Turn an unknown into a specific question

Read conflicts before broad capability questions

Physical and direction blockers appear first. Repeated problems at different stages stay separate, and a long chain does not drop its protocol, power or performance questions. A missing catalogue entry means missing evidence here, not proof that support is absent.

Match the scope of the evidence

Exact-port statements come from that selected port group. Exact intermediate products, class references and user-selected forms keep different labels. Unknown cable behavior is not filled from the connected devices. The same connector on two ports does not transfer their roles.

Check the document, not just the connector

Each question explains where to check, what wording to look for, what the document could establish and what it cannot establish. No document is fetched or reverified by opening the checklist. Source inspection dates are unchanged.

Keep navigation deliberate

Inspect/edit stage buttons move focus to that stage without changing any selection. Cable and device-port handoffs display read-only reference context only. Return links go back to that reference, not an automatically restored full comparison tray. The chain is session-only: export it before leaving this page. An audit is not a restorable editable topology.

An edit invalidates the previous result

Adding, removing, reordering or changing any stage disables both exports and removes the stale analysis until you analyze again. Filtering the question list changes visibility only; JSON and printable HTML include every question.

No completion or approval shortcut

There are no compatibility scores or “passed” checkboxes. A documentation question is not answered merely because a link was opened. Performance remains uncalculated. Printable HTML is script-free and makes no network requests; printing itself depends on your browser.