OpenFastTrace Terminology

A

Artifact

A source or container for specification items (e.g., file, database).

Artifact Type

Classification of an artifact’s role in the trace hierarchy (e.g., feat, req, dsn).

C

Coverage

Relationship between a specification item and the items that detail, implement, or verify it.

Coverage Link

A directed relationship between a requester and a provider of coverage.

Coverage Provider

A specification item that fulfills a coverage requirement of another item.

Coverage Requester

A specification item that explicitly demands coverage by specific artifact types.

D

Deep Coverage

Full coverage of a specification item including all its transitive providers down to terminating specification items.

Direct Defect

Coverage gap or error directly related to a specification item itself, such as missing, outdated, predated, or unwanted coverage.

F

Forwarding

Shorthand for delegating coverage responsibility to other artifact types without adding new design decisions.

Full Coverage

Condition where all required coverage links are present and valid for a given scope.

I

Informative Passage

Content in a specification document that provides context without containing specification items.

N

Normative Passage

Content that defines specification items or coverage links.

O

OpenFastTrace

The requirement tracing tool suite.

OFT

See OpenFastTrace

Overcovered

A condition where a specification item has more coverage links than required.

R

Rationale

Optional part of a specification item explaining the reasoning behind a requirement.

ReqM2

A legacy requirement tracing format supported for import.

S

Specification Artifact

See Artifact

Specification Item

The atomic unit of a specification, representing a requirement, design decision, or coverage marker.

Specification Item ID

Unique identifier of a specification item, consisting of artifact type, name, and revision.

Specification Item Name

The unique name part of a specification item ID.

Specification Item Revision

Number in the specification item ID used to invalidate coverage when an item’s meaning changes.

SRS

See System Requirement Specification

Status

Defines the maturity level of a specification item: draft, proposed, approved or rejected .

System Requirement Specification

A document describing the requirements of a system.

T

Tag

Label for categorizing specification items, used for filtering or work distribution.

Terminating Specification Item

A specification item that does not require further coverage (e.g., code, tests).

Transitive Defect

Coverage gap caused by an undercovered provider in the trace chain.

U

Undercovered

A condition where one or more required coverage links for a specification item are missing.