A quality factor (QF) represents a normative metric which maps a textual requirement of a specific granularity to a scale and therefore informs about the quality of that input.
| Index | Name | Complexity
| Scope
| References | ||||||||||||||||||||
| QF001 | Anaphora | syntactic | sentence | - | R039, R045, R073 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D261 | "Anaphora occurs in a text whenever a pronoun (e.g., he, it, that, this, which, etc.) refers to a previous part of the text. The referred part of the text is normally called antecedent. An anaphoric ambiguity occurs if the text offers more than one antecedent options (Yang et al. 2011), either in the same sentence (e.g., The system shall send a message to the receiver, and it provides an acknowledge message - it = system or receiver?) or in previous sentences." | R039 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D003 | "An anaphor is a linguistic expression that refers to a preceding utterance in text." | "It is possible for different stakeholders to commit, legitimately, to different, incompatible readings of the same requirement." | R045 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D002 | "An anaphor is an expression used, in language, to refer to another expression. Personal pronouns, such as he, she, it, those, our, etc. are examples of anaphora, or anaphoric expressions." | "It is possible for different stakeholders to commit, legitimately, to different, incompatible reading of the same requirement." | R073 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF002 | Nocuous | semantic | phrase | - | R049, R049, R073 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D005 | "ambiguities which people read in different ways have multiple readings" | "an incorrect implementation may occur" | R049 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D006 | "[...] nocuous ambiguities give rise to different interpretations by different readers [...]" | "[...] misunderstandings between stakeholders." | R049 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D004 | "Ambiguity instances in requirements that are likely to lead to misunderstandings between stakeholders" | "conflicting interpretations by the readers" | R073 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF003 | Passive Voice | syntactic | sentence | - | - | R025, R027, R039, R095, R027 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D182 | "No. of verbs in the passive voice" | "The use of verbs in passive voice may hinder understanding of the requirement" | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D001 | "in passive sentences it is unclear who is performing a certain action on the system" | "The results indicate that while the commonly discussed danger of missing actors did not show to be substantial, there is a statistically significant gap in the understanding of how concepts are related in a sentence in passive voice." | R027 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D265 | "The use of passive voice is a defect of clarity in requirements [...]" | "[Passive voice] can lead to ambiguous interpretations in those cases in which the passive verb is not followed by the subject that performs the action expressed by the verb" | R039 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D223 | "No use of passive voice" | "The passive voice is to be avoided as it may not specify, who is supposed to perform the action described: 'The data has to be entered every morning.' The sentence would be more informative in active voice: 'The administrator has to enter the data every morning.'" | R095 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D001 | "in passive sentences it is unclear who is performing a certain action on the system" | "The results indicate that while the commonly discussed danger of missing actors did not show to be substantial, there is a statistically significant gap in the understanding of how concepts are related in a sentence in passive voice." | R027 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF004 | Specification Clone | lexical | word | - | - | - | R032, R037, R032 | |||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D007 | "A specification clone is a (consecutive) substring of the normalized specification with a certain minimal length (20 words), appearing at least twice" | "Specification Reading: Cloning in specifications obviously increases specification size and, hence, affects all activities that involve reading the specification documents. [...] [T]he average blow-up of the analyzed SRS [...] translates to addutuibak ~16 minutes spent on reading each document.", "Specification Implementation: [...] we found 3 different effects: 1. The redundancy in the requirements is not reflected in the code. [...] 2. The code that implements a cloned piece of an SRS is cloned, too. [...] 3. Code of the same functionality has been implemented multiple times." | R032 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D010 | "A requirement may be similar to another to the extent that it is regarded as a duplicate and thus eliminated." | "The duplicates are important to find to avoid doing the same job twice, assigning the same requirement to different developers, or getting two solutions to the same problem." | R037 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D007 | "A specification clone is a (consecutive) substring of the normalized specification with a certain minimal length (20 words), appearing at least twice" | "Specification Reading: Cloning in specifications obviously increases specification size and, hence, affects all activities that involve reading the specification documents. [...] [T]he average blow-up of the analyzed SRS [...] translates to addutuibak ~16 minutes spent on reading each document.", "Specification Implementation: [...] we found 3 different effects: 1. The redundancy in the requirements is not reflected in the code. [...] 2. The code that implements a cloned piece of an SRS is cloned, too. [...] 3. Code of the same functionality has been implemented multiple times." | R032 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF005 | Coordination | structural | sentence | - | R039, R049, R081 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D262 | "Coordination ambiguity occurs when the use of coordinating conjunctions (e.g., and or or) leads to multiple potential interpretations of a sentence (Chantree et al. 2006)." | R039 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D009 | "A coordination structure connects two words, phrases, or clauses together via a coordination conjunction [...]" | "[...] the risk of diverging interpretation is high." | R049 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D008 | "Coordination ambiguity can occur whenever a coordinating conjunction is used." | "The uncertainty about which reading is intended will affect what type of [result] is implemented as a result of this requirement." | R081 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF007 | Functional Duplication | semantic | use case | - | - | - | + | - | R020, R030 | |||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D012 | "Sections in the specifications that, although written in different terms, describe the very same behavior" | R020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D011 | "Duplicating functionality is the action of repeating the description of some interactions between the system and actors" | "[D]uplicate functionality in use cases [...] [impact] on later development stages such as architectural design, implementation, testing and maintenance. [...] Although duplication is not always a quality defect, and it might be there for the sake of readability of non-technical stakeholders, the issues entailed to lack of modularity and abstraction can have a profound (negative) effect on the developers conducting activities such as effort estimation, project planning, architectural design, change impact analysis and evolution management." | R030 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF008 | Lack of Modularization | semantic | use case | R020 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D013 | "functional/non-functional requirements are not encapsulated and well modularized" | R020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF009 | Meaningless actor | semantic | use case | R020 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D014 | "Wrongly defined or meaningless actors" | R020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF010 | Meaningless use case | semantic | use case | R020 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D015 | "Wrongly defined or meaningless use cases" | R020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF013 | Happy use cases | structural | use case | R020 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D018 | "[U]se cases [..] without alternative flows" | R020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF014 | Well-formedness | lexical | user story | R024, R024 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D019 | "each story has at least a role and a means" | R024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D019 | "each story has at least a role and a means" | R024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF015 | One-Feature Story | semantic | user story | R024, R024 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D020 | "each story expresses a requirement for one feature" | R024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D020 | "each story expresses a requirement for one feature" | R024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF016 | Minimal | lexical | user story | R024, R024 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D021 | "each story contains only role, means, and ends" | R024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D021 | "each story contains only role, means, and ends" | R024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF017 | Uniform | lexical | user story | R024, R024 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D022 | "all written stories employ the same template" | R024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D022 | "all written stories employ the same template" | R024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF018 | Unique | lexical | user story | R024, R024 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D023 | "each story is unique, duplicates are avoided" | R024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D023 | "each story is unique, duplicates are avoided" | R024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF028 | Requirements length | lexical | requirement | - | - | R007, R039 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D059 | "[...] requirements that long (greater than 26 words) are andor have more than one verb (e.g. compound or complex sentences) possess complexity risk potential." | "Relatively short simple, sentences are most easily understood." | R007 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D266 | "[...] all the sentences that are longer than 60 tokens. | "Longer sentences are typically harder to process than short sentences, and can be source of unclarity." | R039 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF029 | Complex Conditional Structure | syntactic | requirement | R061, R065 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D082 | "Complex conditional structures occur when a use case has large or complex expressions or needs several other use cases to be complete. A use case can contain complex conditional structures due to its nature or simply because it is poorly described. The second situation shows up when there are nested conditional structures or long sequences thereof." | R061 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D034 | "Complex conditional structures occur when a requirement has large or complex expressions or needs several other requirements to be complete. A requirement can contain complex conditional structures due to its nature or simply because it is poorly described. The second situation shows up when there are nested conditional structures or long sequences thereof." | R065 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF030 | Lazy Requirement | semantic | requirement | - | R065 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D035 | "Lazy requirements correspond to one of the following cases: (i) when a requirement describes a small number of responsibilities or the impact of the requirements is unclear; (ii) when the size of a requirement is too small, in terms of its components; (iii) when a requirement does not capture all the activities related to a given concern, or is incomplete." | R065 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF031 | Naming Problems | semantic | requirement | - | R065 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D036 | "Meaningless or inconsistent names are situations where the requirement’s name bears no relation with the concept described or the same name is used for different concepts." | R065 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF032 | Duplicated Activities | semantic | requirement | R065 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D037 | "Duplicated activities are a situation that occurs when (i) the same requirement is duplicated in different places in a requirements document or (ii) the same activities or the same pre-post conditions appear in several requirements." | R065 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF033 | Noise | lexical | sentence | - | R078, R078 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D038 | "Terms not contained in the domain ontology" | R078 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D038 | "Terms not contained in the domain ontology" | R078 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF034 | Opacity | semantic | requirement | R078, R078 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D039 | "Unrelated terms in a requirement ..." | "... which possibly means that a concept is used erroneously." | R078 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D039 | "Unrelated terms in a requirement ..." | "... which possibly means that a concept is used erroneously." | R078 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF035 | Similarity | lexical | requirement | R078, R078 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D040 | "Requirement pairs that is similar by sharing a configurable number of concepts." | R078 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D040 | "Requirement pairs that is similar by sharing a configurable number of concepts." | R078 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF036 | Obsoleteness | lexical | requirement | R078, R078 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D041 | "Requirements using obsolete ontology concepts." | R078 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D041 | "Requirements using obsolete ontology concepts." | R078 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF037 | Ontological Completeness | semantic | global | R031, R078, R031, R078 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D134 | "The ontological elements that did not have any mapped requirements items can be candidates for missing requirements items." | R031 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D042 | "[...] all ontology components are referred to in one or more requirements." | R078 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D134 | "The ontological elements that did not have any mapped requirements items can be candidates for missing requirements items." | R031 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D042 | "[...] all ontology components are referred to in one or more requirements." | R078 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF038 | Ontological Overload | semantic | phrase | R078, R078 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D043 | "[...] a term with the same meaning which is already in the ontology. If another term is defined in the ontology to precisely represent the intended concept the term from the ontology should be used instead. | R078 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D043 | "[...] a term with the same meaning which is already in the ontology. If another term is defined in the ontology to precisely represent the intended concept the term from the ontology should be used instead. | R078 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF041 | Antonym Contradiction | semantic | requirement | - | R093, R093 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D046 | "Contradictions exist due to existence of antonym words. Example: Number of staff should be reduced in the factory. Number of employees should be increased in the factory." | "Apart from the individual quality of the requirements, consistency between these requirements plays a critical role in successful systems development." | R093 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D046 | "Contradictions exist due to existence of antonym words. Example: Number of staff should be reduced in the factory. Number of employees should be increased in the factory." | "Apart from the individual quality of the requirements, consistency between these requirements plays a critical role in successful systems development." | R093 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF042 | Negation Contradiction | lexical | requirement | - | R093, R093 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D047 | "Contradictions exist due to negative words. Example: Temperature in the room should not be superior to 25 ◦ C. Temperature in the room should be superior to 25 ◦ C. | "Apart from the individual quality of the requirements, consistency between these requirements plays a critical role in successful systems development." | R093 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D047 | "Contradictions exist due to negative words. Example: Temperature in the room should not be superior to 25 ◦ C. Temperature in the room should be superior to 25 ◦ C. | "Apart from the individual quality of the requirements, consistency between these requirements plays a critical role in successful systems development." | R093 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF043 | Numeric Contradiction | lexical | requirement | - | R093, R093 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D048 | "Contradictions are present because of different numeric specifications for the system. Example: The weight of the handset should be lower than 113 g. The weight of the handset should lower than 200 g." | "Apart from the individual quality of the requirements, consistency between these requirements plays a critical role in successful systems development." | R093 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D048 | "Contradictions are present because of different numeric specifications for the system. Example: The weight of the handset should be lower than 113 g. The weight of the handset should lower than 200 g." | "Apart from the individual quality of the requirements, consistency between these requirements plays a critical role in successful systems development." | R093 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF044 | Structure Contradiction | semantic | requirement | - | R093, R093 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D049 | "The physical configuration of the system contradicts with the requirements. Example: An Internet submarine cable link should be constructed between Czech Republic and Finland.(Impossible because of lack of water connection between the two countries.) | "Apart from the individual quality of the requirements, consistency between these requirements plays a critical role in successful systems development." | R093 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D049 | "The physical configuration of the system contradicts with the requirements. Example: An Internet submarine cable link should be constructed between Czech Republic and Finland.(Impossible because of lack of water connection between the two countries.) | "Apart from the individual quality of the requirements, consistency between these requirements plays a critical role in successful systems development." | R093 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF045 | Lexical Contradiction | semantic | requirement | - | R093, R093 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D050 | "Lexical or semantic discrepancy leading to contradiction. Example: All the system's components should be manufactured locally. Batteries should be imported from our German supplier." | "Apart from the individual quality of the requirements, consistency between these requirements plays a critical role in successful systems development." | R093 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D050 | "Lexical or semantic discrepancy leading to contradiction. Example: All the system's components should be manufactured locally. Batteries should be imported from our German supplier." | "Apart from the individual quality of the requirements, consistency between these requirements plays a critical role in successful systems development." | R093 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF046 | Factive Contradiction | semantic | requirement | - | R093, R093 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D051 | "Contradiction generated by the lack of consideration of established knowledge. Example: Sand from Sahara desert will be used to build the bridge.(This is impossible because Sahara sand cannot be used in construction work due to the round shape of the particles.)" | "Apart from the individual quality of the requirements, consistency between these requirements plays a critical role in successful systems development." | R093 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D051 | "Contradiction generated by the lack of consideration of established knowledge. Example: Sand from Sahara desert will be used to build the bridge.(This is impossible because Sahara sand cannot be used in construction work due to the round shape of the particles.)" | "Apart from the individual quality of the requirements, consistency between these requirements plays a critical role in successful systems development." | R093 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF047 | Referential Integrity | lexical | word | R007, R017, R039, R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D052 | "Referential integrity in a specification requires that requirements incorporating references to other parts of the specification, or other documents are correct, so that the requirements are consistent, complete, and accurate." | "Lack of referential integrity can produce technical problems and/or schedule delays during design or development of a system, or can result in deficiencies in the functionality or performance of the delivered system." | R007 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D260 | "Incomplete References are references that a reader cannot follow (e.g. no location provided)." | R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D269 | "This defect occurs when a reference that appears in the text in the form Ref. <X> does not appear in the list of references of the requirements document." | R039 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D260 | "Incomplete References are references that a reader cannot follow (e.g. no location provided)." | R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF048 | Technical Standards | lexical | word | - | R007 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D053 | "Requirements that invoke technical standards [...]" | "Evaluating this [requirements that invoke technical standards] is often complicated by the fact that referenced standards usually are not included in or attached to the specification. In this case, the requirement may impose technical obligations that are unknown to the reviewer, inappropriate for the application, in draft form, or even nonexistent." | R007 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF049 | Technology Requirements | lexical | word | - | R007 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D054 | "Technology requirements often include a unit of measurement (e.g. seconds) with an accompanying numeric value." | "The risks associated with this type of requirement are due to possible difficulties or the impossibility of meeting them with current technology or within budgetary and schedule constraints." | R007 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF050 | Ambiguous Adverbs or Adjectives | lexical | word | - | - | R007, R017, R017 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D055 | "Ambiguous requirements often result from the use of qualitative descriptions (e.g. fastest, greatest, highest) rather than quantitative terms containing numeric objectives and associated units of measure (e.g. 10 seconds)." | "System compliance with ambiguous requirements usually can not be verified in a manner acceptable to all parties involved." | R007 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D253 | "Ambiguous Adverbs and Adjectives refer to certain adverbs and adjectives that are unspecific by nature, such as almost always, significant and minimal." | R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D253 | "Ambiguous Adverbs and Adjectives refer to certain adverbs and adjectives that are unspecific by nature, such as almost always, significant and minimal." | R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF051 | Loopholes | lexical | phrase | - | - | R007, R017, R017 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D056 | "In other cases, deliberate attempts to make flexible requirements (e.g. at least, a minimum of) can create de facto ambiguity because a system that exactly meets the requirement may fall short of hidden expectations." | "System compliance with ambiguous requirements usually can not be verified in a manner acceptable to all parties involved." | R007 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D254 | "Loopholes refer to phrases that express that the following requirement must be fulfilled only to a certain, imprecisely defined extent." | R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D254 | "Loopholes refer to phrases that express that the following requirement must be fulfilled only to a certain, imprecisely defined extent." | R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF052 | Quality Goal Conflict | semantic | requirement | R007 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D057 | "Conflict between requirements exists when one requirement prescribes conditions, circumstances, or results that are inconsistent with those prescribed by another requirement or makes another requirement very difficult or impossible. Requirements can conflict on the basis of quality goals that they set, or by the functional and nonfunctional characteristics that they dictate. | R007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF053 | Contradicting Interfaces | semantic | requirement | R007 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D058 | "These conflicts arise from the presence of requirements that dictate opposing inputs, operations, or outcomes." | R007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF054 | Large Requirement | syntactic | requirement | - | R065 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D033 | "Large requirements occur when (i) a requirement is trying to handle several concerns at the same time or (ii) there are many alternative flows and steps." | R065 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF055 | Word Selection | lexical | word | - | R007 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D060 | "To reduce complexity, jargon, cliches, and commonly misused words and phrases should be avoided." | "The effectiveness of a document can be severely decreased as a consequence of faulty or inappropriate word selection." | R007 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF056 | Domain- and Technology-specific Terms | lexical | word | - | R007 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D061 | "In those cases where uncommon domain or technology terms are unavoidable, it is extremely important that the specification includes appropriate clarification, or definitions, references to where definitions can be found." | "Otherwise, the selection and use of otherwise a appropriate words in requirement can introduce complexity risk into the specification." | R007 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF057 | Sentence/Requirements Statement Level Complexity | syntactic | sentence | R035, R035 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D062 | "The sentence level complexity metric, or NPC-Sentence, can be calculated as follows. For each NP chunk, the occurrence count in a sentence is divided by the total occurrence counts in all sentences. Then all the frequency distributions of the NP chunks in the sentence are added together to form the final complexity value. The requirements statement level complexity metric, or NPC Req, is the aggregation of NPC-Sentence of the component sentences." | R035 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D062 | "The sentence level complexity metric, or NPC-Sentence, can be calculated as follows. For each NP chunk, the occurrence count in a sentence is divided by the total occurrence counts in all sentences. Then all the frequency distributions of the NP chunks in the sentence are added together to form the final complexity value. The requirements statement level complexity metric, or NPC Req, is the aggregation of NPC-Sentence of the component sentences." | R035 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF058 | Intra-Section Level Complexity | syntactic | document | R035, R035 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D063 | "The proposed NPC-Cohesion metric is a normalized cluster size that can be calculated using the sum of all cluster sizes in a requirement section divided by the size of the requirements section. Here a cluster is defined as the collection of adjacent sentences in a requirements section that shares the same NP chunks." | R035 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D063 | "The proposed NPC-Cohesion metric is a normalized cluster size that can be calculated using the sum of all cluster sizes in a requirement section divided by the size of the requirements section. Here a cluster is defined as the collection of adjacent sentences in a requirements section that shares the same NP chunks." | R035 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF059 | Inter-Section Level Complexity | syntactic | document | R035, R035 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D064 | "The proposed NPC-Coupling metric value is the sum of the spatial distances between its internal and external NP chunks. If an NP chunk belongs to a cluster, then the centroid of the cluster is used to calculate its distance to the external NP chunks." | R035 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D064 | "The proposed NPC-Coupling metric value is the sum of the spatial distances between its internal and external NP chunks. If an NP chunk belongs to a cluster, then the centroid of the cluster is used to calculate its distance to the external NP chunks." | R035 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF060 | Vague | lexical | word | - | R021, R039, R051, R058, R078, R087, R095, R058, R078 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D161 | "[P]hrases that indicate either imprecise definition or multiple interpretations of a requirement" | "[T]he vague phrases indicate the unclearness of the actions or actors, and their relations. In other words vague phrases introduce interpretative nature to the requirement description" | R021 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D263 | "Vagueness occurs whenever a sentence admits borderline cases, i.e., cases in which the truth value of the sentence cannot be decided (Berry et al. 2003)." | R039 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D249 | "Statement that concede marginal case or relative interpretation" | R051 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D065 | "The sentence contains items having a no uniquely quantifiable meaning. Typical words are:: clear, easy, strong, good, bad, useful, significant, adequate, recent, ...." | R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D274 | "Using terms that have multiple interpretations despite the reader’s knowledge of the context. It does not matter whether the author unintentionally introduced the ambiguity, but knows what was meant, or he or she intentionally introduced the ambiguity to include all possible interpretations" | R078 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D232 | "Sentence should not contain vague word and adverb.": "(no. of sentences containing vague word or adverb) / (no. of sentences in the use case specification document)" | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D231 | "Vague adjectives have no de finite meaning." | "They are considered a defect if they, similar to incomplete conditions, appear without any speci cation. E.g.: 'The system should transmit data quickly.' Better: 'The system should transmit data at a speed of 1000 MB/s.'" | R095 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D065 | "The sentence contains items having a no uniquely quantifiable meaning. Typical words are:: clear, easy, strong, good, bad, useful, significant, adequate, recent, ...." | R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D274 | "Using terms that have multiple interpretations despite the reader’s knowledge of the context. It does not matter whether the author unintentionally introduced the ambiguity, but knows what was meant, or he or she intentionally introduced the ambiguity to include all possible interpretations" | R078 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF061 | Subjective | lexical | word | R017, R058, R087, R017, R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D252 | "Subjective Language refers to words of which the semantics is not objectively defined, such as user friendly, easy to use, cost effective." | R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D066 | "The sentence expresses personal opinions or feelings. Subjective words or phrases include: similar, similarly, having in mind, take into account, as [adjective] as possible, …" | R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D233 | "Sentence should not contain word[s] which express personnel feeling or opinion.": "(no. of sentences referring to personnel opinions or feeling) / (no. of sentences in the use case specification document)" | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D252 | "Subjective Language refers to words of which the semantics is not objectively defined, such as user friendly, easy to use, cost effective." | R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D066 | "The sentence expresses personal opinions or feelings. Subjective words or phrases include: similar, similarly, having in mind, take into account, as [adjective] as possible, …" | R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF062 | Optional | lexical | word | R058, R087, R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D067 | "The sentence contains an optional part (i.e. a part that can or cannot be considered) Optional examples: possibly, eventually, case, if possible, if appropriate, if needed, ..." | R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D234 | "Sentence should not contain optional part.": "(no. of sentences containing optional part) / (no. of sentences in the use case specification document)" | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D067 | "The sentence contains an optional part (i.e. a part that can or cannot be considered) Optional examples: possibly, eventually, case, if possible, if appropriate, if needed, ..." | R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF063 | Implicit | syntactic | sentence | R058, R087, R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D068 | "The sentence does not specify the subject or object by means of its specific name but uses a pronoun or other indirect reference. Words alone are not sufficient and the syntax must be considered. Implicit use is checked when the sentence contains: - Subjects or complements expressed by means of: Demonstrative adjectives (this, these, that, those) or Pronouns (it, they…) or - Terms having the determiner expressed by a demonstrative adjective (this, these, that, those) or implicit adjective (e.g. previous, next, following, last...) or preposition (e.g.: above, below...)" | R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D235 | "Sentence should not contain generic subject.": "(no. of sentences containing generic word) / (no. of sentences in the use case specification document)" | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D068 | "The sentence does not specify the subject or object by means of its specific name but uses a pronoun or other indirect reference. Words alone are not sufficient and the syntax must be considered. Implicit use is checked when the sentence contains: - Subjects or complements expressed by means of: Demonstrative adjectives (this, these, that, those) or Pronouns (it, they…) or - Terms having the determiner expressed by a demonstrative adjective (this, these, that, those) or implicit adjective (e.g. previous, next, following, last...) or preposition (e.g.: above, below...)" | R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF064 | Weakness | lexical | sentence | R058, R087, R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D069 | "The sentence contains a "weak" verb. A verb that makes the sentence not imperative is considered weak (i.e. can, could, may,..)" | R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D236 | "Sentence should not contain weak verb and modal verb.": "(no. of sentences containing weak verb or modal verb) / (no. of sentences in the use case specification document)" | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D069 | "The sentence contains a "weak" verb. A verb that makes the sentence not imperative is considered weak (i.e. can, could, may,..)" | R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF065 | Under-specification | lexical | word | R058, R087, R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D070 | "The sentence contains a word identifying a class of objects without a modifier specifying an instance of this class, e.g. flow instead of data flow, control flow; access instead of write access, remote access, authorized access; testing instead of functional testing, structural testing, unit testing, etc" | R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D237 | "Sentence should not contain word which specify class of object.": "(no. of sentences containing a word which specify class of object) / (no. of sentences in the use case specification document)" | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D070 | "The sentence contains a word identifying a class of objects without a modifier specifying an instance of this class, e.g. flow instead of data flow, control flow; access instead of write access, remote access, authorized access; testing instead of functional testing, structural testing, unit testing, etc" | R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF066 | Multiple [Focus] | syntactic | sentence | R058, R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D071 | "The sentence has more than one main verb, subject or object" | R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D071 | "The sentence has more than one main verb, subject or object" | R058 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF067 | Uncertainty | syntactic | sentence | - | - | R066 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D072 | "Uncertainty, or more generally, hedging or speculation, is a language component that is often used to express tentativeness, skepticism, or doubt when authors are not completely certain of their claims/statements. Speculative language is a communicative strategy for weakening the force of a statement. It is usually triggered by particular words (e.g., possible, might, likely) or phrases (e.g., not sure, whether or not), called uncertainty cues, which weaken some clauses or propositions." | "Uncertainty in requirements documents has several undesirable effects. It can lead to system behaviour that does not meet users' expectations, if no proper analysis of the root causes of the uncertainty is performed, and alternatives are not considered. It can also lead to untestable requirements and makes it difficult to plan and estimate development costs. It can cause developers to substitute their own preferences and expectations for the speculative requirements. In short, speculative requirements that survive till the implementation phase are potentially harmful." | R066 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF068 | Foreign Words | lexical | word | R046 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D073 | "[...] [T]here are certain kind of words which are ambiguous by nature and this ones are being looked for ambiguity problems, this kind of words are foreign word" | R046 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF069 | Comparatives | syntactic | word | R017, R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D257 | "Comparatives are used in requirements that express a relation of the system to specific other systems or previous situations." | R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D257 | "Comparatives are used in requirements that express a relation of the system to specific other systems or previous situations." | R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF070 | Superlatives | syntactic | word | R017, R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D256 | "Superlatives refer to requirements that express a relation of the system to all other systems." | R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D256 | "Superlatives refer to requirements that express a relation of the system to all other systems." | R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF071 | Avoidance of Conjunctives | syntactic | word | - | R046 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D076 | "When t is a conjunction between two sets of words, it causes a lack of atomicity in a requirement." | "[non-atomic requirements] may produce partially verifiable requirements that should be avoided." | R046 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF072 | 4W-Compliance | syntactic | sentence | + | R046, R047 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D077 | "It is important to delegate 'who' will execute the functionality expressed in the requirement. [...] An obvious expected element in a functional requirement is indeed a function to perform, which is translated to 'what'. [...] Additional detail to complete conditionals for requirement functionality, this can be seen as 'where' and/or 'when'." | R046 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D078 | "Incompleteness exists if any of the sets actor A, function F, or detail D are not found." | R047 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF073 | Single-Sentence | lexical | requirement | R047 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D079 | "To check if a requirement is atomic, it is expected to have only one sentence." | R047 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF074 | Duplicate Steps | lexical | use case | R061 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D080 | "Duplicated steps is a situation that occurs when (i) the same use case step is duplicated in different places in a requirements 'document or (ii) the same steps or the same pre-post conditions appear in several use cases." | R061 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF075 | Large Use Case | lexical | use case | R061 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D081 | "Large Use Case occur when (i) an use case is trying to handle several different requirements at the same time or (ii) there are many alternative flows and steps. This problem is particularly significant when the maximum size of each use case has already been set by the organization’s Software Quality Assurance Team." | R061 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF077 | Lazy Use Case | semantic | use case | R061 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D083 | "Lazy use case correspond to one of the following situations: (i) when a use case describes a small number of responsibilities or the impact of the requirements is unclear; (ii) when the size of a use case is too small, in terms of its components (steps); (iii) when a use case does not capture all the activities related to a given concern, or is incomplete. These problems happen when only the steps of a flow are described and the output is ill-defined or unclear, and also, when after some modifications are performed, the use case is no longer appropriate. Other situations are due to the incomplete nature of the use case descriptions, as well as use case descriptions which were delayed (perhaps due to low priority) and not described in sufficient detail." | R061 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF078 | Use Case Naming Problems | semantic | use case | R061 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D084 | "Meaningless or inconsistent names are situations where the use case’s name bears no relation with the concept described or the same name is used for different concepts. Inconsistent names occur when two use cases are represented by the same identifier but have different meanings. Other problems include excessive use of synonyms, absence of clear definitions, partially overlapping concepts described by different names with no clear definitions and usage of names with different meanings." | R061 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF079 | Tangled Requirements | semantic | use case | R061 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D085 | "A tangled requirement is a situation that occurs when a use case contains descriptions of several requirements or different functionalities. A use case that contains several different functionalities could be hard to understand. Thus it offers an opportunity for refactoring." | R061 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF080 | Scattered Requirements | semantic | use case | R061 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D086 | "A scattered requirement is a situation that occurs when the specification of one functionality is not encapsulated in a single use case. When the requirements that treat of the same specific functionality are disperse by the requirement document the general localization is more difficult harder and in consequence difficult they reuse and maintenance." | R061 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF081 | Functional encapsulations completeness | semantic | structured/tabular text | R062 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D087 | "All functional requirements specified in the reference model have been specified in the model." | R062 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF082 | Linked communications completeness | semantic | structured/tabular text | R062 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D088 | "All linked communications specified in the reference model have been specified in the model." | R062 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF083 | Functional fragmentation error | semantic | structured/tabular text | R062 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D089 | "This error is the result of modelling two or more functional encapsulations for a part of the domain which, according to the given unity criteria, should have been modelled as only one encapsulation." | R062 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF084 | Functional aggregation error | semantic | structured/tabular text | R062 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D090 | "This error is the result of modelling certain part of the domain as one functional encapsulation when, according to the unity criteria, the phenomena should be modelled using two or more encapsulations." | R062 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF085 | Lexical | lexical | word | R056, R074, R056 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D130 | "Lexical refers to the vocabulary used in a language apart from its grammar or construction. For example, the words ‘tree’, ‘branch’, ‘root’, ‘wood’ belong to the same lexical field." | R056 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D091 | "[...] when a word has several meanings." | R074 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D130 | "Lexical refers to the vocabulary used in a language apart from its grammar or construction. For example, the words ‘tree’, ‘branch’, ‘root’, ‘wood’ belong to the same lexical field." | R056 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF086 | Syntactic | syntactic | phrase | R056, R074, R056 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D131 | "Syntactic refers to the way words are associated together to form a sentence." | R056 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D092 | "[...] when a given sequence of words can be given more than one grammatical structure, and each has a different meaning." | R074 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D131 | "Syntactic refers to the way words are associated together to form a sentence." | R056 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF087 | Semantic | semantic | sentence | R056, R074, R056 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D132 | "Semantic refers to the meaning of language. In the case of analyzing semantics of requirements, the meaning of the whole sentence must be derived. It consists of extracting the exact meaning of each word of the sentence according to its context of use in this sentence (why is it together with the other words of the sentence?) and, then, extracting the general meaning for the whole sentence." | R056 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D093 | "[...] when a sentence has more than one way of reading it within its context although it contains no lexical or structural ambiguity. Semantic ambiguity can be viewed as ambiguity with respect to the logical form, usually expressed in predicate logic, of a sentence." | R074 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D132 | "Semantic refers to the meaning of language. In the case of analyzing semantics of requirements, the meaning of the whole sentence must be derived. It consists of extracting the exact meaning of each word of the sentence according to its context of use in this sentence (why is it together with the other words of the sentence?) and, then, extracting the general meaning for the whole sentence." | R056 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF088 | Pragmatic | semantic | sentence | R074 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D094 | "[...] when a sentence has several meanings in the context in which it is uttered. The context comprises the language context, i.e., the sentences uttered before and after, and the context beyond language, i.e., the situation, the background knowledge, and expectations of the speaker or hearer and the writer or reader." | R074 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF089 | Software Engineering | semantic | sentence | R074 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D095 | "[...] when different implementations of otherwise uniguous text behave differently, often subtly so." | R074 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF090 | Language Error | syntactic | sentence | R074 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D096 | "[...] when different people interpret text with a language error differently, including not even recognizing that a language error exists." | R074 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF091 | Conjunctive Complexity | lexical | sentence | - | - | R021, R075 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D160 | "[L]inguistic conjunctions that indicate a relation of two related actions in a requirement" | "When the number of conjunctions increases the number of relations between actions also increases. This leads to a complex description of many actions and relations, which creates difficult for understanding how to implement and test the given requirement. Particularly, it becomes hard to follow how the actions comply with or has mandate over each other, and what the sequences of actions are in relation to one another." | R021 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D103 | "Conjunctive complexity (NC) of a textual requirement is the complexity that emerges due to the number of conjunct actions described in the requirement’s text." | "[...] even though the NC measure is not a very strong indicator it nevertheless has significant correlation with the perceived understandability of requirements and can be used for detecting complex requirements" | R075 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF093 | Correct | semantic | document | R042, R048 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D105 | "For a requirements specification to be correct it must accurately and precisely identify the individual conditions and limitations of all situations that the desired capability will encounter and it must also define the capability’s proper response to those situations" | R042 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D199 | "[I]f (a) there are no terms, phrases or sentences in requirements with false content, (b) all requirements are at the right location, and (c) the specification reflects all currently valid requirements" | "A specification is correct" | R048 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF094 | Ranked | semantic | global | R042 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D106 | "[...] ranked according to stability and/or importance is established in the requirements document’s organization and structure" | R042 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF096 | Consistent | semantic | document | R042, R048, R070, R070 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D108 | "A consistent specification is one where there is no conflict between individual requirement statements that define the behavior of essential capabilities; and specified behavioral properties and constraints do not have an adverse impact on that behavior" | R042 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D197 | "[I]f there are no overlaps in the content of requirements (a) in the specification, (b) between the specification and other relevant documents and (c) all terms are consistently used. Special cases for overlaps are conflicting or redundant requirements" | "A specification is consistent" | R048 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D205 | "An SRS is inconsistent if there are: (1) conflicts between requirements; (2) terms are used in different ways in different places" | R070 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D205 | "An SRS is inconsistent if there are: (1) conflicts between requirements; (2) terms are used in different ways in different places" | R070 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF097 | Modifiable | structural | document | R042 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D109 | "[...] for requirements specifications be modifiable, related concerns must be grouped together and unrelated concerns must be separated" | R042 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF098 | Uniquely identified | structural | document | + | R042 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D110 | "Each statement of requirement must be uniquely identified […]" | "[…] to achieve traceability" | R042 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF100 | Quantitatively assessable | semantic | document | R042 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D112 | "[I]t must be stated in such as manner that pass/fail or quantitative assessment criteria can be derived from the specification itself and/or referenced information" | "to be testable" | R042 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF101 | Validatable | semantic | document | R042 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D113 | "To validate a requirements specification all the project participants, managers, engineers and customer representatives, must be able to understand, analyze and accept or approve it" | R042 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF102 | Reasonable expected implementation duration | semantic | user story | - | R077 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D114 | "[...] Expected Implementation Duration [is] the estimated time (in days) that a developer or pair will need to implement a user story." | "If the estimation of implementation time for a user story exceeds a certain threshold (for example, one week or more), chances are high that it becomes more inaccurate." | R077 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF104 | Free of NFR-Class Conflicts | semantic | requirement | R022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D116 | "NFRs [...] conflict with each other when they make contradicting statements about some software attribute, and they cooperate when they mutually enforce such attributes." | R022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF105 | Logical inconsistencies | semantic | structured/tabular text | R043 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D117 | Two requirements, which are connected to the same concepts, but where one is negated, contradict each other. | R043 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF106 | Numerical discrepancies | semantic | structured/tabular text | R043 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D118 | Two requirements, which are connected to the same concepts, but where the numerical information is inconsistent, contradict each other. | R043 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF107 | Template-conformance | syntactic | sentence | + | + | + | + | R067, R067 | ||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D119 | "[...] enforcing proper use of noun phrases and verb phrases. [according to Rupp's or the EARS template]." | "When properly followed, templates serve as a simple and yet effective tool for increasing the quality of requirements by avoiding complex structures, ambiguity, and inconsistency in requirements. Templates further facilitate automated analysis by making NL requirements more easily transformable into analyzable artifacts, e.g., models" | R067 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D119 | "[...] enforcing proper use of noun phrases and verb phrases. [according to Rupp's or the EARS template]." | "When properly followed, templates serve as a simple and yet effective tool for increasing the quality of requirements by avoiding complex structures, ambiguity, and inconsistency in requirements. Templates further facilitate automated analysis by making NL requirements more easily transformable into analyzable artifacts, e.g., models" | R067 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF108 | Missing information | semantic | document | - | R052, R070, R070 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D120 | [...] incomplete requirements descriptions as named software requirements that are imprecise because of missing information bits (so-called partially incomplete requirements) | R052 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D202 | "(1) incomplete requirement - a requirement is incomplete if necessary information is missing for implementation; (2) incomplete specification: an SRS is incomplete if any requirement is missing" | R070 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D202 | "(1) incomplete requirement - a requirement is incomplete if necessary information is missing for implementation; (2) incomplete specification: an SRS is incomplete if any requirement is missing" | R070 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF109 | Multiple Interpretations | semantic | sentence | - | - | R042, R048, R052, R070, R088, R090, R101, R070, R090, R101 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D107 | "[...] a requirement is unambiguous if it can only be interpreted one way" | R042 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D193 | "[I]f (a) all entries have the same meaning for all readers and (b) the specification includes no ambiguous words, phrases or sentences" | "A specification is unambiguous" | R048 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D121 | [...] lexical ambiguity for a given token is triggered when more than one reading is probable. | R052 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D203 | "A requirement is ambiguous if it has more than one interpretation" | R070 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D210 | "Will a given requirement be understood in the same way by different people (i.e., has it only one interpretation)?" | R088 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D271 | They define the ambiguity of a word as the degree of difference bewteen multiple word embeddings from a set of domain documents, where the chosen domains are the relevant ones in a given context. | "[...] these are the words that are commonly used in more than one domain, and thus they may cause frequent misunderstandings when they are used with different meanings by the stakeholders." | R090 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D250 | "A requirement is ambiguous when it has multiple valid interpretations" | R101 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D203 | "A requirement is ambiguous if it has more than one interpretation" | R070 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D271 | They define the ambiguity of a word as the degree of difference bewteen multiple word embeddings from a set of domain documents, where the chosen domains are the relevant ones in a given context. | "[...] these are the words that are commonly used in more than one domain, and thus they may cause frequent misunderstandings when they are used with different meanings by the stakeholders." | R090 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D250 | "A requirement is ambiguous when it has multiple valid interpretations" | R101 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF110 | Appropriate span | semantic | use case | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D098 | "The use case should contain all that is required to answer the problem." | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF111 | Appropriate scope | semantic | use case | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D099 | "The use case should only contain detail relevant to the problem statement. Extra unnecessary information provided is out of problem scope and not required." | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF112 | Cogent text order | semantic | use case | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D100 | "The use case should follow a logical path with events in the description in the correct order." | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF113 | Cogent dependencies | semantic | use case | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D101 | "The use case should complete as an end-to-end transaction (which can include alternative/exceptional flows).", "Dependencies can be defined as determining the completeness of the description; that is, that it describes a complete transaction [...]. At a finer-grained level, each event has a dependency on a previous event (logical coherence [...]). This implies referential continuity [...] and inference building [...]." | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF114 | Rational Answer | semantic | use case | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D102 | "The logic of the use case description should provide a plausible answer to the problem." | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF115 | Coherent | syntactic | use case | + | R009 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D122 | "The sentence being written should repeat a noun in the last sentence or a previous sentence, if possible." | "The description is easier to read and quicker to understand if there is logical coherence throughout." | R009 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF116 | Consistent level of abstraction | semantic | use case | + | + | R009, R042 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D123 | "The use case should be at a consistent level of abstraction throughout." | "Mixing abstraction levels (problem domain, interface specification, internal design mixes) may cause difficulty in understanding." | R009 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D111 | "[R]equirement specifications at one level of abstraction must be consistent with those at another level of abstraction." | "In order to be verifiable" | R042 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF117 | Consistent structure of variations | structural | use case | - | R009 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D124 | "Alternative paths should be excluded from the main flow." | "Inclusion of alternative paths in the main flow reduces readability." | R009 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF118 | Consistent structure of numbering | structural | use case | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D125 | "Numbering of events in the main flow should be consistent." | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF119 | Consistent grammar | syntactic | use case | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D126 | "Simple present tense should be used throughout. Adverbs, adjectives, pronouns, synonyms and negatives should be avoided." | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF120 | Separation of alternatives | structural | use case | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D127 | "There should be a separate section for any alternative/exceptional paths to the main flow." | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF121 | Viability of alternatives | semantic | use case | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D128 | "Alternatives should be viable and make sense." | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF122 | Consistent numbering of alternatives | structural | use case | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D129 | "Alternative numberings should exactly match the numbers in the main flow." | R009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF123 | Ontological Correctness | semantic | global | R031, R031 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D133 | "The requirements items that were mapped into ontological elements can be considered as requirements appropriate for a problem domain." | R031 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D133 | "The requirements items that were mapped into ontological elements can be considered as requirements appropriate for a problem domain." | R031 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF125 | Ontological Consistency | semantic | global | R031, R031 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D135 | "If requirements items include ontological concepts that are connected through 'contradict' relationship in the ontology, they are inconsistent." | R031 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D135 | "If requirements items include ontological concepts that are connected through 'contradict' relationship in the ontology, they are inconsistent." | R031 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF126 | Ontological Unambiguousness | semantic | global | R031, R031 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D136 | "If a requirements item is mapped into several concepts that have no semantical relationships, it can have multiple meaning." | R031 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D136 | "If a requirements item is mapped into several concepts that have no semantical relationships, it can have multiple meaning." | R031 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF127 | Problematic phrases | lexical | phrase | - | R079, R079 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D137 | "There are a number of problematic phrases [...] such as quick, easy to use and flexible" | "[The] problematic phrases [...] lead to vagueness or ambiguity in requirements [...]" | R079 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D137 | "There are a number of problematic phrases [...] such as quick, easy to use and flexible" | "[The] problematic phrases [...] lead to vagueness or ambiguity in requirements [...]" | R079 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF128 | Terminological Inconsistency | lexical | global | - | R079, R079 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D138 | "Terminological inconsistency refers to using different terms to refer to the same entity/verb" | "[...] leading to potential confusion." | R079 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D138 | "Terminological inconsistency refers to using different terms to refer to the same entity/verb" | "[...] leading to potential confusion." | R079 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF129 | Missing contextual information | semantic | sentence | - | R079, R079 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D139 | "Users often leave out key contextual information such as which agent/actor should perform an action." | "[The missing information] may be obvious to [the authors] but it can lead to confusion and potentially expensive rework." | R079 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D139 | "Users often leave out key contextual information such as which agent/actor should perform an action." | "[The missing information] may be obvious to [the authors] but it can lead to confusion and potentially expensive rework." | R079 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF130 | Missing interaction requirements | semantic | global | - | R079, R079 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D140 | "Consider a large software project, where a newly developed enterprise portal has to be integrated with a number of existing systems. Often times, an interaction with another system, say the “customer management system” may be overlooked, either because the stakeholders forgot about it or the business analyst did not note it down." | "Since, the requirements documents can often span hundreds of pages, the missing interaction may not be discovered until much later, where it is much more expensive to fix" | R079 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D140 | "Consider a large software project, where a newly developed enterprise portal has to be integrated with a number of existing systems. Often times, an interaction with another system, say the “customer management system” may be overlooked, either because the stakeholders forgot about it or the business analyst did not note it down." | "Since, the requirements documents can often span hundreds of pages, the missing interaction may not be discovered until much later, where it is much more expensive to fix" | R079 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF131 | Interface compliance between sequential actions | lexical | structured/tabular text | R100, R100 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D141 | "There must exist sharing data between the output of the preceding action and the input of the subsequent action." AND "There must exist at least one state between the postcondition of the preceding action and the precondition of the subsequent action." | R100 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D141 | "There must exist sharing data between the output of the preceding action and the input of the subsequent action." AND "There must exist at least one state between the postcondition of the preceding action and the precondition of the subsequent action." | R100 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF132 | Using function | lexical | word | R005 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D142 | "The term “function” shall be used instead of the term “functionality”." | R005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF133 | Starting with subject | syntactic | sentence | R005 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D143 | "Requirements shall start with the subject." | R005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF134 | Obvious definitions | semantic | sentence | R005 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D144 | "Text consisting of a definition shall be preceded with the identifier “Definition:”." | R005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF135 | Separation of supplementary information | semantic | section | R005 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D145 | "If a functional requirement is supplemented with additional information to clarify how the requirement can be met, the additional information must be formulated as a separate requirement." | R005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF136 | Referencing by document title | structural | global | R005 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D146 | "References to other documents in the specification are done by reference to the document title." | R005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF137 | Explicit subjects | semantic | sentence | + | R005 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D147 | "[T]he subject [of a requirement] must be indicated in the respective requirements (the subject must not be only defined in the section title)." | "Requirements must be understandable independently" | R005 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF138 | Requirements-free introduction | semantic | document | R005 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D148 | "The introductory section of the specification shall not contain any requirements." | R005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF139 | Free of UI design details | semantic | sentence | - | + | - | - | R006 | ||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D149 | "[T]he artifact should describe the problem domain instead of the solution domain" | "[T]he [requirements quality] model argues that [the UI details] make understanding a use case more efficient, as the visual support can increase the understanding of how the use case is executed. In addition, the UI details might help the tester to run the test case. However, UI details tend to change more often, which can lead to additional maintenance for the requirements engineers. Lastly, these details might lead to a non-optimal solution, which might be rejected by the end-user." | R006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF140 | Contains unique ID | structural | use case | - | + | - | R006 | |||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D150 | "[E]ach use case should have a unique identifier in the name" | "The ID in the middle [of the name template] obviously serves purposes of identification and traceability. Furthermore, the experts explained us that the number enables to keep an overview as most file browsers thus display the use cases in a defined order. However, they agreed that the ID makes texts sometimes less efficient to read. | R006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF141 | Contains subflows | structural | use case | + | + | - | R006 | |||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D151 | "Subflows are mechanisms for reuse that enable the author of a use case to extract a certain set of steps into a reusable subflow to prevent copy-and-past reuse (so-called cloning [17]) in the use cases" | "That way, if parts of the flow change, they only need to be changed in one location (the subflow), and not in each use case [17], hence the positive impact (efficiency) in the activity. This Update furthermore creates an explicit link between the use trace cases. However, in Microsoft Word use case documents, as currently used by Munich Re, subflows force the reader to jump between different positions in the text in order to read through the use case, which can be argued to lead to less readable use cases that are harder to understand" | R006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF142 | Ease of discovering system capabilities | semantic | use case | + | R006 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D152 | "[T]he system capabilities must be known to the test engineer. During the identification of test cases, the engineer must be able to obtain the system’s capabilities in order to choose the test cases to be created." | "In order to estimate the efforts in testing, the system’s desired functionality can serve as an indicator." | R006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF143 | Ease of discovering repeatedly used functionality | semantic | use case | + | + | R006 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D153 | "Ease of discovering repeatedly used functionality" | "It can be argued that (parts of) system’s functionality often used among different scenarios and use cases may be appropriate candidates for test automation." | R006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF144 | Requirement dependencies specified | semantic | use case | + | R006 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D154 | "[T]he engineer must be understand how the requirements influence each other" | "[I]n order to create more approriate testing conditions" | R006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF145 | Valid understanding of prioritization | semantic | use case | R006 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D155 | "Prioritization [must not] lack an unambiguous specification of what an associated priority means" | R006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF146 | Granularity of prioritization | structural | use case | + | R006 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D156 | "[Clear] granularity of prioritization" | "The more fine-grained the prioritization, the better the test engineer could optimize his test budgets" | R006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF147 | System Environment Conditions specified | semantic | use case | + | R006 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D157 | "[T]he engineer must understand under what conditions the system will operate, e.g., regarding amounts of productive data, temperature, workload." | "Part of the test cases is to describe the environment of the test as close as possible to the productive (end) system. " | R006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF148 | Inputs and Outputs qualitatively specified | syntactic | use case | + | R006 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D158 | "[T]he system requires quantiatively precise inputs. Furthermore, the system emits quantitative results, where an acceptable range thereof must be defined in a test case." | "to be able to produce executable test cases" | R006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF149 | Inputs and Outputs specified at system boundary | semantic | use case | + | R006 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D159 | "A test case has to be applicable directly on the system, i.e., inputs are submitted and outputs obtained at the system’s interface" | "Inputs or outputs which happen in the environment of the system are not sufficient to create test cases." | R006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF151 | Referring to fixed terms | lexical | word | + | R021 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D162 | "[V]ariables such as state, sensor data, and module names in a requirement" | "Many such variable names in a requirement indicate that much knowledge is required to understand how all these variables can and will interact together. We observed that for requirements of component level these references are one of the main constituents of the requirements and by the perception of the software engineers a high number of NR can indicate problems" | R021 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF152 | Referring to other documents | lexical | word | + | + | R021 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D163 | "[R]eferences to standards and other documents in a requirement" | "[W]hen designers encounter reference documents in requirements, they have to look through them in order to understand how the implemented requirement should comply or be consistent with the documents. Often, there were no specifics on how exactly the requirement should comply with the referred document." | R021 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF153 | Number of words | lexical | requirement | - | - | R021, R025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D164 | "The number of words of a requirement" | "[I]f an artifact is too big then it is hard to understand and manage" | R021 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D188 | "The requirement should not have an excessive number of words" | "[...] to avoid over-specification, redundancy of information and express various needs in the same requirement" | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF154 | Ambiguous expressions | lexical | word | - | - | R025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D165 | "Using ambiguous expressions [...]. The expressions are defined in a list of ambiguous expressions." | "Using ambiguous expressions may render the requirement difficult to understand." | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF155 | Boilerplate conformant | syntactic | sentence | + | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D166 | "[T]he requirement is represented by boilerplates in the system" | "[T]he requirement has a correct semantic and syntactic structure" | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF156 | Assertive | syntactic | sentence | R025 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D167 | "The requirement should be written in assertive way" | R025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF157 | Low number of connectors | lexical | sentence | - | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D168 | "The number of connectors on the requirement text" | "Using multiple connectors may indicate different needs in the same requirement and therefore compromise the atomicity" | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF158 | Low number of references | structural | requirement | - | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D169 | "Number of links in or out of the requirement" | "A large number of references can hinder the understanding of the requirement" | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF159 | Free of design expressions | lexical | word | R025 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D170 | "The requirement should focus a necessity instead of expressing a solution" | R025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF160 | Low number of domain concepts used | lexical | word | - | - | R025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D171 | "[using] domain concepts" | "A large number of domain concepts used in the same requirement can indicate over-specification." | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF161 | Low number of domain verbs used | lexical | word | - | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D172 | "[using] domain verbs" | "Too many domain verbs may indicate that the requirement expressed too many needs" | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF162 | Free of flow expressions | lexical | requirement | - | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D173 | "The requirement should avoid pseudocode and flow expressions" | "... to avoid specifying the solution to the problem" | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF163 | Imperative | syntactic | sentence | R025 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D174 | "The requirement should have at least one imperative verb" | R025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF164 | Explicit | syntactic | sentence | - | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D175 | "The requirement should be explicit, it should be avoided the use of pronouns" | R025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF165 | Free of incompleteness expressions | lexical | sentence | - | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D176 | "Some sentences such as ‘‘etc.’’, ‘‘not limited to’’, ‘‘as a minimum’’ clearly demonstrate that the requirement has not a clear scope." | "Incompleteness expressions must be avoided because the requirement should be atomic." | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF166 | Low number of in-links | structural | requirement | + | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D177 | "Number of links that the requirement is object (in-links)." | "A high number of links can hinder the understanding of the requirements" | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF167 | Positive | syntactic | sentence | + | R025, R087 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D178 | "Number of negative expressions" | "Include one or more negative expressions can make the requirement is hard to understand" | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D242 | "Sentence should not contain negative modifier.": "(no. of sentences containing negative modifier) / (no. of sentences in the use case specification document)" | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF168 | Flat hierarchy | structural | document | + | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D179 | "Number of hierarchy levels" | "Too many levels of hierarchy in the requirements may lead to difficulties in understanding the requirement" | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF169 | Correct punctuation | lexical | section | + | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D180 | "No. of character between punctuation" | "It is incorrect to write several sentences without using punctuation marks because it hinders the readability of the requirement" | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF170 | Low number of out-links | structural | requirement | + | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D181 | "Number of links to other requirements (out-links)." | "A high number of links can hinder the understanding of the requirements" | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF171 | Justification-free | semantic | requirement | R025 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D183 | "Avoid using justification in the requirement" | R025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF172 | Readable | lexical | requirement | + | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D184 | "Expressed numerically by a mathematical formula described in [2]" | "A bad readability requirement may cause confusion" | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF173 | Decisive | lexical | word | + | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D185 | "No. of speculative expressions" | "[T]he use of speculative expressions may indicate that the real need of the requirement is not clear." | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF174 | Objective | lexical | word | R025 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D186 | "Avoid the expression of the author’s view in the requirement" | R025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF175 | Number of paragraphs | structural | requirement | - | - | - | R025 | |||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D187 | "The requirement should not be expressed in too many paragraphs." | "[...] to avoid over-specification, redundancy of information and express various needs in the same requirement" | R025 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF176 | Sections independence | structural | document | + | + | R003, R003 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D189 | "Each section is conceptually separated from the others." | "A proper document structuring enables a better understanding of the requirements, and eases the modifiability of the overall requirements specification" | R003 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D189 | "Each section is conceptually separated from the others." | "A proper document structuring enables a better understanding of the requirements, and eases the modifiability of the overall requirements specification" | R003 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF177 | Requirements relatedness | structural | document | R003, R003 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D190 | "Each requirement is conceptually connected with the requirements in the same section" | R003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D190 | "Each requirement is conceptually connected with the requirements in the same section" | R003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF178 | Specification Completeness | semantic | document | + | + | + | R004, R042, R004 | |||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D191 | "A requirements document is complete with respect to the input documents if all the relevant concepts and interactions among concepts expressed in the input documents are also treated in the requirements." | "[...] bring to several problems: if the missing information resides in the transcripts of meetings with the customers, the product might not address the customer’s expectations; if some information is overseen from the reference standards, the resulting product might not comply to the norms; when concepts from legacy documentation and preliminary specifications are not taken into account, re-work on the product or on the process artifacts is hard to avoid." | R004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D104 | "A complete requirements specification must precisely define all the real world situations that will be encountered and the capability’s responses to them" | R042 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D191 | "A requirements document is complete with respect to the input documents if all the relevant concepts and interactions among concepts expressed in the input documents are also treated in the requirements." | "[...] bring to several problems: if the missing information resides in the transcripts of meetings with the customers, the product might not address the customer’s expectations; if some information is overseen from the reference standards, the resulting product might not comply to the norms; when concepts from legacy documentation and preliminary specifications are not taken into account, re-work on the product or on the process artifacts is hard to avoid." | R004 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF179 | Atomic | lexical | requirement | R048, R094 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D192 | "A specification entry is atomic, if it cannot be usefully separated in more entries" | R048 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D115 | "A requirement can be said to be atomic if the requirement can be fully defined as a system function, features, requirements, abilities, including all information, details, boundaries, and characteristics" | R094 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF181 | Reduced | semantic | document | + | R048 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D194 | "[I]f (a) no unnecessary implementation details are described and (b) the specification contains no unnecessary entries or entries that could be formulated shorter." | "A specification is concise" | R048 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF182 | Testcase-Derivable | semantic | document | + | R048 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D195 | "[I]f (a) each requirement has a method to check, if the system satisfies this requirement and (b) it is possible to derive test cases from the requirement." | "A specification is testable" | R048 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF183 | Source-Connected | structural | requirement | + | R048 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D196 | "[I]f (a) every reader can retrace the source and the further usage in the project life cycle of every requirement and (b) all redundant, interdependent and complementary information are set into dependency." | "A specification is traceable" | R048 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF185 | Well-written and graphically supported | structural | document | + | R048 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D198 | "[I]f (a) there are no linguistic defects (e.g. spelling, punctuation or grammatical mistakes) and (b) the specification is structured and supported in a way by graphical representations that every reader" | "A specification is formally correct" | R048 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF187 | Classified and Quantified | semantic | document | + | R048 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D200 | "[I]f (a) every requirement is classified according to its importance, priority, necessity and liability, (b) if no requirements, parts of requirements or additional documents are missing, and (c) each possible quantitative information has been specified, and all terms are defined." | "A specification is complete" | R048 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF188 | Invalid | semantic | requirement | R070, R070 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D201 | "A requirement is invalid if it is not the one that stakeholders want" | R070 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D201 | "A requirement is invalid if it is not the one that stakeholders want" | R070 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF191 | Open-ended terms | semantic | requirement | - | R017, R070, R017, R070 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D255 | "Open-ended, non-verifiable terms" | "Open-ended, non-verifiable terms are hard to verify as they offer a choice of possibilities, e.g. for the developers." | R017 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D204 | "A requirement is unverifiable if it specifies unclear or imprecise value regions" | R070 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D255 | "Open-ended, non-verifiable terms" | "Open-ended, non-verifiable terms are hard to verify as they offer a choice of possibilities, e.g. for the developers." | R017 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D204 | "A requirement is unverifiable if it specifies unclear or imprecise value regions" | R070 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF193 | Unmodifiable | semantic | document | R070, R070 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D206 | An SRS is un-modifiable if its requirements are : (1) not structurally organized; (2) redundant; or (3) intermixing several requirements | R070 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D206 | An SRS is un-modifiable if its requirements are : (1) not structurally organized; (2) redundant; or (3) intermixing several requirements | R070 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF194 | Unsatisfiable | semantic | requirement | R070, R070 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D207 | A requirement is practically unsatisfiable (attainable) if it is impossible or too costly to fulfill | R070 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D207 | A requirement is practically unsatisfiable (attainable) if it is impossible or too costly to fulfill | R070 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF195 | Complete (individual) | semantic | requirement | R088 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D208 | "Does a given NFR contain all the information necessary to implement it and verify the correctness of the implementation?" | R088 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF196 | Verifiable | semantic | requirement | R088 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D209 | "Is there a finite, cost-effective process to check if the software product satisfies a given requirement?" | R088 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF198 | Complete (set) | semantic | document | R088 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D211 | "Does a given set of NFRs contain everything pertinent to the definition of the software product being specified?" | R088 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF199 | Internal Completeness | semantic | document | R089 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D212 | "Internal completeness is concerned with ensuring that a given requirements specification is closed with respect to the statements and inferences that can be made solely based on that specification" | R089 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF200 | External Completenes | semantic | document | R089 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D213 | "External completeness is concerned with ensuring that all the information that is pertinent to the definition of a system is found within the specification" | R089 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF201 | Strongly complete | syntactic | requirement | + | + | + | R055 | |||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D214 | "A performance requirement is strongly complete, if all mandatory content elements (w.r.t the content model [R055]) are explicitly contained in its textual representation." | "[R]equirements in class strongly complete contain all content necessary to be implemented and tested" | R055 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF202 | Weakly complete | syntactic | requirement | - | - | R055 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D215 | "A performance requirement is weakly complete, if all mandatory content elements (w.r.t. the content model [R055]) are explicitly or implicitly contained in its textual representation." | "[R]equirements in class weakly complete need to be interpreted by the developer and/or tester and therefore bear the risk of misinterpretations." | R055 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF203 | Missing mandatory content element | syntactic | requirement | - | R055 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D216 | "A performance requirement is incomplete, if at least one mandatory content elements (w.r.t. the content model [R055]) is missing in its textual representation." | "[R]equirements of class incomplete are not testable at all." | R055 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF204 | Nominalization | syntactic | sentence | - | R053 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D217 | "A nominalization is the noun form of a verb [...]" | "[...] which is not problematic by itself but it may make a complex process sound like a simple event." | R053 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF205 | Containing common and exceptional functionality | semantic | use case | - | R076, R076 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D218 | "[W]hen applying the concept of reuse, the include and extend relationships can be misused, leading to the creation of UCs containing both common and exception handling behavior. [...] The shared UC currently contains common and exceptional behavior required by the two base UCs." | "[W]hen either base UCs initiate the shared UC, additional undesired functionality is performed." | R076 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D218 | "[W]hen applying the concept of reuse, the include and extend relationships can be misused, leading to the creation of UCs containing both common and exception handling behavior. [...] The shared UC currently contains common and exceptional behavior required by the two base UCs." | "[W]hen either base UCs initiate the shared UC, additional undesired functionality is performed." | R076 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF206 | Functional decomposition (include) | semantic | use case | - | R076, R076 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D219 | "Functional decomposition commonly occurs due to the misuse of the include relationship. Inclusion UCs are set to describe tasks that are required to perform parts of a complete service offered by their base UC. The tasks described by the inclusion UCs represent functions in a program, or menu options." | "Functional decomposition embodies premature design decisions which severely limits the creativity of designers and forces them to abide to these decisions" | R076 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D219 | "Functional decomposition commonly occurs due to the misuse of the include relationship. Inclusion UCs are set to describe tasks that are required to perform parts of a complete service offered by their base UC. The tasks described by the inclusion UCs represent functions in a program, or menu options." | "Functional decomposition embodies premature design decisions which severely limits the creativity of designers and forces them to abide to these decisions" | R076 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF207 | Functional decomposition (extend) | semantic | use case | - | R076, R076 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D220 | "If an extension UC contains general behavior that would be useful to more than one base UC, this would be a strong indication that the extension UC has degraded into a function." | "Functional decomposition embodies premature design decisions which severely limits the creativity of designers and forces them to abide to these decisions" | R076 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D220 | "If an extension UC contains general behavior that would be useful to more than one base UC, this would be a strong indication that the extension UC has degraded into a function." | "Functional decomposition embodies premature design decisions which severely limits the creativity of designers and forces them to abide to these decisions" | R076 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF208 | Functional decomposition (pre- and postconditions) | semantic | use case | - | R076, R076 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D221 | "Modelers misuse the pre and postconditions in UCs to explicitly declare a virtual call sequence between the UCs. It can be deduced that the virtual sequence is likely to be the result of UCs degrading into functions" | "Functional decomposition embodies premature design decisions which severely limits the creativity of designers and forces them to abide to these decisions" | R076 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D221 | "Modelers misuse the pre and postconditions in UCs to explicitly declare a virtual call sequence between the UCs. It can be deduced that the virtual sequence is likely to be the result of UCs degrading into functions" | "Functional decomposition embodies premature design decisions which severely limits the creativity of designers and forces them to abide to these decisions" | R076 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF209 | Multiple actors | lexical | use case | - | - | R076, R076 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D222 | "A UC is associated with more than one actor." | "Actors should have unique roles when interacting with a shared UC. This leads designers to create different implementations of a UCwhen it is interacting with different actors, even though the implementation should be the same.", "themodel will need to be changed frequently as instances of a type of the system’s users are frequently added and removed.", "The actual functionality developed will only cater to one of the actors, or perhaps none." | R076 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D222 | "A UC is associated with more than one actor." | "Actors should have unique roles when interacting with a shared UC. This leads designers to create different implementations of a UCwhen it is interacting with different actors, even though the implementation should be the same.", "themodel will need to be changed frequently as instances of a type of the system’s users are frequently added and removed.", "The actual functionality developed will only cater to one of the actors, or perhaps none." | R076 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF210 | Empty Verb Phrases | semantic | sentence | R095 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D224 | "Empty verbs are verbs of such very broad meaning that they transfer the expression of the actual process to a noun." | "They should not be used, as the process in question should be derivable from the main verb of a requirement. E.g.: 'The system should perform a data transfer regularly.' In this example, the empty verb would be 'perform'. Better: 'The system should transfer data regularly.'" | R095 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF211 | No incomplete conditions | syntactic | sentence | + | R039, R095 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D267 | "[E]ach requirement expressing a condition through the if clause, shall have a corresponding else or otherwise clause." | "To be considered complete" | R039 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D225 | "Requirements with incomplete conditions describe the desired behavior for a speci c case, but they do not explain the desired behavior for the default case. E.g.: 'In a state of emergency, the system needs to transfer data via radio.' Better: 'In state of emergency, the system needs to transfer data via radio, in all other cases transfer via cable is sucient.'" | R095 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF212 | No redundant subordinate clauses | semantic | sentence | R095 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D226 | "Redundant subordinate clauses explain aspects that are irrelevant for the requirement. E.g.: 'The administrator needs to change data at any time in order to help the user with his problems." It would be better to delete the subordinate clause completely and, if necessary, store this information in an additional note." | R095 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF213 | Use conditional clauses instead of temporal clauses | semantic | sentence | - | R095 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D227 | "In most cases, [temporal clauses] are actually to be understood as a condition, in which case a conditional clause should be used. E.g.: 'While the system is booting up, data mustn't be sent." Better: 'If the system is booting, data mustn't be sent.'" | "Temporal clauses can be confusing in the context of requirements, because their function may not be clear." | R095 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF214 | No incomplete comparisons | syntactic | sentence | R095 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D228 | "A comparison is incomplete if there is no value for reference. E.g.: 'The system needs to be faster'. Better: 'The system needs to be faster than 1000 MB/s.'" | R095 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF215 | No universal quantifiers | lexical | sentence | R095 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D229 | "Be careful with universal quantifiers" | "Such quantifi ers might indicate a defect and should at the very least be questioned. E.g.: 'All users should have access to the database.' Should all of the users really have access? | R095 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF216 | No conjunctions | lexical | sentence | R095 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D230 | "The use of 'and' in certain positions is one indicator [for a lack of atomicity], among others." | R095 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF217 | Present and active | syntactic | sentence | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D238 | "Sentence should be in present tense and in active voice.": "(no. of sentences in non-present tense or passive voice) / (no. of sentences in the use case specification document)" | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF218 | Free of GUI design | semantic | sentence | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D239 | "Sentence should not contain GUI element or its description.": "(no. of sentences containing GUI element or its description) / (no. of sentences in the use case specification document)" | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF219 | Free of NFRs | semantic | use case | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D240 | "Sentence should not contain non-functional requirement.": "(no. of sentences containing non-functional requirement) / (no. of sentences in the use case specification document)" | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF220 | Free of compoind predicates | syntactic | sentence | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D241 | "Sentence should not contain compound predicate.": "(no. of sentences containing compound predicate) / (no. of sentences in the use case specification document)" | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF221 | Free of negative adjectives | semantic | word | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D243 | "Sentence should not contain negative adjective.": "(no. of sentences containing negative adjective) / (no. of sentences in the use case specification document)" | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF222 | Actor-Actor interaction | semantic | use case | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D244 | "Sentence should not contain actor to actor interaction.": "(no. of sentences containing actor to actor interaction) / (no. of sentences in the use case specification document)" | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF223 | Actor behavior | semantic | sentence | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D245 | "Subject of sentence in flow of events should be either actor or system.": "(no. of sentences containing actor as subject) / (no. of sentences in the use case specification document)" | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF224 | Proper use of keywords | semantic | use case | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D246 | "Keyword ‘INCLUDE’ should be used in basic flow, ‘EXTEND’ and ‘IF...THEN’ should be used in the alternate flow.": "(no. of times keyword used) / (no. of time keyword actually have to used)" | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF225 | Noun actor | semantic | global | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D247 | "All actors of the system should be noun.": "(no. of noun actor) / (no. of actor specified)" | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF226 | Declarative | syntactic | sentence | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D248 | "All sentences should be declarative.": "(no. of declarative sentences) / (no. of sentences in requirement document)" | R087 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF227 | Quantifiers | lexical | word | + | + | + | R096 | |||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D251 | "While determiners in general describe what a noun refers to, for instance, “the”, “some”, or “their”, quantifiers represent a subcategory of determiners referring to a certain quantity of the noun." | Overall better readability, correctness, and less difficult when working with affirmative quantifiers, compared to their negative equivalences. | R096 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF228 | Negatives | lexical | word | R017, R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D258 | "Negative Statements are 'statements of system capability not to be provided'. Some argue that negative statements can lead to underspecification, such as lack of explaining the system’s reaction on such a case." | R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D258 | "Negative Statements are 'statements of system capability not to be provided'. Some argue that negative statements can lead to underspecification, such as lack of explaining the system’s reaction on such a case." | R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF229 | Vague Pronouns | lexical | word | R017, R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D259 | "Vague Pronouns are unclear relations of a pronoun." | R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| D259 | "Vague Pronouns are unclear relations of a pronoun." | R017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF230 | Modal | lexical | word | R039 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D264 | "Modal adverbs (e.g., positively, permanently, clearly) are modifiers that express a quality associated to a predicate. As noted by Gleich et al. (2010), adverbs are discouraged in requirements as potential source of ambiguity." | R039 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF231 | Measurement Units | lexical | word | R039 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D268 | "Each number is required to have an associated unit of measurement, unless the number represents a reference [...]" | R039 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF232 | Undefined Term | lexical | word | R039 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D270 | "[...] all the terms that follow the textual form used in the company for defining glossary terms [...]" | R039 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| QF233 | No omitted requirements | semantic | document | + | R092, R092 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D272 | "Completeness of an SRS indicates that an SRS should have no omitted requirements" | Incomplete requirements specification can lead stakeholder to miss systems’ functions as well as critical qualities, which eventually causes project failure | R092 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D272 | "Completeness of an SRS indicates that an SRS should have no omitted requirements" | Incomplete requirements specification can lead stakeholder to miss systems’ functions as well as critical qualities, which eventually causes project failure | R092 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QF234 | Functional Completeness | semantic | use case | R103 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ID | Definition(s) | Impact | Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||
| D273 | "The completeness of the use case specification can be depicted in the sense of coverage (“do they cover every function that they should?”), and some structural completeness (“do they have all the required pieces?”)." | R103 | ||||||||||||||||||||||