Fault

Go up to Terms and Definitions

A Fault is a condition of a test object or its operating environment that causes or contributes to a difference between specified and actual behaviour.

A Fault differs from a Failure. A Fault is a condition that causes or contributes to incorrect behaviour. A Failure occurs when the test object does not perform a required function or does not satisfy a specified requirement.

A Fault also differs from a Test Execution Exception. A Fault exists within or affects the test object or its operating environment. A Test Execution Exception identifies a condition arising during Test Execution that differs from a governing requirement, procedure, precondition, sequence, constraint, or expected result.

A Fault may exist without producing an immediately observable Failure. The Fault may remain dormant until a particular state, input, interaction, timing condition, or resource condition activates it.

a condition of a test object or its operating environment that causes or contributes to a difference between specified and actual behavior

DIDO-TE controlled definition, informed by the dependability and software-engineering concepts in ISO/IEC/IEEE 24765, Systems and software engineering — Vocabulary.

The governing Test Definition identifies the specified behavior used to determine whether a Fault causes or contributes to a difference.

A Fault may affect state, activity, interaction, processing, timing, input, output, communication, resource use, or another specified operating condition.

A Fault may originate within the test object or within a condition governing its operation.

A Test Definition specifies that a Node SHALL respond to an authorized request within 200 milliseconds. A deliberately introduced communication delay causes the response to exceed that limit. The communication-delay condition is a Fault. The response exceeding 200 milliseconds is the resulting difference between specified and actual behavior.