Previously I had downloaded Code Reviewer from SmartBear. I got an email wondering if I tested out the software. So I decided to give it another run after having put the software to the side for a while.In my mind, I created a typical scenario of code peer review at my work. Adline has some code changes. She creates a review, indicating the files of interest. Natalie then does a review of the changes listing 4 defects. Adline concurs with 3 of the 4 defects, but decides to override the 4th.
I fired up the browser based version of Code Reviewer. From past experience, I knew Adline had to Apply the changes creating the review, then Attach Files. When Natalie logged in to do the review, the review was nowhere to be found. It took a while for me to figure out that Adline had to also Begin the review. When it came time for Adline to accept the 3 defects but override the 4th, I found that only Natalie could do that. The author does not seem to have that capability in Code Reviewer. Also, Natalie had two options: (1) delete the 4th defect, or (2) accept the 4th defect as fixed. Neither of these seemed to match the reality.
The Code Reviewer software is an interesting package. I suspect some of its power involves integration with source code control systems. And although I did investigate that aspect, perhaps I will write about that another day. For now I think that this product has a flow which does not match the process my team has in mind for a light peer review process.
