This article describes the workflow for the ReqIF Comments plugin. The purpose of this plugin is to enable importing comments and supplier feedback on exported requirements, using the ReqIF format, back into SystemWeaver without altering the original requirements. A new Comment Item is created each time you complete an import. For more information about ReqIF, visit the ReqIF website.  The ReqIF Comments importer plugin is configurable. The configuration specifies on which item types the view is activated. 


Prerequisites


The extension view is accessible via the View drop-down in the Extensions group, or from a shortcut on the Items ribbon. 



The below image shows the ReqIF Comments view.



Importing the Comments

  1. Select an Item for which the ReqIF Comments plugin gets activated. 
  2. Load the ReqIf Comments view.
  3. For Open file, select the ReqIF file that contains the comments you want to import by using the Select file button.
  4. For Configuration, select an existing import configuration or create a new one by clicking the Select button. This opens the Open Item of type dialog. Use the Create new Item dialogue if there are no suitable import configurations. To manage the versioning and access rights of a configuration, use the standard methods of working with Items.
  5. Check the errors and messages to decide whether the import configuration is correct or not. See Reviewing the Import below before importing the comments.

Reviewing the Import

Checks Performed Before Importing

There are two categories of checks performed on a ReqIF file: errors and warnings. Error messages deny you the possibility of importing a ReqIF file. Warnings indicate unexpected cases when comparing the data in SystemWeaver with the content of the ReqIF file. These warnings still do not deny you the possibility of importing a ReqIF file. However, it is not recommended to import a ReqIF file when there are warnings.


List of checks

Errors

  • Checks that the IDENTIFIER attribute of the REQ-IF-HEADER corresponds to the selected Item in the structure tree.
  • Checks that SPEC-OBJECT:s in the file have corresponding Items in SystemWeaver.
  • Checks that SPEC-OBJECT:s with comments have corresponding Items that are found in the Specification Item.

Warnings

  • Checks that SPEC-OBJECT:s without comments have corresponding Items that are found in the Specification Item.


Review the import configuration by clicking the Map button. This opens up the Configure mappings dialogue.


Data type: The data type of the ReqIF attribute type. The ReqIF data type decides what possible SystemWeaver attribute data types that are available to map to.
ReqIF Tag: 
The identifier of the ReqIF attribute data type.
SW SID: 
The SystemWeaver attribute type SID.
SW Name: 
The SystemWeaver attribute type Name.
Mapping status: 
The status of the mapping. If there is something wrong with the mapping, it will be indicated here. 


To define a mapping between a ReqIF attribute type and a SystemWeaver attribute type, click the button in the SW SID column. This will open up the Select attribute type dialog. The dialog will present only appropriate SystemWeaver attribute types to map to for the current ReqIF data type. To remove an existing mapping, click the Clear button on the corresponding row.

Attribute types in ReqIF can be mapped to SystemWeaver attribute types according to the following rules:


ReqIF type
Can be converted to SW Types
SW Data dimension
STRING
RVF, String, Text
Single
INTEGER
Integer, Float, String
Single
REAL
Float, String
Single
ENUM, MULTI-VALUED ="FALSE"
Enum
Single, Set
ENUM, MULTI-VALUED ="TRUE"
Enum
Single*, Set
XHTML
RVF, String**, Text**
Single

*If multiple values are defined, information will be lost.

**When converting to string or text, formatting information will be lost.


Completing the Import

Once you have finished your review, you are ready to complete the import.

  1. The Comment item name field displays a default name for the comment import. You can change this if you prefer something other than the default value. Note: The time format is the Short date (Time & Language>Region) in the format setting on the computer that did the export.
  2. Click Import. When the import is performed, a message will display above the Map button when the import is done. 
  3. You can open the comment item by pressing the Open button next to the Comment item name.