Duration: 36:45

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Software traceability is the ability to link software artifacts like requirements, code and tests that are related to each other. Even though there are several efforts aimed at solving traceability needs in the open source world, there is still no tool that currently does it all.

It is well known that traceability is not a fixed concept, it can differ from company to company and even project to project. Capra is an Eclipse based plugin created in the context of the AMALTHEA4Public project, that facilitates creation of traceability links of different types. Capra provides the ability to configure traceability links according to users’ needs. It is also extendable to support any type of development artefact. Capra can display traceability matrices, transitive link relationships, as well as identify issues with traceability links such as missing endpoints.

How it works
Capra uses the Eclipse Modelling Framework (EMF) as its base technology and stores the traceability model as an EMF model. The traceability metamodel is not fixed and can be defined by the user. It relies on the Eclipse Extension mechanism and provides an extension point for arbitrary artifact types to be supported. Out of the box, Capra supports tracing to Java classes and methods, C files and functions, files like PDF and Word, arbitrary model elements modelled in any EMF-based editor (such as Papyrus), and tasks supported by Mylyn. To add a new type of artifact, one simply needs to add an extension to this extension point and implement the provided interfaces.

In our presentation/demo, we will show how to achieve the following using Capra:

• Define your own link types
• Create traceability links
• Visualize traceability links for analysis and decision making
• Identify errors in the traceability links and support for fixing them
• Extend the tool (in a few minutes) to support more artefact types

The above features will be demonstrated using real life use-cases in embedded systems development. They will show how traceability links can be established between development artefacts from all stages of development.

Future Contribution to Eclipse
Amalthea4Public project has resulted into an Eclipse open source project called APP4MC. APP4MC is a platform that is provides metamodels that facilitate development of embedded multicore and many core systems in the automotive domain. Capra is currently being polished and will be included in upcoming APP4MC releases as a plugin to support traceability between the different models.

Speaker(s): Salome Maro [Chalmers | Gothenburg University]