Visualizing traceability links between source code and documentation

Xiaofan Chen; John Hosking; John Grundy

doi:10.1109/VLHCC.2012.6344496

Visualizing traceability links between source code and documentation

Xiaofan Chen^*, John Hosking, John Grundy

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

It is well recognized that visualizing traceability links between software artifacts helps developers to recover, browse, and maintain these inter-relationships effectively and efficiently. However, it is a major challenge for researchers to efficiently visualize traceability links for big software systems because of scalability and visual clutter issues. In this paper we present a new approach that combines treemap and hierarchical tree visualization techniques to provide a global structure of traces and a detailed overview of each trace. These both reduce visual clutter while still being highly scalable and interactive. Our usability study shows that our approach can support comprehension, browsing, and maintenance of traceability links.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings - 2012 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2012
Pages	119-126
Number of pages	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/VLHCC.2012.6344496
Publication status	Published - 2012
Event	2012 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2012 - Innsbruck, Austria Duration: 30 Sept 2012 → 4 Oct 2012

Publication series

Name	Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC
ISSN (Print)	1943-6092
ISSN (Electronic)	1943-6106

Conference

Conference	2012 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2012
Country/Territory	Austria
City	Innsbruck
Period	30/09/12 → 4/10/12

Access to Document

10.1109/VLHCC.2012.6344496

Cite this

Chen, X., Hosking, J., & Grundy, J. (2012). Visualizing traceability links between source code and documentation. In Proceedings - 2012 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2012 (pp. 119-126). Article 6344496 (Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC). https://doi.org/10.1109/VLHCC.2012.6344496

@inproceedings{1fe350c21a8c4659a160ba0e58037bb5,

title = "Visualizing traceability links between source code and documentation",

abstract = "It is well recognized that visualizing traceability links between software artifacts helps developers to recover, browse, and maintain these inter-relationships effectively and efficiently. However, it is a major challenge for researchers to efficiently visualize traceability links for big software systems because of scalability and visual clutter issues. In this paper we present a new approach that combines treemap and hierarchical tree visualization techniques to provide a global structure of traces and a detailed overview of each trace. These both reduce visual clutter while still being highly scalable and interactive. Our usability study shows that our approach can support comprehension, browsing, and maintenance of traceability links.",

keywords = "Hierarchical tree, Software traceability, Traceability visualization, Treemap",

author = "Xiaofan Chen and John Hosking and John Grundy",

year = "2012",

doi = "10.1109/VLHCC.2012.6344496",

language = "English",

isbn = "9781467308502",

series = "Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC",

pages = "119--126",

booktitle = "Proceedings - 2012 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2012",

note = "2012 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2012 ; Conference date: 30-09-2012 Through 04-10-2012",

}

Chen, X, Hosking, J & Grundy, J 2012, Visualizing traceability links between source code and documentation. in Proceedings - 2012 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2012., 6344496, Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC, pp. 119-126, 2012 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2012, Innsbruck, Austria, 30/09/12. https://doi.org/10.1109/VLHCC.2012.6344496

Visualizing traceability links between source code and documentation. / Chen, Xiaofan; Hosking, John; Grundy, John.
Proceedings - 2012 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2012. 2012. p. 119-126 6344496 (Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

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AU - Hosking, John

AU - Grundy, John

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N2 - It is well recognized that visualizing traceability links between software artifacts helps developers to recover, browse, and maintain these inter-relationships effectively and efficiently. However, it is a major challenge for researchers to efficiently visualize traceability links for big software systems because of scalability and visual clutter issues. In this paper we present a new approach that combines treemap and hierarchical tree visualization techniques to provide a global structure of traces and a detailed overview of each trace. These both reduce visual clutter while still being highly scalable and interactive. Our usability study shows that our approach can support comprehension, browsing, and maintenance of traceability links.

AB - It is well recognized that visualizing traceability links between software artifacts helps developers to recover, browse, and maintain these inter-relationships effectively and efficiently. However, it is a major challenge for researchers to efficiently visualize traceability links for big software systems because of scalability and visual clutter issues. In this paper we present a new approach that combines treemap and hierarchical tree visualization techniques to provide a global structure of traces and a detailed overview of each trace. These both reduce visual clutter while still being highly scalable and interactive. Our usability study shows that our approach can support comprehension, browsing, and maintenance of traceability links.

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KW - Software traceability

KW - Traceability visualization

KW - Treemap

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DO - 10.1109/VLHCC.2012.6344496

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 9781467308502

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EP - 126

BT - Proceedings - 2012 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2012

T2 - 2012 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, VL/HCC 2012

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ER -

Visualizing traceability links between source code and documentation

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