Compatibility

The traceability solution is available in Architect and Enterprise editions.


Our modeling tools support the traceability feature that allows you to track, visualize, navigate, and analyze the elements involved in the traceability relations. The traceability relations are used to relate the elements representing the same concept in different UML models at different levels of abstraction or from different viewpoints. Different levels of abstraction may contain, include, or even correspond to different stages of system development process (starting from requirements analysis and finishing with implementation). The higher level of abstraction (e.g., requirements analysis), contains models with specifying elements, and the lower level of abstraction (e.g., implementation) includes models with realizing ones. 

The traceability relations help to determine how your requirements or the other model artifacts are satisfied. As they may change, you can use traceability relations to monitor the impact of these changes.

Multiple types of custom and extended UML relationships (e.g., realization, abstraction), tags (e.g., Alternative Flow of Events Diagrams ), and properties (e.g., Owned Behavior ) are used to represent traceability relations between the specifying and realizing elements for showing traceability from requirements analysis to implementation and deployment models.

Relation Map and Dependency Matrix

You can visualize the traceability relations of your project in order to analyze them using the modeling tool's features, such as Relation Map (for the analysis of traces among multiple levels of abstraction) and Dependency Matrix (for the analysis of traces between any two levels of abstraction).

Element’s Specification window, Properties panel, Go To, and Notes

You may track and navigate the elements, that are directly or indirectly related to a specific element through the traceability properties that will be represented in a special property group of the element’s Specification window and Properties panel, or on the element’s shortcut menu under the Go To menu. The traceability properties can also be visualized on a diagram using the standard modeling tool mechanism for displaying property values in notes.

Traceability Report

A Traceability Report is particularly useful when there is a need to visualize and verify that requirement analysis, design, and implementation model elements are all covered in higher or lower levels of abstraction, for example, all use cases should be covered with design classes realizing them.


Model Sample

The model used in all the examples in this section is the Traceability sample model that comes with our modeling tool. To open this sample do one of the following:

  • On the Welcome screen, select Samples > Product Features > Traceability
  • Go to the folder <modeling tool installation directory>\samples\product features and open the Traceability.mdzip file.