Artifact Traceability using XML Chris Baker Artifact Traceability using XML 4/23/2010

Agenda Traceability Problem Proposed Solution Benefits Evolutionary Possibilities Questions 4/23/2010 Chris Baker

Traceability Meriam-Webster definition: “to discover by going backward over the evidence step by step” Generally applies to requirements 4/23/2010 Chris Baker

Problem Implicit artifact dependencies Potential for miscommunication Ripple effect of small changes Review cost to verify consistency 4/23/2010 Chris Baker

Problem - OCD Example 4/23/2010 Chris Baker

Proposed Solution Artifact Represented in XML “Mirror” of Table of Contents/Figures/etc - Artifact Traceability Using XML 4/23/2010 Chris Baker

Why XML? Well known standard representing data Large tool support and community Human readable format Versions may be compared 4/23/2010 Chris Baker

Mechanisms ICM artifact/XML templates provided Project tailors XML files to fit artifacts Ideally through a GUI Change communication among team 4/23/2010 Chris Baker

Benefits Artifact authors better see change impacts Reviewer can better focus time Better package consistency Students better visualize the ICM Aids in research 4/23/2010 Chris Baker

Evolutionary Possibilities Embed artifact links with XLink (or similar) Not just for documents Tags within source code XML representation of UML model Dynamic generation from an artifact Graphical representation of dependencies Generated UML diagram or hierarchy 4/23/2010 Chris Baker

References Maletic, J. I., Collard, M. L., and Simoes, B. 2005. An XML based approach to support the evolution of model-to-model traceability links. In Proceedings of the 3rd international Workshop on Traceability in Emerging Forms of Software Engineering (Long Beach, California, November 08 - 08, 2005). TEFSE '05. ACM, New York, NY, 67-72. Rönnau, S., Scheffczyk, J., and Borghoff, U. M. 2005. Towards XML version control of office documents. In Proceedings of the 2005 ACM Symposium on Document Engineering (Bristol, United Kingdom, November 02 - 04, 2005). DocEng '05. ACM, New York, NY, 10-19. Meriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/traceability, April 21, 2010 University of Southern California, Center for Software and Systems Engineering. Incremental Commitment Model - Software: Electronic Process Guide. 2010. 21April 2010 <http://greenbay.usc.edu/IICMSw/index.htm>. University of Southern California, Center for Software and Systems Engineering Redevelopment Commitment Review Package Evaluation. 08 March 2010. 30 March 2010 <http://greenbay.usc.edu/csci577/spring2010/site/assignments/IIVV/Evaluation_of_RDCP.rar>. DeRose, S., Maler, E., and Orchard, D. XML Linking Language (XLink) Version 1.0, W3C Recommendation 27 June 2001. 18 April 2010 http://www.w3.org/TR/xlink/ 4/23/2010 Chris Baker

Questions? 4/23/2010 Chris Baker