Trace

Output Formats

Trace generates three output formats from the same traceability graph. Within a given run, PDF, DOCX, and Markdown carry the same logical report content; the exact section set depends on whether you run the generic profile or one of the non-generic profiles.

Formats

Format Extension CLI flag Best for
PDF .pdf --format pdf Audit submissions, DHF/TCF packages, read-only distribution
Word .docx --format docx Editable reports, customer deliverables, review cycles
Markdown .md --format md Version control, wiki integration, CI pipeline artifacts
All three — --format all Generate all formats in one run

The default format when --format is omitted is docx.

Report sections

Generic runs and profile-aware runs share the same renderer family, but they do not emit the same section list.

Generic output

When you omit --profile or use --profile generic, every output file is organized into these five sections:

1. User Needs

A table of all user need rows from the workbook: ID, statement, source, and priority. Forms the top of the traceability chain.

2. Requirements Traceability

The core RTM table. Each row represents one requirement–test pairing. A requirement with multiple tests or multiple test groups expands into multiple rows.

Columns

Requirement ID User Need Requirement statement Test Group Test ID Test Type Test Method Requirement status Source File Test File Last Commit

Source File, Test File, and Last Commit are populated when RTMify Live has linked the spreadsheet to a codebase. They will be empty in pure Trace-only runs.

3. Tests

A table of all test groups and individual test cases. Columns: Test Group, Test ID, Type, Method, and linked requirements.

A test group that verifies multiple requirements shows all of them — the relationship is never silently collapsed to a single requirement.

4. Risk Register

All risk rows with severity, likelihood, mitigation description, linked requirement, and residual risk scores. Risks whose mitigation requirement cannot be resolved are flagged.

5. Gap Summary

A structured list of every detected gap condition. See the Gap Summary page for details on what gap types are reported and how to interpret them.

If there are no gaps, this section appears with a clean bill of health.

Profile-aware output

When you run Trace with a non-generic profile, the report expands to include profile-specific sections. The current profile-aware section order is:

  1. Summary
  2. User Needs
  3. Design Inputs
  4. Design Outputs
  5. Requirements Traceability
  6. Tests
  7. Risk Register
  8. Configuration Items
  9. Gap Summary
  10. Profile Compliance Summary

The CLI, macOS app, and Windows app all generate this same profile-aware report shape for the selected profile.

Output file naming

When --output is not specified, output files are written alongside the input workbook using a name derived from the input stem:

my-template.xlsx
my-template.pdf
my-template.docx
my-template.md

When --output is a directory, derived-name files are written inside that directory. When it is a file path, the CLI uses that path literally.

For --format all, the CLI expects --output to be a directory path if you override it. A literal file path is not expanded into three sibling filenames.

Collision handling differs by entrypoint. The CLI writes the literal derived name shown above. The macOS app uses an -rtm suffix and adds numeric suffixes. The Windows app uses an -rtm suffix, tries -2 through -99, then falls back to a timestamp suffix.