Question : Change Management for incoming code - adding comments

I am getting code from a programmer who doesn't always comment or structure his code in a manner that makes it straightforward to maintain.  We cannot change this situation and are trying to introduce an approach to maintaining this code  by adding comments and structure after the code is delivered to us.  The code runs when we get it, but it is not easy to change or understand.   We are working with MS Visual Studio.

I need an automated process and methodology to compare  and change control 3 entities:

1.  The original code
2. Changes made by the developer
3. The commented and structured code

I am looking for a recommended approach to take incoming new code (#2 above), show me the differences between that and the original (#1 above) and help me determine where to manually change the code in the commented version (#3 above)

Any assistance appreciated.

Answer : Change Management for incoming code - adding comments

The simplest approach is to use a diff program, like WinDiff, to examine the differences between the code, but that is not very robust, and is strictly a manual process.  I use Team Foundation Server for full life-cycle software management, including diff, change tracking (work items), bug tracking, documentation, etc.  It now comes with Visual Studio.NET 2010 Ultimate Edition in an MSDN subscription.  Another possibility would be Microsoft's Visual Source Safe, which comes free with Visual Studio. It comes with a diff module that can visually show you the differences between two versions of the same file.  Like WinDiff, it is a manual process.

There are candidates for pay change management solutions, but they may be overkill for you (IBM Rational, Numara, Elsinore, Seapine, ...).  I don't have any experience with any open source software, but a Google search might provide some possibilities.  It would take time to evaluate each of these, to see if they give you too much, or not enough.