Software Requrement

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 acompany 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
1. The softw are m ust provide a means of representing and
1. accessing e xternal files cr ea ted b y other tools.
1.1 The user should be pr ovided with facilities to define the type of
1.2 external files .
1.2 Each e xternal file type ma y have an associa ted tool w hich ma y be
1.2 applied to the file .
1.3 Each e xternal file type ma y be r epr esented as a specific icon on
1.2 the user’ s display.
1.4 Facilities should be pr ovided for the icon r epresenting an
1.2 external file type to be defined b y the user .
1.5 When a user selects an icon r epr esenting an e xternal file, the
1.2 effect ofthat selection is to apply the tool associated with the type of
1.2 the external file to the file represented by the selected icon.
User requir ement definition
Systemrequir ements specification

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
Performance
requir ements
Space
requir ements
Usability
requir ements
Efficiency
requir ements
Reliability
requir ements
Portability
requir ements
Interoper ability
requir ements
Ethical
requir ements
Legislative
requir ements
Implementa tion
requir ements
Standar ds
requir ements
Delivery
requir ements
Safety
requir ements
Privacy
requir ements
Product
requir ements
Organisational
requir ements
External
requir ements
Non-functional
requir ements

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
Rateof failure occurrence
Availability
Robustness Time to restart after failure
Percentage of events causing failure
Probability of datacorruption 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.

Train protection system
 The deceleration of the train shall be computed as:
 Dtrain = Dcontrol + Dgradient
where Dgradient is 9.81ms2 * compensated gradient/alpha
and where the values of 9.81ms2 /alpha are known for
different types of train.

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
2.6 Grid facilities To assist in the positioning of entities on a diagram,
the user may turn on a grid in either centimetres or inches, via an
option on the control panel. Initially, the grid is off. The grid may be
turned on and off at any time during an editing session and can be
toggled between inches and centimetres at any time. A grid option
will be provided on the reduce-to-fit view but the number of grid
lines shown will be reduced to avoid filling the smaller diagram
with 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 matrix of horizontal and
vertical lines provide a backgroundto 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 u seful,
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
language
This approach depends on defining standard forms or templates to express the
requirements specification.
Design
description
languages
This approach uses a language like a programming language but with more abstract
features to specify the requirements by defining an operational model of the system.
This approach is not now widely used although it can be useful for interface
specifications.
Graphical
notations
A graphical language, supplemented by text annotations is used to define the
functional requirements for the system. An early example of sucha graphical
language was SADT. Now, use-case descriptions and sequence diagrams are
commonly used .
Mathematical
specifications
These are notations based on mathematical concepts suchas finite-state machines or
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.
OutputsCompDose Ğthe 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 rateof 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 replacedby 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
increase decreasing ((r2-r1)<(r1-r0))
CompDose = 0
Sugar level increasing and rate of
increase stable or increasing. ((r2-r1) •
(r1-r0))
CompDose = round ((r2-r1)/4)
If rounded result = 0 then
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
<<exception>>
invalid card
Withdraw request
Amount request
Amount
Balance request
Balance
<<exception>>
insufficient cash
Debit (amount)
Debit response
Card
Card removed
Cash
Cash removed
Receipt
Validate card
Handle request
Complete
transaction

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

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.

Software Requrement

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