Triaging defects

This page describes how to review the defects reported by an analysis, decide which ones require action, and assign them to developers.

For the meaning of each figure and column mentioned here, see Defect Dashboard and Defect List.

These procedures use Visual Expert Web. For what differs in Visual Expert Desktop, see Defect & Task Management in Visual Expert Desktop.

On this page

• See the state of the application after an analysis
• Find the defects added since the last analysis
• Open the defects behind a dashboard figure
• Narrow a defect list
• Find the defects of an object from its documentation page
• Manage defects from a list
• Assign a defect to a developer
• Record a false positive, an accepted risk, or put a defect on hold
• Change the severity of a defect
• Act on several defects at once

See the state of the application after an analysis

• Click the Code Inspection tab (A). The dashboard opens on the results of the most recent analysis.
• Check the analysis date at the top right (B), so you know which run you are looking at.
• Read the counters (C): Active Defects for the total still to deal with, Critical & Major for what usually comes first.
• Read the line under a counter, where there is one, to see what changed since the previous analysis.

The dashboard always describes the latest analysis. It is not recalculated for an earlier one.

Find the defects added since the last analysis

New Defects counts the defects detected for the first time by the current analysis. Critical & Major, Bugs and Vulnerabilities each display their own count of new defects below the total.

• Click New Defects. The defect list opens, limited to the defects detected for the first time by this analysis.
• Click the Severity column header to sort the list and decide what to look at first.

Open the defects behind a dashboard figure

Every figure on the dashboard is a way into the list.

• Click a counter, a chart segment or a table cell. The defect list opens with the matching filter applied. The filters currently applied are listed at the bottom left of the list.

Narrow a defect list

• In the filter row under the column headers, open the filter of the column you want to use.
• Select the values to keep, or type a search term. The list updates immediately.

• Repeat on other columns to combine criteria, for example a rule and a severity.
• Click Clear Filters (B) in the toolbar. The complete list is shown again.

To choose the columns to display, click the column chooser icon (A) in the toolbar. Clear the columns you do not need.

Click Refresh (C) to reload the list.

Find the defects of an object from its documentation page

In the Documentation tab, the page of an object lists the code rules it breaks. From there, you can open the defects of each rule.

• In the Documentation tab, open an object, such as a window, a function or a procedure.

• In the On this page panel on the right, click Code Inspections (A).

The Code Inspections section lists the rules that the object breaks. For each rule, it shows the Category, the Severity and the Nb of Issues.

• Click Review Defects (B) on a rule. The defect list opens, filtered on that rule.

The list is filtered on the rule, not on the object. It shows every container where the rule is broken, including the object you came from.

Manage defects from a list

The three procedures below – assignment, status and severity – start from the defect list. Status and severity can also be changed from the defect details.

Select a defect with the checkbox at the left of the row (A). The action bar appears at the bottom of the list (B). With one defect selected, the bar offers Assign, Status and Severity. With several, it offers Status and Severity only.

Assign a defect to a developer

Assigning a defect creates a task. You can assign only one defect at a time.

• In the defect list, select a defect with the checkbox at the left of the row.
• Click Assign in the action bar. The Assign Defect window opens.
• Check the prefilled values. The task name is the defect ID followed by the rule title. The description and the priority come from the rule. You are the reporter.
• If the assignee needs instructions rather than the rule text, replace the description.
• Select the assignee and the due date. The due date is prefilled seven days ahead.
• Click Create Task.

For each field of this window, see Task Details.

The defect now shows the assignee. The Assign Defect button becomes View Task. The task is also listed in the Tasks tab.

Record a false positive, an accepted risk, or put a defect on hold

Not all defects need to be fixed. Recording the decision removes the defect from the Active Defects list. The reason stays on record.

From the defect list:

• Select the defect with its checkbox.
• Click Status in the action bar. The Change Defect Status window opens.
• In New Status, select one of these:
  • False Positive if the rule does not apply here
  • Risk Accepted if the team knows and accepts the consequence
  • On Hold if the decision is only postponed

• In the Comment field, enter the reason for the decision.
• Click Update.

From the defect details, select the new value in the Status dropdown. The Change Defect Status window does not open.

The defect leaves the Active Defects list. Its history is kept. The decision appears in Recent Activity.

Change the severity of a defect

The severity comes from the rule. Change it when the rule default does not reflect what this defect means for your application.

From the defect list:

• Select the defect with its checkbox.
• Click Severity in the action bar. The Change Defect Severity window opens.
• In New Severity, select the new level.

• If the change needs explaining, enter a comment.
• Click Update.

From the defect details, select the new level in the Severity dropdown. The Change Defect Severity window does not open.

Act on several defects at once

You can change the status or the severity of several defects at once. Assignment is one defect at a time.

• Filter the list so that it holds only the defects you want to treat the same way.
• Select them with the checkboxes (A). The action bar appears at the bottom of the list (B). It shows how many defects are selected.

• Click Status or Severity. The same window opens as for one defect. The change applies to all the selected defects.
• Click on the action bar to clear the selection.