Contains two glossaries of commonly-used terms. Select each letter for that part of the glossary.
Contains a list of the terminology used in requirements management, systems engineering and V&V (validation and verification), including terms used in model-based systems engineering (MBSE). The definitions of some of these terms are often the subject of debate. These are our definitions. If you disagree with any of them, please contact us to discuss! This list is not exhaustive.
Contains a list of the principal terminology used in Cradle. This list is not exhaustive.
A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y
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Abstract Data Type |
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Abstract data types are one of Date, Time, Integer, Positive Integer or Real. |
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Access Mode |
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The fundamental nature of information access that a user possesses as one of read-write, read-only and no access. It is also the fundamental type of access of a user to the Cradle system. |
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Action |
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One of a set of zero or more actions that are performed by a State Transition Diagram when it traverses a transition between a pair of states. |
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Activity |
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An activity is a task which is not assigned to anyone. Once the activity is assigned it becomes a task. |
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Activity Diagram - Non SysML |
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An Activity Diagram is a diagram notation that allows you to describe the operational lifecycle of a class, whose behaviour is non-trivial or possibly multi-threaded. |
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Activity Diagram - SysML |
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Used to define the behaviour of a block in terms of the time ordered sequence of actions to be executed based on the availability of inputs, outputs and control logic, and how the actions transform the inputs to outputs. |
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Actor |
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An active object that lies on the boundary of the system and terminates the flow of data as sources and/or sinks of data. An actor is therefore analogous to a terminator. Actors participate in classes of interactions with the system, each of which is termed a use case. Actors are normally first identified in Use Case Diagrams. |
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Ada |
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A computer programming language sponsored by the US Department of Defense (DoD). Ada was the successful contender from four languages short-listed by the US DoD for a single standard language to be used on all DoD contracts, thereby avoiding the multiplicity of languages and language dialects that had hitherto created enormous system maintenance problems. Developed by an Anglo-French team, it was the Green language in the short-list of Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green. As a result, Green predominates in Ada documentation. Ada provides unsurpassed data typing and scoping mechanisms, has built-in tasking support, supports object oriented concepts such as inheritance and polymorphism, and is unique in extending the definition of a programming language to the form of a compilation system needed to support the language. |
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Ada Structure Graph |
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Ada Structure Graphs are used to provide a visual representation of the program units in an Ada software system. |
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Adaptation |
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An adaptation of an item is essentially a copy of an item that can be changed and is linked to the original item by a special cross reference. |
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Alert |
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Alerts are messages that can be sent by Cradle users (user alerts), or by parts of the Cradle system (system alerts). They have a priority (normal or urgent), a subject and a brief message, split into 4 lines. |
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Analysis |
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The activity of identifying the functional, dynamic, and stored data characteristics of a system from the formalised requirements identified from the customer’s original specification documents. The deliverable from this activity is an Essential Domain, internally cross referenced, and cross referenced to the formalised requirements set. The activity which takes as its inputs the results of requirements engineering and which produces a formalised description of the required functionality, stored data, and dynamic characteristics of a system to satisfy these requirements, expressed in a systems development methodology that allows automated checks to be run for consistency, completeness, and omissions. |
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Application Programming Interface |
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The Cradle Application Programming Interface (API) is a set of routines that can be used to create applications that use the database and supporting features. |
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Architecture Interconnect Diagram |
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An Architecture Interconnect Diagram (AID) is a diagram notation that allows you to depict the system architecture from a logical point of view. The intention in the AID is that these connections represent logical, not physical, links. They represent a logical grouping of the data that is conveyed between physical components in the architecture. They do not represent a physical connection between these components. The Physical Architecture Diagram (PAD) is used to show the physical connections. |
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Auto-Categorisation |
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Document Loader can automatically set category values based on the presence of a particular value in the requirement text; a process known as auto-categorisation. Auto-categorisation works using category recognition strings (CRSs), which are a predefined set of regular expressions. |
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Auto-Number |
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Auto-numbering can be set for requirements and system notes. From here, you can enable hierarchical options, e.g. the Attribute and the Separator. When auto-numbering is enabled, Cradle will no longer prompt users to enter an item’s identity when items are created or copied. Facilities to renumber items are disabled if auto-numbering is enabled for that item type. |