3. Non-Functional Requirements

Non-functional requirements address aspects of the system other than the specific functions it performs. These aspects include system performance, costs, and such general system characteristics as reliability, security, and portability.

3.1. System-Related Non-Functional Requirements

The test tool is both time and space efficient. The only operations in the tool that will consume time are test generation and automatic test grading. Generating a specific test will consume time because the user inputs criteria which the program attempts to match in finding questions for the test. This operation should not take longer than 20 seconds. Automatic grading test will also take time because the system will have to do many comparisons and calculations. Grading should not take longer than 20 seconds, as well. The time consumed to perform these operations will increase as the test size increases.

Opening and saving a Local Question Bank should be quick and take no longer than 2 seconds. Opening and saving a Shared Question Bank may take longer due to unknown network conditions and should take no longer than 5 seconds. Operations such as adding or removing questions should be immediate, taking no longer than 2 seconds.

When taking an in-class test, the test will take no longer than 10 seconds to appear on the students' compuers after the instructor has begun the test.

The main space consuming element of the Test Tool is the Question Bank. A Question Bank will take up more space as the number of questions increases, but should not exceed 50 KB per question. A Test is the other space consuming element of the Test Tool. This too will increase as the number of questions increase, but should not exceed 100 KB per question after it has been taken and graded.

3.2. Qualitative System Characteristics

The Test Tool is a very reliable product. The Question Banks are saved as files ether locally or remotely, depending on weather the Question Bank is local or shared, respectively. The entire classes' answered tests are stored in one file instead of having one file per student. When the tests have been graded, they will be saved to that same file.

The Test Tool uses two other programs. It will get a class roster from the Grader Tool to administer a test electronically. The Test Tool will also send graded tests to the Grader Tool electronically. In order to check the correctness of the Programming questions, the Test Tool will use a language appropriate compiler.

The Test Tool handles data carefully. In grading tests, the tool checks weather the student answers match the answer associated with the question. For short answer and essay questions, the tool also checks weather certain phrases are contained in the student answer; however, most of the grading for these types of questions is left up to the instructor.

The Test Tool is very secure. When the student is ready to take the test, he must log in with his own user name and password. In order to access the Shared Question Bank, the user must provide a username and password. Also, only the administrator of that Shared Question Bank is allowed to edit and delete questions from the Shared Question Bank. The Questions in a Question Bank and in the Test are also encrypted. This prevents students from seeing the questions before taking the test.

There is the possibility that more than one person will be accessing a Shared Question Bank at the same time. To prevent a read-before-write error, requests to the Shared Question Bank will be serviced one at a time. So if a user request access to the Shared Question Bank while another user is currently using it, the system will force the first user to wait until the second user is finished.

The only privacy issue pertinent to the Test Tool is that students may look at other students’ monitors while taking the test.

There are no safety issues related to the Test Tool.

The Test Tool will be installed on the instructor’s computer and all the machines in the room where the test will be administered. The Test Tool will be compatible with Windows and Unix/Linux operating systems.

The instructor may edit or delete questions in the Local Question Bank. Only the administrator can edit or delete questions from the Shared Question Bank. The instructor can also modify or delete existing tests. He can also create new test or Question Banks.

The Test Tool interface is simple and very similar to common software. The test tool puts simplicity before power.