ACORN WORKFLOW EVALUATION CHECKLIST
Prepared for the SQFR offline preview, 18 September 2026.

This is a blank planning aid, not a test certificate or completed validation.
Use public, constructed or otherwise authorised material. Do not send case
evidence, credentials or personal information with an initial demo enquiry.

1. DEFINE THE TASK
Examination question:
Intended user and environment:
Required input format, version and encryption state:
Required output and receiving tool, if any:
What counts as a useful result:
What would require a deeper examination:

2. IDENTIFY THE BUILD AND SETUP
Acorn edition, version and build identifier:
Application, parser and dependency versions:
Hardware model, interfaces and firmware where relevant:
Source-protection method and verification:
Read-only source and separate output destination:
Network requirements and permitted external services:
Licence or separately installed components required:

3. RECORD THE TEST SOURCE
Dataset name and source/reference:
Reuse permission and any restrictions:
Source identifier and independently recorded hash:
Known planted records or independently established ground truth:
Expected records, fields and output:
Relevant missing, corrupt, encrypted or negative-control examples:
Time zone, clock assumptions and date interpretation:

4. RUN AND RECORD
Steps, settings, start/end time and operator:
Observed records and output files:
Source paths, record identifiers and output hashes:
Warnings, skipped items, failures and incomplete coverage:
Comparison with the expected result:
Independent method or second-parser check where appropriate:
Disagreements and the work needed to explain them:
Repeat result using the same build and settings:

5. CHECK THE HANDOVER
Can another examiner locate the original record?
Are observations separate from interpretation and conclusions?
Does the output include, or travel with, the settings and known limits?
Does a proposed receiving tool actually read the particular output?
Do timestamps, encodings, record counts and source references survive?
Have generic data exchange and native case-project import been distinguished?

6. DECIDE AND KEEP THE LIMITS
Suitable task and tested scope:
Unsupported variants or unresolved questions:
Approved use, reviewer and review date:
Changes that would trigger a repeat check:
Support, licence, update and deployment terms to confirm:

Reference methodology: NIST Computer Forensics Tool Testing programme
https://www.nist.gov/itl/csd/secure-systems-and-applications/computer-forensics-tool-testing-program-cftt

This checklist is not issued, approved or certified by NIST or a regulator.
A workflow demonstration does not replace your organisation's validation,
quality, security or evidence-handling requirements.