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[ A ] [ B ] [ C ] [ D ] [ E ] [ F ] [ G ] [ H ] [ I ] [ K ][ L ] [ M ] [ N ] [ O ] [ P ][ Q ] [ R ] [ S ] [ T ] [ U ] [ V ]
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| Summary: This glossary defines terminology used within CAST AIP. Note that it does not include terms which are associated with external concepts, or terms generally used globally. Such information should be obtained from related external documentation help system. |
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AETP data is not available when the EFP measure has been used to calculate the snapshot.
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Technical Points)
As defined in the OMG AEP specification, Automated Enhancement Technical Points (AETP) assess the changes made to the technical part of the application. Therefore, AETP is the count of added / modified / deleted technical points, which are calculated based on the added / modified / deleted technical objects (i.e. objects which are not part of any transaction). In other words, AETP summarizes the evolution performed in the application, but outside the functional scope (these objects are not taken into account in the functional points, so the AEP measure introduces the concept of "technical points" to assess the enhancement done in these types of objects). See also CAST OMG-compliant Automated Function Points and CAST Automated Enhancement Points Estimation - AEP.
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- for historical reasons, all assessment results are calculated including Business Criteria
- however the majority of Sizing Results are only calculated in the Dashboard Service database (Technical Debt for example)
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Anchor application application
Application
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A union of Analysis Units that defines the scope of source code for analysis.
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A specification of metrics, quality rules, calculation rules and quality criteria to assess source code quality and risks.
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Backfired Function Point
Back-Fired Function Points (BFP) estimate the number of function points of an application. This code-derived metric is based on the lines of code, weighted by an abacus for a given technology.
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Best Practices are business-oriented strategic quality indicators (i.e. Business Criteria). They rely on the measure of compliance with a set of Technical Criteria that assess the impact on the application development business. CAST uses three main Best Practices to grade an application's source code:
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Business Criteria are strategic quality indicators, either business oriented, or development oriented. They rely on the measurement of compliance with a set of specific Technical Criteria that assess the impact on the application development business - as Health Factors - or the compliance to development Best Practices - as Rule Compliance. Their grade is based upon the weights of contributing Technical Criteria grades. The following are Business Criteria:
Health Factor Business Criteria:
Best Practices Business Criteria:
- Architectural Design
- Documentation
- Programming Practices
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Central or Central Site
See Dashboard Service database.
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Changeability is a software characteristic that measures how flexible and adaptable the application is when it is getting enhanced. If an application has low Changeability, that probably means it has a lot of spaghetti code, it's not very well structured, it's not well documented and it's overly complex. The primary reason why IT organizations are slow in responding to business needs is that most systems of record and differentiation, which need to support new business rules, have low Changeability. The Changeability Health Factor is expressed as an index from 1 to 4, with 4 indicating the most flexible application. The grade is calculated based on the average of a list of Technical Criteria linked to a list of specific Quality Rules.
The biggest benefit to improving changeability is increasing future speed of deliver. Other benefits include:
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Critical Violation
See Violation.
CWE
CWE is a community-developed list of software and hardware weakness types. It serves as a common language, a measuring stick for security tools, and as a baseline for weakness identification, mitigation, and prevention efforts. CAST implements CWE standards in its quality rules - see:
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- Analysis results (components, violations, diagnosis findings) for each Snapshot
- Assessment results for each Snapshot
- Assessment Model for each Snapshot
- Assessment results at the level of Functional Module and Application
- The majority of Sizing Results
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A defective component is a Component in violation with a Quality Rule.
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Diagnosis Findings pinpoint statements or properties of the defective component violating a Quality Rule pattern. A Diagnosis Findings can be a Bookmark or a counter. Do not confuse with a Violation.
Diagnosis Procedure
An SQL procedure producing Diagnosis Findings.
Diagnosis Value
A diagnosis value is a specific Diagnosis Finding reported as a value: a counter or a name to reference a source code;
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The CAST Engineering Dashboard is a web application provided as part of CAST AIP (bundled in the same .WAR file as the CAST Engineering Dashboard (legacy)). Its primary usage is to provide a variety of technical "DNA type" information about a company's applications.
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Efficiency is a measure of potential performance and scalability bottlenecks in software. While traditional functional testing can identify some performance issues in applications, most serious efficiency defects manifest in live usage. By using established industry best practices, CAST measures software efficiency by evaluating the complexity of SQL statements, memory management, and use of calls in loops and expensive routines within an application's code. The Efficiency Health Factor is expressed as an index from 1 to 4, with 4 indicating the highest level of efficiency. The grade is calculated based on the average of a list of Technical Criteria linked to a list of specific Quality Rules.
Improving software efficiency can raise business productivity and lower software and operational costs, as well as many other benefits:
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The CAST Engineering Dashboard is a web application. Its primary usage is for low level, detailed investigation of data stored in the CAST Dashboard Service generated during the analysis/snapshot generation process.
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The CAST Engineering Dashboard is a web application provided as part of CAST AIP (bundled in the same .WAR file as the CAST Discovery Portal). Its primary usage is for low level, detailed investigation of data stored in the CAST Dashboard Service generated during the analysis/snapshot generation process.
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EFP is was used by default in CAST AIP 8.21.x and all previous releases to estimate the size of an application revision. Out of the box in CAST AIP 8.32.0 x and all later releases the alternative measure AEP is used. The EFP measure is still available for use via a manual update in AIP Console or CAST Management Studio. See also CAST OMG-compliant Automated Function Points.
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Implementation Points form part of the AEP measure. The second step to compute AETP allows to align Implementation Points (IP) with Function Points in order to provide consistent values for AETP. An Equivalence Ratio (ER) is then calculated to weight the Implementation Points for Artifacts belonging to the technical part of the application:
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An external object is created by the CAST analyzer during an analysis (as is the case for standard "objects" resulting from an analysis), however, they are associated to the analyzed project source code in an external way. For example, an external object could be an object that is part of a library and which is called by the analyzed source code, but is not analyzed itself. Often, external objects do not have source code stored in the CAST schemas, the objects are instead simply recorded as existing. An external object often appears as greyed out in the CAST Enlighten Object Browser.
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Failed Checks
Number of defective components for a Quality Rule.
≤ CAST AIP 8.1.x
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Functional Modules are used in CAST AIP to define a logical break down of Application source code into smaller units. Examples are a user defined module or an automatic module such as a "full content module" or a module generated for an Analysis Unit.
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Generated code
Many technologies supported by CAST AIP for analysis include the ability to produce "auto generated code" from templates or other sources. When this auto generated source code is analyzed by CAST AIP, the following is true:
- Auto generated code is analyzed to help understand the entire code being analyzed
- Objects are created from the code and saved in the CAST Analysis Service database (to help trace transactions for example) and these objects are marked as being "generated"
- Any Quality Rule violations that are caused by these "auto generated" objects are not displayed in the CAST dashboards and they do not contribute to grade calculations
- "Generated" objects are excluded from any aggregated metrics (for example Lines of Code (LOC))
The method used by CAST AIP to determine whether source code is "auto generated" is specific to each technology.
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(CAST) Health Dashboard
The CAST Health Dashboard is a web application. Its primary usage is for high level investigation of aggregated data stored in the CAST Measurement Service generated during the analysis/snapshot generation process.
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Health Factors are business-oriented strategic quality indicators (i.e. Business Criteria). They rely on the measure of compliance with a set of Technical Criteria that assess the impact on the application development business. CAST uses six main Health Factors to grade an application's source code:
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(CAST) Imaging
CAST Imaging is a software visualization solution for the IT teams to visualize and navigate through the application architecture layer by layer; something similar to Google Earth. It is a single page application that can be accessed by any developer, architect, business executive to get insight into architecture, technologies, frameworks and other functional layers of the applications.
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Implementation Points form part of the AEP measure. The first step to compute AETP 233865401 is to estimate the Implementation Points (IP) for Artifacts in both the technical and functional parts of the application. Implementation Points are counted as follows:
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See also CAST Automated Enhancement Points Estimation - AEP.
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Knowledge Base
See Analysis Service database.
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LISA (Large Intermediate Storage Area)
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- These files will be removed once the analysis is complete.
- This folder is similar in nature to the Windows %TEMP% folder.
Local or Local Site
See Analysis Service database.
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NIST
The NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) is a physical sciences laboratory and a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce. Its mission is to promote innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into laboratory programs that include nanoscale science and technology, engineering, information technology, neutron research, material measurement, and physical measurement. CAST implements NIST standards in its quality rules - see:
- NIST-SP-800-53R4-AC
- NIST-SP-800-53R4-AU
- NIST-SP-800-53R4-CA
- NIST-SP-800-53R4-CM
- NIST-SP-800-53R4-IA
- NIST-SP-800-53R4-SA
- NIST-SP-800-53R4-SC
- NIST-SP-800-53R4-SI
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Maintainability Index
Determines the cost and difficulty/ease to maintain an application in the future. Increased maintainability index makes applications cheaper to maintain with more predictable results.
Management Service database
A Management Service database stores configuration options for the CAST Management Studio are related resources.
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Alternative legacy/deprecated names: Management, MNGT |
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A Measurement Service database stores consolidated results from one or multiple Dashboard Service databases for use with the CAST Application Analytics Dashboard.
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Alternative legacy/deprecated names: Measurement base |
(CAST) Management Studio
The CAST Management Studio is a client/server
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Maintainability Index
Determines the cost and difficulty/ease to maintain an application in the future. Increased maintainability index makes applications cheaper to maintain with more predictable results.
Management Service database
A Management Service database stores configuration options for the CAST Management Studio are related resources.
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Alternative legacy/deprecated names: Management, MNGT |
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A Measurement Service database stores consolidated results from one or multiple Dashboard Service databases for use with the CAST Application Analytics Dashboard.
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Alternative legacy/deprecated names: Measurement base |
(CAST) Management Studio
The CAST Management Studio is a client/server application installed as part of CAST AIP. It is used to manage the entire Application analysis and snapshot generation process.
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Modules are executable software components or tightly coupled sets of executable software components (one or more), developed and deployed together, that deliver some of the steps needed by an Application to operate. The modules that together make up application code units. CAST scores can be seen as a result of the second unit of analysis within the application. Back to topscores can be seen as a result of the second unit of analysis within the application.
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NIST
The NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) is a physical sciences laboratory and a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce. Its mission is to promote innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into laboratory programs that include nanoscale science and technology, engineering, information technology, neutron research, material measurement, and physical measurement. CAST implements NIST standards in its quality rules - see:
- NIST-SP-800-53R4-AC
- NIST-SP-800-53R4-AU
- NIST-SP-800-53R4-CA
- NIST-SP-800-53R4-CM
- NIST-SP-800-53R4-IA
- NIST-SP-800-53R4-SA
- NIST-SP-800-53R4-SC
- NIST-SP-800-53R4-SI
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OMG-ASCQM
OMG (Object Management Group) ASCQM (Automated Source Code Quality Measures) are calculated from detecting and counting violations of good architectural and coding practices in the source code that could result in unacceptable operational risks or excessive costs. Establishing standards for these measures at the source code level is important because they have been used in outsourcing and system development contracts without having international standards to reference. CAST implements OMG-ASCQM standards in its quality rules - see:
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PCI DSS
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is an information security standard for organizations that handle branded credit cards from the major card schemes. CAST implements PCI DSS standards in its quality rules - see:
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Propagated Risk Index (PRI) is a measurement of the riskiest artifacts or objects of the application along the Health Factors of Robustness, Performance and Security. PRI takes into account the intrinsic risk of the component coupled with the level of use of the given object in the transaction. It systematically helps aggregate risk of the application in a relative manner allowing for identification, prioritization, and ultimately re-mediation of the riskiest objects.*
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Quality Distribution
A Quality Distribution is an operational quality indicator, designed to assess a component based on the balance of the distribution of an attribute value among objects of the component. It relies on the distribution of tested objects according to one of their properties (e.g.: object size) into four categories, for an Application or a Functional Module.
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A Quality Rule is an operational quality indicator, designed to assess a component based on the compliance to a coding or architecture practice. A Quality Rule is defined for a single technology or a set of technologies (unified which is the default) and produces a grade between 1.0 (very high risk) and 4.0 (low risk) for an Application or a Functional Module.
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Result
An assessment result of an Application or a Functional Module.
Result Detail
Additional values, indicators, related to a Result:
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Robustness is an indication of the likelihood that an application will incur defects, corrupt data or completely fail in production. Often referred to as "resilience", CAST's Robustness measure is based on industry best practices around algorithmic and control flow complexity, controlled data access at an architectural level, architectural object-oriented design, error and exception handling, and the level of coupling and inter-dependency. The Robustness measure also evaluates the ease with which an application can be tested for defects. CAST expresses the Robustness Health Factor as an index from 1 to 4, with 4 indicating the highest level of robustness. The grade is calculated based on the average of a list of Technical Criteria linked to a list of specific Quality Rules.
While improving the robustness of critical business applications will reduce incidents that impact user satisfaction, there are also several additional tangible benefits:
- Improve customer satisfaction
- Extend business continuity
- Reduce support and defect recovery costs
- Help make the software more secure
- Maximize revenue generation opportunities
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Security measures the likelihood of potential security breaches linked to coding practices and application source code. CAST expresses the Security Health Factor as an index from 1 to 4, with 4 indicating the highest level of security. The grade is calculated based on the average of a list of Technical Criteria linked to a list of specific Quality Rules.
(CAST) Server Manager
CAST Server Manager is a traditional client/server application installed as part of CAST AIP. It is used to install CAST AIP schemas and CAST AIP extensions.
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Technical Criteria
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The Total Quality Index (TQI) measures the general maintainability level of the application. CAST expresses the TQI Health Factor as an index from 1 to 4, with 4 indicating the highest level of maintainability. TQI differs slightly in comparison to other Health Factors - it is an average of ALL the available Technical Criteria linked to all Quality Rules provided by CAST (other Health Factors have specific contributing Technical Criteria and Quality Rules).
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TQI
See Total Quality Index (Health Factor).
Transaction Risk Index (TRI)
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Transferability measures how easily applications can be moved across teams or team members including in-house and outsourced development teams. CAST expresses the Transferability Health Factor as an index from 1 to 4, with 4 indicating the highest level of transferability. The grade is calculated based on the average of a list of Technical Criteria linked to a list of specific Quality Rules.
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Unadjusted Data Functions
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Unadjusted Transactional Functions = Sum of (Function Points of all User Forms). See also CAST OMG-compliant Automated Function Points.
Unify
A Quality Rule unifying a set of alternative Quality Rules; each alternative Quality Rule is defined for a single technology. For example "7166 - Avoid Artifacts with High Cyclomatic Complexity" gathers all violations of quality rules (666,1118,1652,2296,2646,3138,3654,4148,4780,5134,5580,6186,6618,7112). Note that these rules (flagged with unify=false) are always disabled.
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Violation
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IMPORTANT: For a given component and a given Quality Rule pattern there is 0 or 1 violations. If a component breaks a rule N times, then each occurrence is detailed into the Diagnosis Findings structure with a value counter equal to N, and/or with N values, and/or with N code bookmarks.
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Violation Index (VI) assesses the overall quality of an object regarding a health concern (Robustness, Security,…), by a weighted aggregation on the violation 233865401 it carries.
Violation Pattern
The Violation Pattern is the pattern that is searched for in the Analysis Service content (source code, cartography, etc.) to pinpoint Violations. The Violation Pattern should be described in the description field of the Quality Rule.