.nf
                        DEFECT WEIGHTING CRITERIA

                      Revised 10/17/86 Jack D. Cooley



       This document describes defect weighting for both severity (when
       submitting a defect) and priority (when receiving a defect).  When
       using the DTS-STARS link, it is not advisable to modify severity,
       since it is set to reflect the field's perception of the importance
       of the defect.

       9    User cannot use the product for the purpose for which it was
            bought.  Reasonable expectation of user does not work and no
            work around exists.

           o+ Major feature not working

           o+ System crashes

           o+ Loss of permanent data (on disc)

           o+ Incorrect answers where necessary for useful operation

       7    Product can be used to solve user's problem, but much harder to
            use than expected.  Reasonable expectation does not work and
            work around is difficult.  Incorrect answers, and difficult for
            user to adjust the data.

       5    Product will solve the users problem with a reasonable work
            around.  Isolating the problem and or implementing the work
            around requires a knowledge of the design of the program.
            Could not be done via automatic translation.

       3    Product will solve the users problem with a simple work around.
            Isolating the problem and implementing the work around are very
            simple.  Is very localized.  Does not require knowledge of
            overall design of the program.  Could be done via automatic
            translation.

       1    Cosmetic defect.  Solves the user's problem, but could be
            better.

       0    Should not be included in defect statistics.

           o+ User misunderstanding

           o+ Duplicate

           o+ Not repeatable

           o+ Hardware problem

           o+ Enhancement request

                For purposes of determining defect PRIORITY, weight 0
                is reserved for defects that will not be fixed.

       Adjustment:  The weight of any defect may be reduced up to two
       levels based on probability of occurrence.  To move two levels would
       imply a situation that could not occur in a real user system and
       that would violate correct use of the system.  (Each category is
       considered a level, so a change from 9 to 5 would be considered a
       move of two levels.)

