Traceability Matrix

A Traceability Matrix is a table of the completeness of a relationship by correlating any two baselined documents using a many-to-many relationship comparison.

• Context:
  • It can be used to track Software System Requirements, Test Cases, and other project artifacts.
  • It can help ensure that all requirements are tested and that test cases are not created unnecessarily.
  • It can help identify missing Software System Requirements or Test Cases.
  • It can be used to generate reports on the status of testing and requirements coverage.
  • ...
• See: Software Requirements Specification, Software Development, Baseline (Configuration Management), Requirement, High-Level Design, Test Plan, Test Case, Request For Proposal.

---

---

References

2023

• chat
  • A traceability matrix is a document that links requirements and test cases to determine test coverage. It is commonly used in software development to ensure that all requirements are tested and that test cases are not created unnecessarily. A traceability matrix can be created using a spreadsheet or other document management system.
  • Some of the characteristics of a traceability matrix include:
    • It can be used to track requirements, test cases, and other project artifacts.
    • It can help ensure that all requirements are tested and that test cases are not created unnecessarily.
    • It can help identify missing requirements or test cases.
    • It can be used to generate reports on the status of testing and requirements coverage.
  • Some related concepts include:
    • Requirements management: the process of documenting, analyzing, tracing, prioritizing, and agreeing on requirements and then controlling changes and communicating to relevant stakeholders.
    • Test management: the process of planning, executing, and controlling tests during software development.
    • Test coverage: a measure of the degree to which the requirements or objectives of a project have been tested.
    • Verification and validation: the process of checking that a product, service, or system meets requirements and specifications and that it fulfills its intended purpose.

2023

• (Wikipedia, 2023) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traceability_matrix Retrieved:2023-2-28.
  • In software development, a traceability matrix (TM) is a document, usually in the form of a table, used to assist in determining the completeness of a relationship by correlating any two baselined documents using a many-to-many relationship comparison.It is often used with high-level requirements (these often consist of marketing requirements) and detailed requirements of the product to the matching parts of high-level design, detailed design, test plan, and test cases.

    A requirements traceability matrix may be used to check if the current project requirements are being met, and to help in the creation of a request for proposal, software requirements specification, various deliverable documents, and project plan tasks. Common usage is to take the identifier for each of the items of one document and place them in the left column. The identifiers for the other document are placed across the top row. When an item in the left column is related to an item across the top, a mark is placed in the intersecting cell. The number of relationships are added up for each row and each column. This value indicates the mapping of the two items. Zero values indicate that no relationship exists. It must be determined if a relationship must be made. Large values imply that the relationship is too complex and should be simplified. To ease the creation of traceability matrices, it is advisable to add the relationships to the source documents for both backward and forward traceability. That way, when an item is changed in one baselined document, it is easy to see what needs to be changed in the other.

---