Glossary - T

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Table

A tabular display that appears in running text. See also figure.

An organized list of chapters, sections, and subsections in a document, and the page numbers on which they appear. See also front matter.

Table of figures

An organized list of figures in a document, and the page numbers on which they appear. See also front matter.

Table of tables

An organized list of tables in a document, and the page numbers on which they appear. See also front matter.

Tacit knowledge

Informal knowledge developed and internalized over time that is not documented in any formal way. See also knowledge.

Tangible assets

Assets that have physical substance, such as land, buildings, computing equipment, or cash. See also intangible assets.

Target completion date (TC)

An imposed date that constrains or otherwise modifies the network analysis.

Target finish date (TF)

The date that work is planned to finish on an activity.

Target language

The language into which a translation is made.

Target start date (TS)

The date that work is planned to start on an activity.

Task

A well-defined piece of work that appears at the lowest level of detail of the project’s work breakdown structure. See also activity.

Task analysis

The process of defining the tasks that users perform when they use a product.

Task inventory

A list of the critical performance outputs required to meet the training goals.

Task order

An order issued by a procuring authority for work to be done under the terms of a basic agreement, basic ordering agreement, or master agreement.

Tautology

Repetition of an idea in a different phrase, sentence, or word. See also rhetorical strategies.

Taxonomy

A classification scheme for a body of knowledge, which defines relationships among the information. Also called controlled vocabulary.

TCBOK

Technical Communication Body of Knowledge.

T-commerce

All commerce that occurs through interactive television. See also e-commerce, m-commerce, u-commerce.

Team building

The process of improving communication, motivation, performance, support, and trust within a team.

Team Charter

A project document that typically includes details regarding mission, roles and responsibilities, scope of authority, deliverables, deadlines, and metrics. TEMPLATE GUIDE SAMPLE

Team development stages

A model that defines five stages of building and developing small teams: adjourning, forming, norming, performing, and storming.

Teams

See cross-functional team, integrated project team, process improvement team, project management team, project team, self-managed team.

Tear sheet

A reproduction of the original form of a page or portion of a publication; for example, an advertisement or article.

Tech blog

A blog on a specific technical subject. See also blog types.

Technical Communication Body of Knowledge (TCBOK)

A pathway for people interested in technical communication to find and navigate the huge amounts of knowledge in the technical communication profession.

The measurement of a technical proposal against the technical requirements and the rating factors stated in the solicitation. Cost can be considered as an indicator of understanding of technical requirements.

Technical marketing

Using informational and promotional materials to attract potential buyers to a product, service, or organization. See also marketing types.

Technical performance measurement

A comparison of technical accomplishments during project execution to the project plan’s schedule of technical achievement.

Technical requirements

Descriptions of the operational parameters of the product, written to describe in detail the external interfaces (for example, user, file, and protocol interfaces) and the performance constraints (for example, memory, speed, and so on) without describing the internal structure of the system.

Technical review

A documented, critical review performed by individuals who are technical experts in the subject matter to be reviewed and independent of the work being reviewed.

Technical Specification

A document that describes, defines, or specifies the goods or services to be supplied and prescribes the requirements with which the product or service must conform.

Technical writing

Writing that clearly and concisely conveys complex information.

Technology transfer

The movement of technical knowledge from one individual, organization, or purpose to another.

Teleconference

A phone meeting that has both audio and video.

Template

A preformatted file that serves as a starting point for a new document.

Test Analysis Report

A project document published after testing is complete, which identifies problems associated with the conduct of the test, whether or not the test was successfully completed, and areas that need to be retested. TEMPLATE

Test and evaluation

A process in which a system or selected components are compared with requirements and specifications through testing.

Test bed

An execution environment configured for testing, which may consist of specific hardware, operating system, network topology, configuration of the product under test, other application or system software, and so on.

Test case

A specific test, usually the smallest unit of testing, which consists of information such as requirements testing, test steps, verification steps, prerequisites, outputs, test environment, and so on. Also, a set of test inputs, execution conditions, and expected results that are developed for a particular objective, such as to exercise a particular program path or to verify compliance with a specific requirement.

Test condition

A guideline for developing detailed test cases in which all test conditions must satisfy a functional event. TEMPLATE

Test environment

The hardware and software environment in which tests will be run, and any other software with which the software under test interacts. A controlled environment used for the specific purpose of testing and verifying software fixes.

Test group

See control and test groups.

Test Matrix

A collection of use cases executed to validate correctness. TEMPLATE

Test Plan

A project document that specifies the scope, approach, controls, roles, resources, and schedule of intended organized testing activities. The plan identifies test items, the features to be tested, the testing tasks, who will do each task, and any risks requiring contingency planning. TEMPLATE

Test Procedure

A document that provides detailed instructions for the setup, operation, and evaluation of one or more test cases.

Test Scenario

A document that defines a set of test cases or test scripts and the sequence in which they are to be executed.

Test Script

A project document that provides the instructions for a particular test that will be carried out by an automated test tool. TEMPLATE

Test scripts

Procedures developed within certain guidelines and with specific tools to allow testing to be conducted repetitively in the same manner and independent of the persons conducting the tests.

Test Specification

A document that specifies the test approach for a software feature or combination or features and the inputs, predicted results, and execution conditions for the associated tests.

Test suite

A collection of tests used to validate a product's behavior.

Test to fail

See negative testing.

Test to pass

See positive testing.

Testability

The degree to which a system or component facilitates the establishment of test criteria and the performance of tests to determine whether those criteria have been met.

Testing

The process of exercising software to detect errors and to verify that it satisfies the specified requirements. See also validation. GUIDE

Text equivalent

An HTML attribute that displays a block of text instead of an image on text-based browsers.

Text wrap

Continuing text on the next line when it would extend past the margin.

TF

Total float; target finish date.

TGA

TARGA file format. See also bitmap graphics file formats.

Theoretical sampling

A sample chosen to reflect a particular theory.

Thermography

Printing that uses resin powder to take on the color of and raise the height of the underlying ink. Also called raised printing.

Think-aloud protocol

Testing that involves asking users to think out loud—what they are doing, feeling, and, thinking—as they are performing a task.

Third person

A sentence or part of speech that refers to someone or something other than the speaker or person being addressed. See also first person, second person.

Thread

A series of blog posts on a specific topic.

Thread testing

A variation of top-down testing in which the progressive integration of components follows the implementation of subsets of the requirements, as opposed to the integration of components by successively lower levels.

Thumbnail

A small version of a graphic image.

TIF

Tagged image file format. A cross-platform file format used to store high-quality graphics. See also bitmap graphics file formats.

Time management

The conscious control of time spent on activities in order to maximize productivity.

Time-and-materials contract

A type of contract that provides for the acquisition of products or services on the basis of direct labor hours, at specified fixed hourly rates, for wages; overhead; general and administrative (G&A) expenses and profit; and materials at cost, including materials handling costs.

Tint

The process of screening or adding white to a solid color to lighten that color.

Title page

The page at or near the front of a document that identifies its title and author. See also front matter.

TMP

Temporary file format.

Tone

The attitude the speaker or writer has about a subject as revealed by the intonation of speech or the choice of vocabulary.

Tool

See deboss.

Top-down budget

General, non-detailed projections often used to determine the range of possible project costs.

Top-down estimate

A cost estimate that begins with the top level of the work breakdown structure and works down to successively lower levels.

Top-down testing

An approach to integration testing in which the component at the top of the component hierarchy is tested first, with lower-level components being simulated by stubs. Tested components are then used to test lower-level components. The process is repeated until the lowest-level components have been tested.

Topic-based authoring

A modular approach to content creation which supports content reuse, content management, and the dynamic assembly of personalized information.

Top-level navigation

See global navigation.

Top-of-mind awareness

The brand, product, vendor name, service, etc. that is most prominent in a consumer’s consciousness.

TOT

Table of tables.

Total cost

The sum of allowable direct and indirect costs that are allocable to the project and have been or will be incurred, less any allocable credits, plus any allocable costs of money. See also cost types.

Total float (TF)

See float.

Total quality management (TQM)

An approach used to achieve continuous improvement in an organization’s processes and products.

Total unaided recall

Responses provided without any assistance to questions regarding a brand, company, message, and so forth.

Touch screen

A computer monitor that uses finger positioning on the screen to draw or select an object; for example, on an ATM machine.

TQM

Total quality management.

Traceability

The ability to maintain a recorded path between life cycle phases.

Traceability Matrix

A document that shows the relationship between test requirements and test cases.

Trademark

A name, symbol, or word used to identify and distinguish one organization’s product or service from another's.

Tradeoff

A situation in which one or more parties to a negotiation willingly or unwillingly compromise, concede, or yield on issues.

Traditional assessment

An assessment in which students select responses from a matching list, multiple-choice list, or true/false list. See also alternative assessment.

Training and development

See adult learning.

Training Plan

A project document that defines the objectives, needs, strategy, curriculum, plan, scope, environment, roles, and responsibilities for training needs for system/software development and installation. In addition, it describes the required activities for developing, conducting, and evaluating training. TEMPLATE