Please note : This help page is not for the latest version of Enterprise Architect. The latest help can be found here.
Traceability Tools
The model structure and a Traceability diagram act as starting points for tracing the definition, design and implementation of a feature of a system or process.
By applying tools such as the Relationship Matrix and Traceability window to these, you can follow threads throughout the model to determine how the feature is implemented and tested.
You can also obtain information on what elements realize and are realized by the elements in a given package, using the Dependency report and Implementation report, respectively.
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Traceability Window |
The Traceability window is a most useful and versatile traceability tool; starting with a Traceability diagram or a package structure in the Project Browser, you use the Traceability window to quickly explore the relationship chain of which any element is a component. When you click on an element, it immediately becomes the top point in the Traceability window. When you click on the background of a diagram, all elements in the diagram are listed in the Traceability window, and you can follow the threads starting at each element through the diagram. If you require a rapid, broad-brush view of relationship flows in the project structure, starting with a general list of - say - all functional Requirements, you can use a combination of Model Search, Project Browser and Traceability window; this is a powerful tool for scanning your project, identifying how elements have been organized, and how they interact. For example: the Model Search would list all the requirements; you could rapidly click on each element and immediately see in the Project Browser where it has been grouped, and at the same time - in the Traceability window - how that element interacts with other elements in the model. By moving the cursor around a diagram or the Project Browser, and/or changing the relationship type combinations in the Traceability window, you can quickly see how elements are connected and how they influence each other. For example, you can see that - say - REQ017 is realized by two Use Cases, so you might then explore what else influences and is influenced by these two Use Cases; the Traceability window takes you well beyond what is likely to be depicted on any single diagram. If you have used transformations to develop your model, the T icon displays the transformation dependencies that exist between an element in a PIM and elements in the PSMs.
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Relationship Matrix |
Using the Relationship Matrix, you can both create and study the relationships between, for example, the Requirements and Use Cases for a module. You might identify the 'theme' package (for example, Manage Users) in the Requirements model and in the Use Case model as the source and target packages, and explore the likely element and connector types in the packages; this, like the Traceability diagram, identifies which Requirements are (or should be) realized by which Use Cases. You can then perform similar checks with the Manage Users packages in, say, the Use Case and Implementation models. The Source and Target field browsers ( ... ) enable you to examine child packages within the 'theme' package, and obtain further detail on how the feature at this stage is defined.
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Relationships Window |
The Relationships Window shows a single level of relationships from the currently selected element. Each line corresponds to a single relationship and provides information about that relationship and the element at the other end of the relationship.
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Dependency Report |
The Dependency report provides a list of dependencies for all elements in the model.
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Implementation Report |
The Implementation report provides a list of all elements in the model that have to be implemented, and the elements that implement them.
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