Skip to main content
Book cover

Software and Systems Traceability pp 3–22Cite as

Traceability Fundamentals

Abstract

This chapter seeks to provide a reference resource on traceability fundamentals. It defines the essential traceability terminology of trace, trace artifact, trace link, traceability and tracing, and is supplemented by an extensive glossary that has been developed and endorsed by members of the traceability community. This chapter also offers a model of a generic traceability process and describes the essential activities involved in the life cycle of a trace. This model has been used as a frame of reference for articulating the grand challenge of traceability, as reported in the chapter by Gotel et al. of this book. The chapter also describes the basic types of traceability and explains a number of key associated concepts.

Keywords

  • Trace Link
  • Traceability Solution
  • Link Semantic
  • Trace Relation
  • System Development Process

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4471-2239-5_1
  • Chapter length: 20 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-1-4471-2239-5
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Softcover Book
USD   199.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Hardcover Book
USD   199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Learn about institutional subscriptions
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Notes

  1. 1.

    Section 3 of this chapter includes reproduced material from Center of Excellence for Software Traceability Technical Report #CoEST-2011-001, with permission. Please direct any feedback on this material via the CoEST website (http://www.coest.org).

  2. 2.

    Version 1.0 of the traceability glossary is provided as an appendix to this book and the latest version of the glossary is maintained at http://www.coest.org. Please note that all glossary terms are defined using U.S. English.

References

  • Aizenbud-Reshef, N., Nolan, B.T., Rubin, J., Shaham-Gafni, Y.: Model traceability. IBM Syst. J. 45(3), 515–526 (2006, July)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Boehm, B.W.: Software engineering. IEEE Trans. Comput. c-25(12), 1226–1241 (1976, December)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Cleland-Huang, J., Settimi, R., Romanova, E., Berenbach, B., Clark, S.: Best practices for automated traceability. IEEE Comput. 40(6), 27–35 (2007, June)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Dorfman, M., Flynn, R.F.: ARTS – An automated requirements traceability system. J. Syst. Softw. 4(1), 63–74 (1984, April)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Dorfman, M., Thayer, R.H.: Standards, Guidelines, and Examples on System and Software Requirements Engineering: IEEE Computer Society Press Tutorial. IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos, CA (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  • Galvao, I., Goknil, A.: Survey of traceability approaches in model-driven engineering. In: Proceedings of the 11th IEEE International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference, Annapolis, MD, USA, 15–19 Oct, 2007, pp. 313–324.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gotel, O., Finkelstein, A.: An analysis of the requirements traceability problem. In: Proceedings of the 1st IEEE International Conference on Requirements Engineering, Colorado Springs, CO, USA, 18–22 Apr, 1994, pp. 94–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huffman Hayes, J., Dekhtyar, A., Sundaram, S.: Advancing candidate link generation for requirements tracing: The study of methods. IEEE Trans. Softw. Eng. 32(1), pp. 4–19 (2006, January)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Lindvall, M., Sandahl, K.: Practical implications of traceability. Softw. Pract. Exp. 26(10), 1161–1180 (1996, October)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Mäder, P., Gotel, O., Philippow, I.: Getting back to basics: Promoting the use of a traceability information model in practice. In: Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Traceability in Emerging Forms of Software Engineering, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 18 May, 2009a.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mäder, P., Gotel, O., Philippow, I.: Motivation matters in the traceability trenches. In: Proceedings of 17th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference, Atlanta, GA, USA, 31 Aug–4 Sept, 2009b, pp. 143–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naur, P., Randell, B. (eds.): Software engineering: Report of a conference sponsored by the NATO Science Committee, Garmisch, Germany, 7–11 October 1968, Brussels, Scientific Affairs Division, NATO (Published 1969)

    Google Scholar 

  • The Oxford English Dictionary: Online Version, Oxford University Press, Oxford. http://www.oed.com. Accessed on January 2007

  • Pierce, R.: A requirements tracing tool. ACM SIGSOFT Softw. Eng. Notes. 3(5), pp. 53–60 (1978, November)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Ramesh, B., Edwards, M.: Issues in the development of a requirements traceability model. In: Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Requirements Engineering, San Diego, CA, USA, 4–6 Jan 1993, pp. 256–259.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramesh B., Jarke M.: Towards reference models for requirements traceability. IEEE Trans. Softw. Eng. 27(1), 58–93 (2001, January)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Randell, B.: Towards a methodology of computing system design. In: Naur, P., Randell, B. (eds.) NATO Software Engineering Conference, 1968, Report on a Conference Sponsored by the NATO Science Committee, Garmisch, Germany, pp. 204–208 (7–11 October 1968). Brussels, Scientific Affairs Division, NATO (Published 1969)

    Google Scholar 

  • Winkler, S., von Pilgrim, J.: A survey of traceability in requirements engineering and model-driven development. Softw. Syst. Model. 9(4), pp. 529–565 (2010, September). Springer (Published on line December 22, 2009)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. New York, NY, 10014, USA

    Orlena Gotel

  2. DePaul University, School of Computing, 60604, Chicago, USA

    Jane Cleland-Huang

  3. University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    Jane Huffman Hayes

  4. School of Informatics, City University London, London, UK

    Andrea Zisman

  5. Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria

    Alexander Egyed

  6. Systems Engineering and Automation, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria

    Paul Grünbacher

  7. California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA

    Alex Dekhtyar

  8. École Polytechnique de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Giuliano Antoniol

  9. Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA

    Jonathan Maletic

  10. Institute for Systems Engineering and Automation (SEA), Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria

    Patrick Mäder

Authors
  1. Orlena Gotel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jane Cleland-Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jane Huffman Hayes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Andrea Zisman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Alexander Egyed
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Paul Grünbacher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Alex Dekhtyar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Giuliano Antoniol
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Jonathan Maletic
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Patrick Mäder
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Orlena Gotel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , School of Computing, DePaul University, 1 East Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, 60604, USA

    Jane Cleland-Huang

  2. 720 Greenwich Street, New York, 10014, USA

    Orlena Gotel

  3. , School of Informatics, City University, London, EC1V 0HB, United Kingdom

    Andrea Zisman

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer-Verlag London Limited

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Gotel, O. et al. (2012). Traceability Fundamentals. In: Cleland-Huang, J., Gotel, O., Zisman, A. (eds) Software and Systems Traceability. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2239-5_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2239-5_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-2238-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-2239-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)