Verifying Requirements with Tests

Verifying requirements with tests

This is where the two halves of Studio meet. Your requirements live in the Unified Process; your tests live in test management. Verification connects them, so you can say with a straight face: "REQ-0001 is verified, and here's the evidence."

Connect a test to what it verifies

Open a test plan, suite, case or run, scroll to Traces, and add a trace with the relation Verifies pointing at a requirement, use case, change request or work product.

flowchart LR
    TC["TC-0007<br/>Valid login"] -- verifies --> UC["UC-0002<br/>Get deadline warning"]
    TS["TS-0004<br/>Authentication suite"] -- verifies --> REQ["REQ-0001<br/>Warn before the deadline"]
    RUN["RUN-0006<br/>Sprint 2"] -- verifies --> CR["CR-0001<br/>Change limit to 60 days"]

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Studio keeps these links clean: tests are related to process records only with Verifies, always from the test to the record, and only towards those four kinds of records.

The verification status

On a requirement, use case, change request or work product, QA users see a Verification section with a status badge and the tests behind it:

The status is calculated from real results every time you look. It's never typed in by hand, and a test plan that exists but never ran doesn't count as verification.

Test	Results it contributes
Test case	Its last result (unless obsolete).
Suite	The last result of each non-obsolete case in it and its child suites.
Plan	The last result of each non-obsolete case in it.
Run	The result of each execution, but only once the run is completed.

flowchart TD
    A[Results of all the tests<br/>that verify the record] --> B{Any trace at all?}
    B -- no --> N[⚪ No Verification]
    B -- yes --> C{Any failed or blocked?}
    C -- yes --> F[🔴 Failing]
    C -- no --> D{All passed?}
    D -- yes --> P[🟢 Passed]
    D -- no --> E{Some passed?}
    E -- yes --> PP[🟡 Partially Passed]
    E -- no --> NR[⚪ Not Executed]

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Results are read as you: tests you can't see are ignored. They neither pass nor fail a record on your screen.

Readiness criteria

Three readiness criteria use verification. The Standard and Existing System cases recommend them:

Criterion	Looks at	Milestone (Standard case)
Approved requirements are verified by passing tests	Requirements in Approved or Published	Initial Operational Capability
Reviewed use cases are verified by passing tests	Use cases in Reviewed or Published	Product Release
Change requests marked verified have passing test evidence	Change requests in Verified	any

Each gap names the record and what's wrong, for example:

REQ-0021 has no verification artifact. REQ-0021: [TC-0003] Login is Failed.

People without access to test management see "Not evaluated: you have no access to Test Plans." instead of a misleading result.

🤝 A change request's Verified state stays a human decision. The criterion doesn't change it; it just tells you when the evidence is missing.