Requirements Traceability
The ability to link and track requirements through design, development, and testing.
Full Definition
Requirements traceability is the ability to trace a requirement from its origin through its implementation and testing. It answers: "Has everything we promised been built and tested?"
Types of traceability:
- •Forward Traceability: From requirements to tests
- •Backward Traceability: From tests to requirements
- •Bidirectional Traceability: Both directions
A Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) documents these relationships:
| Requirement | Test Case | Status | Defect |
|-------------|-----------|--------|--------|
| REQ-001 | TC-001 | Pass | - |
| REQ-002 | TC-003 | Fail | BUG-42 |
Benefits:
- •Ensures complete test coverage
- •Enables impact analysis when requirements change
- •Provides audit evidence for compliance
- •Identifies gaps in testing
Examples
- 1.Requirement REQ-001 traced to test cases TC-001, TC-002, TC-003
- 2.Traceability matrix showing 95% requirements coverage
- 3.Impact analysis: REQ-005 change affects 4 test cases
In BesTest
BesTest has built-in requirements management with automatic traceability to test cases. Coverage dashboards show traceability status in real-time.
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