Software Requirements

Objectives
To introduce the concepts of user and system
requirements
To describe functional and non-functional
requirements
To explain how software requirements may
be organised in a requirements document
Topics covered
Functional and non-functional requirements
User requirements
System requirements
Interface specification
The software requirements document
Requirements engineering
The process of establishing the services that
the customer requires from a system and the
constraints under which it operates and is
developed.
The requirements themselves are the
descriptions of the system services and
constraints that are generated during the
requirements engineering process.
What is a requirement?
It may range from a high-level abstract
statement of a service or of a system
constraint to a detailed mathematical
functional specification.
This is inevitable as requirements may serve
a dual 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;
Both these statements may be called
requirements.
Requirements abstraction (Davis)
“If a company wishes to let a contract for a large software development project, it
must define its needs in a sufficiently abstract way that a solution is not pre-defined.
The requirements must be written so that several contractors can bid for the contract,
offering, perhaps, different ways of meeting the client organisation’s needs. Once a
contract has been awarded, the contractor must write a system definition for the client
in more detail so that the client understands and can validate what the software will
do. Both of these documents may be called the requirements document for the
system.”
Types of requirement
User requirements
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.
Definitions and specifications
User requir
ement definition

1. The softw
are must provide a means ofrepre senting and
1. accessingxternal
e files eated
cr by other tools
.

System require ments specification

1.1 The user should beovided

pr with facilities to define the type of
1.2 external files
.
1.2 Each xeternal file type ma
y have an associa ted tool which may be
1.2 applied to the file .
1.3 Each xeternal file type ma
y be er presented as a specific icon on
1.2 the user’s display.
1.4 Facilities should beovided
pr or
f the iconeprr e senting an
1.2 external file type to be defined y the
b user.
1.5 When a user selects an icon epresenting
r anxternal
e file
, the
1.2 effect of that selection is to apply the tool associated with the type of
1.2 the external file to the file represented by the selected icon.
Requirements readers
Client mana gers
System end-users
User
Client engineers
require ments
Contra ctor managers
System architects

System end-users
System Client eng
ineers
require ments System architects
Software developers

Client eng
ineers (perha
ps)
Software design
System architects
specifica
tion
Software developers
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.
Domain requirements
 Requirements that come from the application domain of
the system and that reflect characteristics of that
domain.
Functional requirements
Describe functionality or system services.
Depend on the type of software, expected
users and the type of system where the
software is used.
Functional user requirements may be high-
level statements of what the system should do
but functional system requirements should
describe the system services in detail.
The LIBSYS system
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.
Examples of functional requirements

The user shall be able to search either all of

the initial set of databases or select a subset
from it.
The system shall provide appropriate viewers
for the user to read documents in the
document store.
Every order shall be allocated a unique
identifier (ORDER_ID) which the user shall be
able to copy to the account’s permanent
storage area.
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.
Requirements completeness and consistency
In principle, requirements should be both
complete and consistent.
Complete
They should include descriptions of all facilities
required.
Consistent
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.
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 these
are not met, the system is useless.
Non-functional classifications
Product requirements
 Requirements which specify that the delivered product
must behave in a particular way e.g. execution speed,
reliability, etc.
Organisational requirements
 Requirements which are a consequence of
organisational policies and procedures e.g. process
standards used, implementation requirements, etc.
External requirements
 Requirements which arise from factors which are
external to the system and its development process e.g.
interoperability requirements, legislative requirements,
etc.
Non-functional requirement types
Non-functional
requirements

Product Organisational External

requirements requirements requirements

Efficiency Reliability Portability Interoperability Ethical

requirements requirements requirements requirements requirements

Usability Delivery Implementation Standards Legislative

requirements requirements requirements requirements requirements

Performance Space Privacy Safety

requirements requirements requirements requirements
Non-functional requirements examples
Product requirement
8.1 The user interface for LIBSYS shall be
implemented as simple HTML without frames or Java
applets.
Organisational requirement
9.3.2 The system development process and deliverable
documents shall conform to the process and deliverables
defined in XYZCo-SP-STAN-95.
External requirement
7.6.5 The system shall not disclose any personal
information about customers apart from their name and
reference number to the operators of the system.
Goals and requirements
Non-functional requirements may be very difficult
to state precisely and imprecise requirements
may be difficult to verify.
Goal
 A general intention of the user such as ease of use.
Verifiable non-functional requirement
 A statement using some measure that can be objectively
tested.
Goals are helpful to developers as they convey
the intentions of the system users.
Examples
A system goal
 The system should be easy to use by experienced
controllers and should be organised in such a way that
user errors are minimised.
A verifiable non-functional requirement
 Experienced controllers 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 Measure
Speed Processed transactions/second
User/Event response time
Screen refresh time
Size M Bytes
Number of ROM chips
Ease of use Training time
Number of help frames
Reliability Mean time to failure
Probability of unavailability
Rate of failure occurrence
Availability
Robustness Time to restart after failure
Percentage of events causing failure
Probability of data corruption on failure
Portability Percentage of target dependent statements
Number of target systems
Requirements interaction
Conflicts between different non-functional
requirements are common in complex
systems.
Spacecraft system
To minimise weight, the number of separate
chips in the system should be minimised.
To minimise power consumption, lower power
chips should be used.
However, using low power chips may mean
that more chips have to be used. Which is the
most critical requirement?
Domain requirements
Derived from the application domain and
describe system characteristics and features
that reflect the domain.
Domain requirements be new functional
requirements, constraints on existing
requirements or define specific computations.
If domain requirements are not satisfied, the
system may be unworkable.
Library system domain requirements
There shall be a standard user interface to all
databases which shall be based on the Z39.50
standard.
Because of copyright restrictions, some
documents must be deleted immediately on
arrival. Depending on the user’s
requirements, these documents will either be
printed locally on the system server for
manually forwarding to the user or routed to
a network printer.
Domain requirements problems
Understandability
Requirements are expressed in the language of
the application domain;
This is often not understood by software
engineers developing the system.
Implicitness
Domain specialists understand the area so well
that they do not think of making the domain
requirements explicit.
User requirements
Should describe functional and non-
functional requirements in such a way that
they are understandable by system users who
don’t have detailed technical knowledge.
User requirements are defined using natural
language, tables and diagrams as these can
be understood by all users.
Problems with natural language
Lack of clarity
Precision is difficult without making the
document difficult to read.
Requirements confusion
Functional and non-functional requirements
tend to be mixed-up.
Requirements amalgamation
Several different requirements may be
expressed together.
LIBSYS requirement
4.5 LIBSYS shall provide a financial
accounting system that maintains
records of all payments made by users of
the system. System managers may
configure this system so that regular
users may receive discounted rates.
 Editor grid requirement
6 Grid facilities To assist in the positioning of entities on a diagram,
e user may turn on a grid in either centimetres or inches, via an
tion on the control panel. Initially, the grid is off. The grid may be
rned on and off at any time during an editing session and can be
ggled between inches and centimetres at any time. A grid option
l be provided on the reduce-to-fit view but the number of grid
nes shown will be reduced to avoid filling the smaller diagram
th grid lines.
Requirement problems
Database requirements includes both conceptual
and detailed information
 Describes the concept of a financial accounting system
that is to be included in LIBSYS;
 However, it also includes the detail that managers can
configure this system - this is unnecessary at this level.
Grid requirement mixes three different kinds of
requirement
 Conceptual functional requirement (the need for a grid);
 Non-functional requirement (grid units);
 Non-functional UI requirement (grid switching).
Structured presentation

2.6.1 Grid facilities

The editor shall provide a grid facility where a m atrix of horizontal and
vertical lines provide a background to the editor window. This grid shall be a
passive grid where the alignment of entities is the user's responsibility.
Rationale: A grid helps the user to create a tidy diagram with well-spaced
entities. Although an active grid, where entities 'snap-to' grid lines can be useful,
the positioning is imprecise. The user is the best person to decide where entities
should be positioned.
Specification: ECLIPSE/WS/Tools/DE/FS Section 5.6
Source: Ray Wilson, Glasgow Office
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.
System requirements
More detailed specifications of system
functions, services and constraints than user
requirements.
They are intended to be a basis for designing
the system.
They may be incorporated into the system
contract.
System requirements may be defined or
illustrated using system models discussed in
Chapter 8.
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.
Problems with NL specification
Ambiguity
The readers and writers of the requirement
must interpret the same words in the same
way. NL is naturally ambiguous so this is very
difficult.
Over-flexibility
The same thing may be said in a number of
different ways in the specification.
Lack of modularisation
NL structures are inadequate to structure
system requirements.
Alternatives to NL specification
Notation Description
Structured natural This approach depends on defining standard forms or templates to express the
language requirements specification.
Design This approach uses a language like a programming language but with more abstract
description features to specify the requirements by defining an operational model of the system.
languages This approach is not now widely used although it can be useful for interface
specifications.
Graphical A graphical language, supplemented by text annotations is used to define the
notations functional requirements for the system. An early example of such a graphical
language was SADT. Now, use-case descriptions and sequence diagrams are
commonly used .
Mathematical These are notations based on mathematical concepts such as finite-state machines or
specifications sets. These unambiguous specifications reduce the arguments between customer and
contractor about system functionality. However, most customers don’t understand
formal specifications and are reluctant to accept it as a system contract.
Structured language specifications
The freedom of the requirements writer is
limited by a predefined template for
requirements.
All requirements are written in a standard
way.
The terminology used in the description may
be limited.
The advantage is that the most of the
expressiveness of natural language is
maintained but a degree of uniformity is
imposed on the specification.
Form-based specifications
Definition of the function or entity.
Description of inputs and where they come
from.
Description of outputs and where they go to.
Indication of other entities required.
Pre and post conditions (if appropriate).
The side effects (if any) of the function.
Form-based node specification
Insulin Pump/Control Software/SRS/3.3.2
Function Compute insulin dose: Safe sugar level
Description Computes the dose of insulin to be delivered when the current measured sugar level is in
the safe zone between 3 and 7 units.
Inputs Current sugar reading (r2), the previous two readings (r0 and r1)
Source Current sugar reading from sensor. Other readings from memory.
Outputs CompDose Š the dose in insulin to be delivered
Destination Main control loop
Action: CompDose is zero if the sugar level is stable or falling or if the level is increasing but the rate of
increase is decreasing. If the level is increasing and the rate of increase is increasing, then CompDose is
computed by dividing the difference between the current sugar level and the previous level by 4 and
rounding the result. If the result, is rounded to zero then CompDose is set to the minimum dose that can
be delivered.
Requires Two previous readings so that the rate of change of sugar level can be computed.
Pre-condition The insulin reservoir contains at least the maximum allowed single dose of insulin..
Post-condition r0 is replaced by r1 then r1 is replaced by r2
Side-effects None
Tabular specification
Used to supplement natural language.
Particularly useful when you have to define a
number of possible alternative courses of
action.
Tabular specification

Condition Action
Sugar level falling (r2 < r1) CompDose = 0
Sugar level stable (r2 = r1) CompDose = 0
Sugar level increasing and rate of CompDose = 0
increase decreasing ((r2-r1)<(r1-r0))
Sugar level increasing and rate of CompDose = round ((r2-r1)/4)
increase stable or increasing. ((r2-r1)  If rounded result = 0 then
(r1-r0)) CompDose = MinimumDose
Graphical models
Graphical models are most useful when you
need to show how state changes or where you
need to describe a sequence of actions.
Different graphical models are explained in
Chapter 8.
Sequence diagrams
These show the sequence of events that take
place during some user interaction with a
system.
You read them from top to bottom to see the
order of the actions that take place.
Cash withdrawal from an ATM
Validate card;
Handle request;
Complete transaction.
Sequence diagram of ATM withdrawal
ATM Database

Card
Card number

Card OK
PIN request
PIN
Option menu Validate card

<<exception>>
invalid card

Withdraw request Balance request

Balance
Amount request
Handle request
Amount
Debit (amount)

<<exception>> Debit response

insufficient cash

Card
Card removed
Complete
Cash transaction

Cash removed
Receipt
Interface specification
Most systems must operate with other
systems and the operating interfaces must be
specified as part of the requirements.
Three types of interface may have to be
defined
Procedural interfaces;
Data structures that are exchanged;
Data representations.
Formal notations are an effective technique
for interface specification.
PDL interface description
interface PrintServer {

// defines an abstract printer server

// requires: interface Printer, interface PrintDoc
// provides: initialize, print, displayPrintQueue, cancelPrintJob, switchPrinter

void initialize ( Printer p ) ;

void print ( Printer p, PrintDoc d ) ;
void displayPrintQueue ( Printer p ) ;
void cancelPrintJob (Printer p, PrintDoc d) ;
void switchPrinter (Printer p1, Printer p2, PrintDoc d) ;
} //PrintServer
The requirements document
The requirements document is the official
statement of what is required of the system
developers.
Should include both a definition 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 of a requirements document
Specify the requirements and
read them to check that they
System
customers meet their needs.
hey
T
specify changes to the
requirements

Use the requirements

document to plan a bid for
Managers
the system and to plan the
system development process

System Use the requirements to

engineers understand what system is to
be developed

System test Use the requirements to

engineers develop validation tests for
the system

System Use the requirements to help

maintenance understand the system and
engineers the relationships between its
parts
IEEE requirements standard
Defines a generic structure for a
requirements document that must be
instantiated for each specific system.
Introduction.
General description.
Specific requirements.
Appendices.
Index.
Requirements document structure
Preface
Introduction
Glossary
User requirements definition
System architecture
System requirements specification
System models
System evolution
Appendices
Index
Key points
Requirements set out what the system should do
and define constraints on its operation and
implementation.
Functional requirements set out services the
system should provide.
Non-functional requirements constrain the
system being developed or the development
process.
User requirements are high-level statements of
what the system should do. User requirements
should be written using natural language, tables
and diagrams.
Key points
System requirements are intended to
communicate the functions that the system
should provide.
A software requirements document is an
agreed statement of the system
requirements.
The IEEE standard is a useful starting
point for defining more detailed specific
requirements standards.
Requirements Engineering Processes
Objectives
To describe the principal requirements
engineering activities and their relationships
To introduce techniques for requirements
elicitation and analysis
To describe requirements validation and the
role of requirements reviews
To discuss the role of requirements
management in support of other
requirements engineering processes
Elicitation and analysis
Sometimes called requirements elicitation or
requirements discovery.
Involves technical staff working with customers
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.
Process activities
Requirements discovery
 Interacting with stakeholders to discover their
requirements. Domain requirements are also discovered
at this stage.
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.
Requirements discovery
The process of gathering information about
the proposed and existing systems and
distilling the user and system requirements
from this information.
Sources of information include
documentation, system stakeholders and the
specifications of similar systems.
Requirements discovery
The process of gathering information about
the proposed and existing systems and
distilling the user and system requirements
from this information.
Sources of information include
documentation, system stakeholders and the
specifications of similar systems.
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.
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?
Requirements validation techniques
Requirements reviews
Systematic manual analysis of the
requirements.
Prototyping
Using an executable model of the system to
check requirements. Covered in Chapter 17.
Test-case generation
Developing tests for requirements to check
testability.
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
properly understood?
Traceability. Is the origin of the requirement
clearly stated?
Adaptability. Can the requirement be
changed without a large impact on other
requirements?
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 and a better understanding of
the system is developed;
 Different viewpoints have different requirements and
these are often contradictory.
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.
Requirements evolution
Initial Changed
understanding understanding
of problem of problem

Initial Changed
require ments require ments

Time
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
Requirements classification
Requirement Description
Type
Mutable Requirements that change because of changes to the environment in which the
requirements organisation is operating. For example, in hospital systems, the funding of patient
care may change and thus require different treatment information to be collected.
Emergent Requirements that emerge as the customer's understanding of the system develops
requirements during the system development. The design process may reveal new emergent
requirements.
Consequential Requirements that result from the introduction of the computer system. Introducing
requirements the computer system may change the organisations processes and open up new ways
of working which generate new system requirements
Compatibility Requirements that depend on the particular systems or business processes within an
requirements organisation. As these change, the compatibility requirements on the commissioned
or delivered system may also have to evolve.
Requirements management planning
During the requirements engineering 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;
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 from the requirements to the design;
A traceability matrix

Req. 1.1 1.2 1.3 2.1 2.2 2.3 3.1 3.2

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
CASE tool support
Requirements storage
 Requirements should be managed in a secure, managed
data store.
Change management
 The process of change management is a workflow
process whose stages can be defined and information
flow between these stages partially automated.
Traceability management
 Automated retrieval of the links between requirements.
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.
Change management

Identified Revised
problem Problem analysis and Change analysis Change requirements
change specification and costing implementation
Key points
The requirements engineering process
includes a feasibility study, requirements
elicitation and analysis, requirements
specification and requirements management.
Requirements elicitation and analysis is
iterative involving domain understanding,
requirements collection, classification,
structuring, prioritisation and validation.
Systems have multiple stakeholders with
different requirements.
Key points
Social and organisation factors influence
system requirements.
Requirements validation is concerned with
checks for validity, consistency, completeness,
realism and verifiability.
Business changes inevitably lead to changing
requirements.
Requirements management includes planning
and change management.