NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Testing, Requirements, and MetricsThe criticality of correct, complete, testable requirements is a fundamental tenet of software engineering. Also critical is complete requirements based testing of the final product. Modern tools for managing requirements allow new metrics to be used in support of both of these critical processes. Using these tools, potential problems with the quality of the requirements and the test plan can be identified early in the life cycle. Some of these quality factors include: ambiguous or incomplete requirements, poorly designed requirements databases, excessive or insufficient test cases, and incomplete linkage of tests to requirements. This paper discusses how metrics can be used to evaluate the quality of the requirements and test to avoid problems later. Requirements management and requirements based testing have always been critical in the implementation of high quality software systems. Recently, automated tools have become available to support requirements management. At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), automated requirements management tools are being used on several large projects. The use of these tools opens the door to innovative uses of metrics in characterizing test plan quality and assessing overall testing risks. In support of these projects, the Software Assurance Technology Center (SATC) is working to develop and apply a metrics program that utilizes the information now available through the application of requirements management tools. Metrics based on this information provides real-time insight into the testing of requirements and these metrics assist the Project Quality Office in its testing oversight role. This paper discusses three facets of the SATC's efforts to evaluate the quality of the requirements and test plan early in the life cycle, thus preventing costly errors and time delays later.
Document ID
19990095055
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Rosenberg, Linda
(Unisys Corp. Greenbelt, MD United States)
Hyatt, Larry
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Hammer, Theodore F.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Huffman, Lenore
(Unisys Corp. Greenbelt, MD United States)
Wilson, William
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1998
Subject Category
Computer Programming And Software
Meeting Information
Meeting: Pacific Northwest Software Quality
Location: Portland, OR
Country: United States
Start Date: October 12, 1998
End Date: October 15, 1998
Funding Number(s)
PROJECT: RTOP 323-08-03
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
No Preview Available