Adding a ReqIF to an Exchange Process Timeline

Whether you are the customer/OEM or supplier, the first ReqIF to be added to an Exchange Process Timeline is always a customer ReqIF - the one containing the first draft of the customer's requirement specification.

 

To add the first ReqIF, select the Exchange Process Timeline in the Tree Window, then select either the Add Export ReqIF... or Add Import ReqIF... option, whichever is available.

If you have identified yourself as the customer in the Exchange Process Timeline, the only available option will be Add Export ReqIF.... This is because as a customer, this represents the ReqIF you exported from your requirements management tool.

 

If you have identified yourself as the supplier in the Exchange Process Timeline, the only available option will be Add Import ReqIF.... This is because as a supplier, this represents the ReqIF you will be importing into your requirements management tool.

 

 

If REQIFtoolkit is able to determine that all the required attributes of the Exchange Process are defined in the first ReqIF, it is added to the Exchange Process Timeline. If there is some uncertainty about which attributes are the required ones, then a dialog is displayed that allows you to assign the correct attributes.

A timeline can only be shown for individual specifications. If your ReqIF contains more than one specification, you will be required to select one using the Exchange Process Mapping Dialog.

For more information, see Exchange Process Mapping Dialog.

 

In some situation, it might not be possible to resolve all required attributes. In this case, an error message is displayed indicating that the ReqIF cannot be added.

 

ReqIF Ordering within an Exchange Process Timeline

When you add a ReqIF, it is placed into the correct sequence according to the timestamp recorded in the ReqIF creationTime property. This is important since the creationTime reflects the contents in the requirements management tool at the moment the ReqIF was exported. Since the first ReqIF in an Exchange Process Timeline has special significance, it is therefore not possible to add a ReqIF whose creationTime is earlier than that of the first ReqIF.

For archives containing multiple ReqIF files, the timestamp from the first ReqIF file is used.