Trace Matrix
This section type allows you to show the relations between some items in some categories and some others in some other categories, jumping over the intermediate categories if needed
Input
You select the source items and target items
Options
| Option (defaults in bold) | Effect |
|---|---|
| Add a reference of included items to table of content | If a table of content section is added to the document and this option is checked, the item references from this section will be added. See Table of Contents for required options. |
| List elements in numerical order | Sorts the items by numerical order instead of tree order |
Show only item id | Only shows the item Ids, not the titles |
Options (new in 2.2)
In version 2.2 a new option to define the columns in more details was added.
If "Restrict Columns" stays empty the behavior is as it was in 2.1 an earlier:
- the first column contains one row for each item from "Select Source Items"
- for each other category selected in "Select Target Items", one column is added. All selected target items with a downlink (over one or multiple layers) from the source are shown.
- For example if you have the following traceability
- REQ-1
- TC-1
- SPEC-1
- TC-2
- and you select all requirements as source and all test cases as target the table will show
| REQ | TC |
|---|---|
| REQ-1 | TC-1 (from the direct downlink) TC-2 (though the SPEC-1) |
With the"Restrict Columns" field you can now in more detail specify what to put in the target columns: e.g.
this,TC,SPEC-TC
Defines 3 columns:
- thi: shows the selected source items (here int he first column)
- TC shows all the TCs which have a direct downlink from the source
- SPEC-TC shows the links from the REQ, through a SPEC
So for the example above you'll get
| REQ | TC | SPEC-TC |
|---|---|---|
| REQ-1 | TC-1 | TC-2 |
With the"Restrict Columns" field It is also possible to show uplinks, using column definitions followed by up.
For example if you select the SPEC as source item and REQ and TC as target item you can configure the columns like this
REQ-up,this,TC
and it will create the following trace table
| REQ | SPEC | TC |
|---|---|---|
| REQ-1 | SPEC-1 | TC-2 |
Note: See also Common Document Section Options.