1 REQUREMENTS ENGINEERING What are software requirements?

The descriptions of the system services and constraints that are generated during the requirements engineering process. Developed during the first phase in the software development life cycle. Requirements Types Functional requirements. What requirements (What the product must do). Describe functionality or system services (what are the inputs, the outputs and expectations). Depend on the type of software, expected users and the type of organization where the system is developed. Functional requirements can be: User requirements are high-level statements of what the system should do. System requirements should describe the system services in detail. Example: The LIBSYS Case Study A library system that provides a single interface to a number of databases of articles in different libraries. Users can search for, download and print these articles for personal study. Example 1: The user shall be able to search either all of the initial set of databases or select a subset from it. Example 2: Every order shall be allocated a unique identifier (ORDER_ID) which the user shall be able to copy to the accounts permanent storage area. User & System Requirements User Requirements Written for customers. Statements in natural language. Describe the services the system provides and its operational constraints. May include diagrams or tables. Should describe functional and non-functional requirements. Should be understandable by system users who dont have detailed technical knowledge We provide a definition for a user requirement. System Requirements Statements that set out detailed descriptions of the systems functions, services and operational constraints. Defines what should be implemented so may be part of a contract between client and contractor. Intended to be a basis for designing the system. Can be illustrated using system models. We provide a specification for a system requirement. Definition & Specification User requirement definition: LIBSYS shall keep track of all data required by copyright licensing agencies in the UK and elsewhere. System requirements specification: 1.1 On making a request for a document from LIBSYS. The requestor shall be presented with a form that records details of the user and the request made. 1.2 LIBSYS request form shall be stored on the system for five years from the date of request.

2 1.3 All LIBSYS request forms must be indexed by user name, the material requested and by the supplier of the request. 1.4 LIBSYS shall maintain a log of all requests that have been made to the system. 1.5 For material where authors lending rights apply, loan details shall be sent monthly to copyright licensing agencies that have registered with LIBSYS. Problems with Requirements Problems arise when requirements are not precisely stated (Ambiguous). Ambiguous requirements may be interpreted in different ways by developers and users. Should be complete and consistent. Non-functional requirements. System Properties (Reliability, Response time, Maintainability, Storage requirements.) Constraints (I/O device capability, Data representations.) Process Requirements (Mandating a particular CASE system, Programming language or Development method) Examples of Non-Functional Requirements Product Requirement: The user interface for LIBSYS shall be implemented as simple HTML without frames or Java applets. Organisational Requirement: The system development process and deliverable documents shall conform to the process and deliverables defined in XYZCo-SP-STAN-95. External Requirement: The system shall not disclose any personal information about customers apart from their name and reference number to the operators of the system. Verifiable Non-Functional Requirements Non-functional requirements may be very difficult to state precisely. Imprecise requirements may be difficult to verify. Therefore we need a statement using some measure that can be objectively tested. Example: The system shall be easy to use. Better expressed as: Experienced users shall be able to use all the system functions after a total of two hours training. After this training, the average number of errors made by experienced users shall not exceed two per day. Requirements Measures
Property Speed Size Ease of use Reliability Robustness Portability Measure Processed transactions/second. User/Event response time. Screen refresh time. M Bytes. Number of ROM chips. Training time. Number of help frames. Mean time to failure. Probability of unavailability. Rate of failure occurrence. Availability. Time to restart after failure. Percentage of events causing failure. Probability of data corruption on failure. Percentage of target dependent statements. Number of target systems.

Guidelines for writing requirements Invent a standard format and use it for all requirements. Use language in a consistent way. Use shall for mandatory requirements, should for desirable requirements. Use text highlighting to identify key parts of the requirement. Avoid the use of computer jargon. Why is it important to get it right? If you dont do it right you will build a very elegant software solution that solves the wrong problem. the result is project failure, wasted time and money, personnel frustration, and customer dissatisfaction. Domain requirements.

Representing requirements The SRS document - The Software Requirements Specification (SRS) document is the official statement of what is required of the system developers. - Should include both: a definition of user requirements. a specification of the system requirements. - It is NOT a design document. As far as possible, it should set WHAT the system should do rather than HOW it should do it. Users of the SRS document

Structure of the SRS document Preface. Introduction. Glossary. User requirements definition. System requirements specification. System models. Appendices. Index. Requirements Engineering Process The process of establishing the services that the customer requires from a system and the constraints under which it operates and is developed. The result is a specification: representing the requirements in a manner that ultimately leads to successful software implementation.

1. Feasibility Study - A feasibility study decides whether or not the proposed system is worthwhile. - A short focused study that checks: a. If the system contributes to organisational objectives; b. If the system can be engineered using current technology and within budget; c. If the system can be integrated with other systems that are used. 2. Requirements Elicitation - Involves technical staff working with customers to find out about the application domain, the services that the system should provide and the systems operational constraints. - May involve end-users, managers, engineers involved in maintenance, domain experts, trade unions, etc. These are called stakeholders. a. Requirements Discovery. Sources of information: - Documentation. ex: Existing documents and files (business mission, sample forms, flowcharts, etc)

5 System stakeholders by: o Interviews. o Observation (ethnography). o Questioners. - Specifications of similar systems (reports). b. Requirements Analysis (System Models). - The model aids the analyst in understanding the system, thereby makes the requirements analysis easier and more systematic. - The model becomes the focal point of review. - The model becomes foundation for design. - Produced during requirements analysis. 3. Requirements Specification It is the final work product produced by the requirements engineer. The SRS document. It serves as a foundation for the software design and implementation. -

4. Requirements Validation - The process of ensuring that the requirements actually define the system that the customer wants. - Why is it important? o The cost of fixing a requirements problem by making a system change is much greater than repairing design or coding errors. Requirements Validation Checks Validity checks. Is this what the user wants? Consistency checks. Requirements should not conflict. Completeness checks. Requirements should define all functions and constraints. Realism checks. Ensure they could be implemented. Verifiability. Requirements should be written so that they are verifiable; you should be able to write tests for each requirement. Requirements Validation Techniques Requirements reviews. A team of reviewers manually check the requirements. Prototyping. An executable model of the system is demonstrated to customers. Test-case generation. Requirements should be testable. If tests are difficult or impossible to design, this means that the requirements will be difficult to implement. 5. Requirements Management Why? Requirements for large software systems are always changing. Because the problem cannot be fully specified, the requirements are usually incomplete and bound to change. During the software process the stakeholders understanding of the problem is constantly changing. After the system is installed, new requirements will emerge. What? It is the process of understanding and controlling changes to system requirements. Requirements Management (Planning) Requirements identification. Each requirement must be uniquely identified. A change management process. Assess the impact and cost of change. Traceability policies. Define the relationship between requirements.