made for a fix/feature for review. In Synergy's case, those changes are contained in tasks.  When a developer chooses a task to add (in the GUI Client, for example), the Code Collaborator client does all the work of determining which files the developer changed, and uploading the before/after versions of all of those files to the review.  



    > all I want to do is review a baseline. How should I go about doing this?



    Aha, you wanted to review the entire baseline. This is not something Code Collaborator really supports.  We believe that focusing reviews on lines of code that have been changed helps find defects much more effectively.



    >     I anticipate that code development will progress (from the baseline) while the review is going on. Is there anything I should consider? Or when the review is complete, does the reviewer need to work out what changes are a result of the review, and what changes are due to other work?




    By using the Code Collaborator GUI or CLI to add tasks to a review, we will be able to pick out which changes were made for each task.  Each task should get its own review so that the scope of the review will be limited to a particular fix or feature.  



    > Also, if we review from the web client, or even the Eclipse plugin, what is thee best way to navigate through the code? I assume I should use Eclipse and switch between the CC perspective and C++ perspective?



    It all depends on personal preference.  If your developers live in Eclipse and don't want to go to the web, they may prefer to perform reviews in the Eclipse plugin.  Personally, I prefer our web UI.



    As for navigating through the code -- typically it's nice if the author of the changes to leave a comment in the review saying something like "My new feature is implemented in NewFeature.cpp, but I had to change datamodel.h to expose some methods.".  Code Collaborator will even be handy and link those file names to the files in question.  



    But, even if your developer doesn't leave a helpful comment like that, since Code Collaborator only shows files and lines that have been changed, it should be simple enough for the reviewer to look at each file and find out where the changes are.  We DO recommend reviews be kept as small as possible, though.  If you can separate a big chunk of work out into several smaller tasks, your reviewers will be much happier (and better at finding defects)!.  




    > Also, can the code be updated as the review proceeds?



    Yes!  This is one of the major features of Code Collaborator.   You would use the same process as when you originally added the files to the review, but this time instead of choosing to create an existing review, you select the ongoing review (in the GUI) or provide the ongoing review ID (in the CLI). 



    > Can the reviewer see these changes as they occur?



    Yes they can.  The changes will be appended to the history of the files within the review.  Additionally, comments on old versions of the file will be "promoted" to new line locations in the new versions of the files. 



    If you have any followup questions, please don't hesitate to contact support at support@smartbear.com for a faster response.  We want to make sure your trial goes well!



    In the meantime, you may be interested in our CodeCollaborator 5 Minute Demo