RAMES was developed under a quality assurance (QA) program that looked at the software life cycle: requirements analysis, design, programming, modification, testing, and implementation. Quality is defined as the ability of the software to meet client needs. Meeting client needs starts with a shared understanding of how the software must perform and continues throughout the software life cycle through attention to details.

Part of the QA program involves testing each component to ensure that it satisfies its requirements. The requirements section of the FRAMES system documentation provides a list of general requirements for FRAMES. A test plan was developed with test cases that addressed these requirements. The following table shows how these requirements were addressed in testing.

Testing Matrix for FRAMES System Testing

[WAITING FOR CORRELATION BETWEEN TEST PLAN MATRIX AND TESTING REQUIREMENTS]

For additional information on the QA program, including testing, see "An Approach to Ensuring Quality in Environmental Software," (Gelston et al. 1998. PNNL-11880).