Needs and requirements
Requirements that stay connected to the design.
Write requirements in documents, where each one is also an item in the model. Import existing specifications, check the wording, trace each requirement to functions, components and tests, and control changes with approvals and baselines.
What you can do
Write in documents
A document holds numbered sections and requirements. Type a requirement in the quick entry bar and press Enter; drag items in the outline to reorder them. Set Priority, Criticality, Owner, Source and Verification Method in the inspector.
Import specifications
Bring in Word (.docx), Excel, CSV, ReqIF and UML/SysML (.xmi) files in four steps: Configure, Select, Customize, Preview. Headings and list numbering become the outline. One undo removes the whole import.
Check quality
The Quality Check scores each requirement against nine criteria, such as Singular, Unambiguous and Verifiable. It finds ambiguous words, a missing “shall”, compound requirements and duplicates.
Track open items
The TBD/TBR Register lists every value still to be determined or reviewed, with owner, due date and age. Overdue items are tinted, and a burn-down shows open items over time.
Approve and baseline
Status runs Draft, In Review, Approved or Rejected, with your name and the date on each decision. Editing an approved requirement moves it back to In Review. Baselines freeze a document; the Baseline Change Report compares them.
Follow changes
When a requirement changes, the links to its functions, tests and derived requirements are flagged as suspect. Suspect Links shows what changed, when and by whom, with a diff.
Improve requirements with AI
- AI Quality Review judges Correct, Feasible and Necessary, which rule-based checks cannot decide, and gives a reason for each.
- Suggested rewrites show a word-by-word diff against the current text.
- Text tools: Improve Wording, Make Measurable, Simplify, Split into Singular Requirements, Draft Rationale.
- Nothing changes until you tick and apply a suggestion. One undo reverses it. See AI assistance.
How it works
- Create a document. Open Needs & Requirements → Documents, click + New Document and choose a template, or import a file.
- Write and attribute. Add requirements with the quick entry bar and set their attributes in the inspector.
- Check the wording. Run the Quality Check from More ▾ and fix requirements that score low.
- Trace. Link each requirement satisfied by a function or asset and verified by a test case, one at a time or in the Traceability Matrix.
- Review and freeze. Set Status to In Review, approve on the Approvals page, then create a baseline from the Baselines tab.