Windows Developer Power Tools

10.7 Analyzing Code Coverage with NCoverExplorer

NCover, Peter Waldschmidt’s handy code-coverage tool, is great for generating metrics on which parts of your code base are checked by your unit tests. However, its output is a plain XML file (Coverage.xml), which isn’t the most useful format. To get the most out of NCover’s output, you need to relate it interactively to the source code. NCoverExplorer, written by Grant Drake of Kiwi Development Ltd., offers several GUI and console-based tools for navigating through and reporting the coverage results. NCoverExplorer allows developers to visualize the source code with visited and unvisited lines highlighted, and it includes the ability to sort, filter, merge, and report on the results.

To integrate seamlessly with Visual Studio, this tool is frequently used with TestDriven.NET (discussed in the next article). Using that tool’s Test With → Coverage feature launches NCoverExplorer automatically to display code-coverage results for the selected unit tests. A console version is also available; that version can be integrated into your CruiseControl.NET continuous build cycle via NAnt and MSBuild tasks for lightweight summarized coverage reports.

NCoverExplorer at a Glance
Tool	NCoverExplorer
Version covered	1.3.4
Home page	http://www.ncoverexplorer.org
Power Tools page	http://www.windevpowertools.com/tools/33
Summary	GUI tool for viewing, sorting, and ...