Functional and non functional requirements. Requirements elicitation Requirements analysis Requirements validation Requirements management

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1 Requirements Engineering Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Cinvestav Tamaulipas

2 Content Requirements engineering Functional and non functional requirements Requirements engineering processes Requirements elicitation Requirements analysis Requirements validation Requirements management Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

3 Requirements engineering The process of establishing the services that the customer requires from a system and the constraints underwhich itoperatesand isdeveloped The requirements themselves are the descriptions of the system services and constraints that are generated during the requirements engineering process Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

4 What is a requirement? It may range from a high level abstract statement of a service or of a system constraint to a detailed mathematicalfunctional specification This is inevitableit asrequirements mayserveadual function May be the basis for a bid for a contract therefore must be open to interpretation May be the basis for the contract itself therefore must be defined in detail Boththese statements tt t may be called requirements Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

5 User requirements Types of requirement Statements in natural language plus diagrams of the services the system provides and its operational constraints. Written for customers System requirements A structured document setting out detailed descriptions of the system s functions, services and operational constraints. Defines what should be implemented so may be part of a contract between client and contractor Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

6 Requirements readers User requirements Client mana gers System end-users Client eng ineers Contractor mana gers System architects System requirements System end-users Client eng ineers System architects Software de velopers Software design specification Client eng ineers (perha ps) System architects Software de velopers Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

7 Functional and non functional requirements Functional requirements Statements of services the system should provide, how the system should react to particular inputs and how the system should behave in particular situations Non functional requirements constraints on the services or functions offered by the system such as timing constraints, constraints on the development process, standards, etc Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

8 Functional requirements Describe functionality or system services Depend on the type of software, expected users and the typeof system where the software is used Functional user requirements may be high levelh l statements of what the system should do but functional system requirements should describe the system services in detail Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

9 Non functional requirements These define system properties and constraints e.g. reliability, response time and storage requirements. Constraints are I/O device capability, system representations, etc Process requirements may also be specified mandating a particular CASE system, programming language or development method Non functional requirements may be more critical than functional requirements. If theseare not met, the system is useless Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

10 Requirements imprecision Problems arise when requirements are not precisely stated Ambiguous requirements may be interpreted in different ways by developers and users Consider the term appropriate viewers User intention special purpose viewer for each different document type Developer interpretation provide a text viewer that shows the contents of the document Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

11 Requirements completeness and consistency In principle, requirements should be both complete and consistent Complete They should include descriptions of all facilities required Consistent t There should be no conflicts or contradictions in the descriptions of the system facilities In practice, it is impossible to produce a complete and consistent requirements document Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

12 Guidelines for writing requirements Invent a standard format and use it for all requirements Use language in a consistent way. Use shall hll for mandatory requirements, should for desirable requirements Use text highlighting to identify key parts of the requirement Avoid the use of computer jargon Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

13 Requirements and design In principle, requirements should state what the system should do and the design should describe how it does this In practice, requirements and design are inseparable A system architecture may be designed to structure the requirements The system may inter operate with other systems that generate design requirements The use of a specific design may be a domain requirement Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

14 The requirements document The requirements document is the official statement of what is required of the system developers. Should include both a definition ii of user requirements and a specification of the system requirements. It is NOT a design document. As far as possible, it should set of WHAT the system should do rather than HOW it should do it Users: system customers, managers, system engineers, system test engineers, system maintenance engineers Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

15 Requirements engineering processes The processes used for RE vary widely depending on the application domain, the people involved and the organisation developing the requirements However, there are a number of generic activities iti common to all processes Requirements elicitation Requirements analysis Requirements validation Requirements management Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

16 Requirements engineering processes... Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

17 Feasibility studies A feasibility study decides whether or not the proposed system is worthwhile A short focused study that checks If the system contributes to organisational objectives If the system can be engineered using current technology and within budget If the system can be integrated t with other systems thatt are used Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

18 Feasibility study implementation Based on information assessment (what is required), information collection and report writing Questions for people p in the organisation What if the system wasn t implemented? What are current process problems? How will the proposed system help? What will be the integration problems? Is new technology needed? What skills? What facilities must be supported by the proposed system? Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

19 Elicitation and analysis Sometimes called requirements elicitation or requirements discovery Involves technical staff working with ihcustomers to find out about the application domain, the services that the system should provide and the system s operational constraints May involve end users, managers, engineers involved in maintenance, domain experts, trade unions, etc. These are called stakeholders Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

20 Problems of requirements analysis Stakeholders don t know what they really want Stakeholders express requirements in their own terms Different stakeholders may have conflicting requirements Organisational and political factors may influence the system requirements The requirements change during the analysis process. New stakeholders may emerge and the business environment change Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

21 Elicitation and analysis activities Requirements discovery Interacting with stakeholders to discover their requirements Requirements classification and organisation Groups related requirements and organises them into coherent clusters Prioritisation and negotiation Prioritising requirements and resolving requirements conflicts Requirements documentation Requirements are documented and input into the next round of the spiral Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

22 Requirements discovery The process of gathering information about the proposed and existing systems and distilling the user and system requirements fromthis information Sources of information include documentation, system stakeholders and the specifications of similarsystems Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

23 Interviewing In formal or informal interviewing, the RE team puts questions to stakeholders about the system that they use and the system to be developed There are two types of interview Closed interviews where a pre defined set of questions are answered Open interviews where there is no pre defined agenda and a range of issues are explored with stakeholders In practice, normally a mix of closed and open endedended interviewing Interviews are good for getting an overall understanding of what stakeholders do and how they might interact with the system Interviews are not good for understanding domain requirements Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

24 Scenarios Scenarios are real life life examples of how a system can be used They should include A description of the starting situation A description of the normalflow of events A description of what can go wrong Information about other concurrent activities A description of the state when the scenario finishes Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

25 LIBSYS scenario Initial assumption: The user has logged on to the LIBSYS system and has located the journal containing the copy of the article. Normal: The user selects the article to be copied. He or she is then prompted by the system to either provide subscriber information for the journal or to indicate how they will pay for the article. Alternative payment methods are by credit card or by quoting an organisational account number. The user is then asked to fill in a copyright form that maintains details of the transaction and they then submit this to the LIBSYS system. The copyright form is checked and, if OK, the PDF version of the article is downloaded to the LIBSYS working area on the user s computer and the user is informed that it is available. The user is asked to select a printer and a copy of the article is printed. If the article has been flagged as print-only it is deleted from the user s system once the user has confirmed that printing is complete. What can go wrong: The user may fail to fill in the copyright form correctly. In this case, the form should be represented to the user for correction. If the resubmitted form is still incorrect then the user s request for the article is rejected. The payment may be rejected by the system. The user s request for the article is rejected. The article download may fail. Retry until successful or the user terminates the session. Other activities: Simultaneous downloads of other articles. System state on completion: User is logged on. The downloaded article has been deleted from LIBSYS workspace if it has been flagged as print-only. Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

26 Use cases, LIBSYS example Article search Library User Article printing User admin istration Library St aff Su pplier Catalogue services Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

27 Print article sequence diagram item: Article copyrightform: Form myworkspace: Workspace myprinter: Printer User request request complete return copyright OK deliver article OK print send inform confirm delete Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

28 Requirements validation Concerned with demonstrating that the requirements define the system that the customer really wants Requirements error costs are high so validation is very important Fixing a requirements error after delivery may cost up to 100 times the cost of fixing an implementation error Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

29 Requirements checking Validity. Does the system provide the functions which best support the customer s needs? Consistency. Are there any requirements conflicts? Completeness. Are all functions required by the customer included? Realism. Can the requirements be implemented given available budget and technology Verifiability. Can the requirements be checked? Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

30 Requirements validation techniques Requirements reviews Systematic manual analysis of the requirements Prototyping Using an executable model of the system to check requirements Test case generation Developing tests for requirements to check testability Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

31 Requirements reviews Regular reviews should be held while the requirements definition is being formulated Both client and contractor staff should be involved in reviews Reviews may be formal (with completed documents) or informal. Good communications between developers, customers and users can resolve problems at an early stage Review checks Verifiability. Is the requirement realistically testable? Comprehensibility. Is the requirement properlyunderstood? Traceability. Is the origin of the requirement clearly stated? Adaptability. Can the requirement be changed without a largeimpact on other requirements? Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

32 Requirements management Requirements management is the process of managing changing requirements during the requirements engineering process and system development Requirements are inevitably incomplete and inconsistent New requirements emerge during the process as business needs change anda better understanding ofthe system is developed Different viewpoints have different requirements and these are often contradictory Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

33 Requirements change The priority of requirements from different viewpoints changes during the development process System customers may specify requirements from a business perspective that conflict with end user requirements The business and technical environment of the system changes during its development Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

34 Requirements evolution Initial understanding of problem Changed understanding of problem Initial requirements Changed requirements Time Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

35 Enduring and volatile requirements Enduring requirements. Stable requirements derived from the core activity of the customer organisation. E.g. a hospital will always have doctors, nurses, etc. May be derived from domain models Volatile requirements. Requirements which change during development or when the system is in use. In a hospital, requirements derived from health care policy Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

36 Requirements management planning During the requirements engineering gp process,,you have to plan: Requirements identification How requirements are individually identified; A change management process The process followed when analysing a requirements change; Traceability policies The amount of information about requirements relationships that is maintained; CASE tool support The tool support required to help manage requirements change; Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

37 Traceability Traceability is concerned with the relationships between requirements, their sources and the system design Source traceability Links from requirements to stakeholders who proposed these requirements; Requirements traceability Links between dependent requirements; Design traceability Links fromthe requirements to the design; Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

38 A traceability matrix Req id 1.1 D R 1.2 D D D 1.3 R R 2.1 R D D 2.2 D 2.3 R D 3.1 R 3.2 R Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas

39 Requirements change management Should apply to all proposed changes to the requirements. Principal stages Problem analysis. Discuss requirements problem and propose change; Change analysis and costing. Assess effects of change on other requirements; Change implementation. Modify requirements document and other documents to reflect change. Identified Revised problem pobe Problem analysisandand Change ana lysis Change requirem e ents cha nge specifica tio n and costing implementation Eduardo Rodriguez Tello, PhD Software Engineering Cinvestav Tamaulipas