Glossaries Glossary - Earned to External

Earned Value Chart

A graph which starts at zero and grows over time to reach 100% of the goal, termed an earned value graph.

Edit History

The edit history mechanism is the micro-CM capability provided by Cradle that can record full details of each and every edit to items in the database.

End Point

The term used for the point where a connector symbol on a diagram (such as a DFD flow) links to an object symbol on a diagram (such as a DFD process). This point is automatically calculated by Cradle and does not need to be derived by the user either when drawing the diagram or changing it.

Entity Relationship Diagram

A diagram type used to describe the static inter-relationships between stored data within a system that is normally used to define both the logical structure of system databases and the static relationships between non-database data that is to be maintained by the system functionality. If object oriented methods are in use in a project, the Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) is used to define the system objects and the inter-relationships of the data within these objects with the data content of other system objects.

Environment Condition

The second tier in the three-tier packaging system used to construct the external loading (in terms of Performance Parameters) that is applied to a state model during a performance analysis. Each environment condition consists of a name and an arbitrarily large set of input conditions. Environment conditions are the basic building blocks of such an environmental loading and typically correspond to real-world objects in the system's environment. As such real-world objects may impose loading on the system along a number of environmental inputs flows, one input condition is used to apply a partial load for the real-world object along each of these environmental flows, whilst the environmental condition groups all such input conditions for the real-world object together into one unit.

Environment Load

The third and highest tier in the packaging system used to construct the external loading (in terms of Performance Parameters) that is applied to a state model during a performance analysis. Each environment load consists of a name and an arbitrarily large set of environment conditions. Each performance analysis subjects a state model to the loading defined by an environment load. A sequence of environment loads can be defined in a load scenario. An environment load typically corresponds to a test case for the performance of a system.

Essential Domain

The combination of sets of various types of diagrams, specifications, and data definitions that are organised into a coherent structure (by the rules of a system development methodology) that collectively describe the essential requirements for the system in a formalised manner. The Essential Domain constitutes the product of the system analysis phase of a project development and as such is fully cross referenced back to the system requirements (and therefore the customer specifications) and forward to the embryonic system design.

Event

Events are used in the analysis stage of a project to model the environment of a system and to describe how the system interacts with this environment. Each event consists of a stimulus (held in a frame called STIMULUS) that describes a stimulus to the system from a part of the environment, a response (held in a frame called RESPONSE) which describes how the system is to respond to the stimulus, an event type to classify the event (from a pre-defined set), an optional event group to group-related events together, and an optional set of before events that are the set of events that must have occurred before the event can occur (the pre-conditions for the event).

Event Group

An optional categorisation of events to assemble them into groups. The events in a group will naturally correspond to parts of the system analysis that are closely related, and will be defined in the same Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs) or Behaviour Diagrams (BDs). The use of event groups is one approach to the event partitioning of a system during analysis.

Event List

A list of system events that is both internally cross referenced and cross referenced into the system analysis and, potentially, directly into the design. Each event identifies a stimulus to the system from a part of the environment and the system’s response to such a stimulus. The event list constitutes a definitive formalisation of that part of the customer requirements which relates to system response functionality.

Expand

Expanding a symbol creates a new child diagram for it.

Export

Allows data from the Cradle database to be stored in a file to later import into any Cradle database or many other applications.

Extended Function Flow Block Diagram

A diagram notation (eFFBD) that allows you to show the interaction between system functions by distributing them along a timeline. A timeline consists of a set of directed arrows, connecting functions and nodes to depict a processing sequence.

Extensible Markup Language

This is Cradle's XML (extensible mark-up language) import/export file format and allows the export and import of some types of information from a PDB.

External Document

A document that is external to Cradle, i.e. a formal document or a source document.