In this section:

Overview

The Change Explorer provides an interface for understanding the code changes and how they affect the application under development. You can access the Change Explorer by clicking on the Files - Changed widget or by clicking on a link in the Reviews Report or Review Findings Report.

The Change Explorer is divided into six panels:

1. Search panel; see Using the Search Panel.
2. Search results table; see Viewing Search Results.
3. Baseline panel; see Viewing Diffs.
4. Changed panel; see Viewing Diffs.
5. Summary panel; see Viewing Summary Information.
6. Reviews and Violations panel; see Reviewing Findings.

Using the Search Panel

The Change Explorer shows data according to the filter, baseline build, and target build specified in the widget you clicked to open the explorer. You can easily change the search scope to view specific information.

1. Click Change Search to open the Search Options overlay.
   
   You can perform the following actions:

1. • Change the filter: Choose a new filter from the drop-down menu (see Creating and Managing Filters for additional information).
   • Specify the baseline build: Choose a baseline build from the drop-down menu. A baseline build is a snapshot of the code at a previous state.
   • Specify the target build: Choose a target build from the drop-down menu. The target build contains the updated files as compared to the baseline build.
   • Specify the review ID: Choose a review ID from the drop-down menu to show information associated with a specific review. Reviews are tied to the specific comparison of baseline and target builds. For example, if you add a review when viewing changes from baseline build A and target build B, a review ID is generated. If you compare build A with target build C, the ID will not be available as a search criterion. 
   • Specify the scope of files: Click the Include File Pattern Exclude File Pattern option and specify file paths to refine the scope of the search. Ant-style patterns are supported.
     
2. Click Search when your search parameters are set to load the results in the search results panel.

Viewing Search Results

The search results panel returns the files within the scope of the search organized by module. Results are color-coded to indicate coverage. Green file names are files that were added since the baseline build. Red file names are files that have been removed since the baseline build.

Results are also flagged with icons to highlight important changes, such as new or fixed static analysis violations.

Click on a file to view the differences between the files in the baseline build and target build panels (see Reviewing Changes).

The following image explains icons used in the Change Explorer. Static analysis violation icons associated with the comparison are defined in the Violations Summary tab in the Summary panel. Also see Viewing Summary Information. 

You can filter files in the explorer to make browsing the research results simpler. Click the filter icon to view the filtering options.

Choose your options and click OK to apply the filter(s) or click Cancel to close the menu without filtering. Click Clear to remove all applied filters.  

Reviewing Changes

You can review and annotate code changes in the margins of the baseline and target build panels. Differences between the versions of the file are highlighted. See Reviewing Findings for additional information.

Click in the margin of the source code viewer to add findings, which are inline comments associated with the specific change from the specified baseline and target build. An icon will be appear in the margin if a finding already exists. You can click on the icon to view the finding. 

An icon will also appear in the margin if the file contains static analysis violations. You can click on this icon to view details about the violation. Click on the Violation ID link to view it in the Violations Explorer. 

Viewing Summary Information

You can view information about file changes between the baseline build and the target build in the Summary panel.

Click on the Violations Summary tab for an overview of the static analysis violation changes from the baseline build to the target build.

Reviewing Findings

The Reviews panel is an interface for reviewing code changes and adding findings. Reviews are associated with a specific combination of filter ID, baseline build, and target build (see Using the Search Panel). Findings are individual annotations associated with a review. 

If a review exists, click the Review Findings tab in the Reviews panel to see a list of findings. The Review Findings tab shows the following information:

Click on an entry in the table to view the finding in either the baseline or target build source code panel.

Click the Source History tab to view the following source control information for selected file:

Revisions are grouped by build and marked as Target or Baseline.

Click the Violations tab to view static analysis violation details.

Click on the Violation ID to view it in the Violations Explorer.

Adding Reviews

If there are no reviews associated with the search parameters, you must create one before annotating the code with findings.

1. Click the link to create a review:
      
2. A review name and assignee are required. Comments, status, and severity are optional.
3. Click Apply to save the review.  

Adding Review Findings

You can attach findings to the code within the context of reviewing changes. 

1. Click in the margin of either the Baselined or Changed code panel to open the new finding dialog.
   
2. Enter your comment and an assignee. Status and priority are optional.
3. Click Apply to save the finding or Cancel to close the dialog without saving.

Existing findings are marked with a chat bubble icon. You can click on an existing finding to add additional comments or change the status, priority, or assignee in the Prioritization tab. 

Click the Metadata tab to attach additional information to the finding. You can set the severity, assign an action, and add other information to help you address the finding.