Lavionic DO-178C Objective Selector

The system safety assessment gives the software level, A to E. The level follows the worst failure condition that a wrong behaviour of the software can cause or contribute to. The level decides which objectives of ED-12C / DO-178C Annex A apply and which of them need independence.

• The software level from your system safety assessment: A (catastrophic), B (hazardous), C (major), D (minor) or E (no safety effect).

• How many of the 71 objectives apply at that level, how many of them need independence, and how many are at the applicant's discretion.
• A figure with one bar per table, A-1 to A-10.
• One fold per table with the numbers of the objectives that apply and whether each needs independence, under a topic in our own words.
• The counts of every table at levels A to D side by side.
• An edit panel: change the level and the result follows at once.

• Software level: the level, A to E, that the system safety assessment gives to a software component. It follows the worst failure condition that a wrong behaviour of the component can cause or contribute to (ED-12C 2.3.3, 2.3.4).
• Objective: a result that a software life cycle process should reach. Annex A numbers the objectives per table: 71 in Tables A-1 to A-10 ("A-4 13" is objective 13 of Table A-4).
• Independence: someone who did not make the item does the check; a tool can do the same work. For quality assurance, it also gives the authority to make sure that the corrective action happens (ED-12C Annex B).
• Applicant's discretion: a blank cell in Annex A. The applicant decides whether to satisfy that objective at that level.
• Control category: CC1 or CC2, the degree of configuration control on an item of life cycle data. CC2 needs fewer configuration management activities than CC1 (ED-12C 7.3). Annex A gives it per output and level; v0.1 does not show it.
• System safety assessment: the system process that finds the failure conditions and their severity, and with them the software level.

Use it online in your browser, or download it once as one HTML file. The file opens in Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox, works without an internet connection and sends no data anywhere.

The selector shows the objective numbers and a topic for each table in our own words, not the text of the objectives. It does not show the control categories, the supplements or section 12, and it does not choose the level: the system safety assessment does. Read ED-12C / DO-178C for the full objectives.

The selector is an aid, not a means of compliance.

• EUROCAE ED-12C / RTCA DO-178C, section 2.3 and Annex A, Tables A-1 to A-10 (summarised in our own words)
• ED-12C section 7.3 and Annex B (control category and independence)