e3value user guide
Dependency paths of a value model may overlap, as illustrated in figure 6.1. This models the situation that the Railwaycompany offers group tickets and two Travelers use this offer.
In general, a value model has one or more customer needs, each at the root of a dependency graph, and these graphs may or may not overlap. A trace through the model is a set of dependency paths, one for each customer need in the model. If the dependency graphs of the model are disjoint, then we can partition a trace in disjoint dependency paths and analyze them separately. But if the dependency graphs overlap, then a trace will contain partially merged dependency paths that must be analyzed jointly.