Changes between Version 2 and Version 3 of CookBook/Configuration/RequirementsManagement
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- May 31, 2022, 11:33:44 AM (23 months ago)
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CookBook/Configuration/RequirementsManagement
v2 v3 3 3 = Requirements Management 4 4 5 Every once in a while there is a question about whether Trac supports [wikipedia:Requirements_management requirements management]. There is even a plugin request for this, see th:#1226. While having an out of the box solution would be nice, there are a few plugins already available which can be used for building a requirements management solution. 6 7 On this page one possible approach is shown for doing so. I'm working in development of [wikipedia:IEC_61508 IEC 61508] compliant control devices. We use Trac for tracking all the requirements mandated by this standard, currently something like 4000-6000 requirements and test cases. 8 9 The solution presented here may or may not work for you. We use quite some custom made plugins to support our internal processes. These plugins are private and you may have to create your own. 10 11 See also: th:ProjectManagementIdeas 5 Trac can be configured to support [wikipedia:Requirements_management requirements management]. There are [th:ProjectManagementIdeas#TracPlugins some plugins available] as well as a [th:#1226 plugin request] for building a requirements management solution in Trac. On this page one possible approach is presented for doing so. 12 6 13 7 == Before you start 14 15 Don't select a tool because it's fancy and then organise your requirements management process so it can be supported by the tool. This will fail in the end.16 8 17 9 Make sure you know your process and environment: 18 10 * Which types of requirements do you have? System requirements, functional requirements, test cases, performance requirements? 19 * Who owns the m? There may be more than one stakeholder in the project and each stakeholder has the responsibility to understand and prioritise their own requirements.20 * Who is writing them? The tech people or maybe management people? It may be impossible to drag your management people away from MS-Word c.s., so you may need a Word document importer.11 * Who owns the requirements? There may be more than one stakeholder in the project and each stakeholder has the responsibility to understand and prioritise their own requirements. 12 * Who writes the requirements? The tech people or maybe management people? It may be impossible to drag your management people away from MS-Word c.s., so you may need a Word document importer. 21 13 * Is there a predefined workflow for requirements, eg {{{ draft -> in review -> approved -> closed }}}? 22 14 * Is the workflow dependent on the type of requirement? 23 15 * How do you manage changes to requirements? 24 * What about roles and permissions in the process?25 * Do you need some kind of sign off?16 * Are roles and permissions defined in the process and are they understood by all stakeholders? 17 * Is an approval process defined on the requirements? 26 18 * It may be necessary to import data from other tools or departments. For example the test department may be using their own tooling and even their own bug tracker. 27 19 28 After reviewing your process requirements you should evaluate if Trac with the appropriate plugins is a viable solution. Don't do that by counting bullet points, but by actually using it for a project. The beauty of Trac is that by adding the right plugin or writing a new one more or less every need may be fulfilled and in the end your solution **exactly** matches your process requirements.20 This process review should help to understand whether Trac with the appropriate plugins is a viable solution. Don't do that by counting bullet points, but by actually using it for a (sub)project. Instead, with the right collection of plugins or writing new plugins, the specific needs can be fulfilled and your solution will **exactly** match your process. 29 21 30 22 == Requirements management using Trac … … 34 26 === Environment type 35 27 36 Each project lives in a separate environment with its own SQLitedatabase. This way you may not accidentally alter data not belonging to your current project because of a misconfiguration (e.g. broken permissions) or bug in one of your plugins. It makes access control easier which may be important.28 Each project lives in a separate environment with its own database. This way you may not accidentally alter data not belonging to your current project because of a misconfiguration (e.g. broken permissions) or bug in one of your plugins. It makes access control easier which may be important. 37 29 38 30 After the project is done one may revoke all write permissions and archive the complete environment so the current state of requirements is frozen. … … 44 36 * {{{testcase}}} 45 37 46 I n our department we only track requirements in the environment so all other ticket types are removed. If you want to use your requirements Trac also for issue tracking keep the standard ticket types. There is no need to create special types for each level of a [wikipedia:V-Model_(software_development) '''V model'''], but nobody stops you from doing so.38 If you want to use your Trac also for issue tracking, then keep the standard ticket types. There is no need to create special types for each level of a [wikipedia:V-Model_(software_development) '''V model'''], but this is certainly possible. 47 39 48 40 For administrating ticket types go to the '''Admin''' area of your Trac installation or use the command line: … … 52 44 }}} 53 45 54 TracAdmin describes the command line interface in full length.46 TracAdmin describes the command line interface in more detail. 55 47 56 48 === Defining roles 57 49 58 It may be necessary to define additional permissions to have more control of the requirements workflow. For example there may be a distinct group for requirements review and approval while the QA department is responsible for closing requirements. 59 60 To define the additional permissions: 61 * {{{REQUIREMENT_APPROVE}}} 62 * {{{REQUIREMENT_CLOSE}}} 63 64 add the following to your `trac.ini` file: 50 It may be necessary to define additional permissions to have more control of the requirements workflow. For example there may be a distinct group for requirements review and approval while the [wikipedia:Software_testing QA department] is responsible for closing requirements. 51 52 To define the additional permissions {{{REQUIREMENT_APPROVE}}} and {{{REQUIREMENT_CLOSE}}} add the following to your `trac.ini` file: 65 53 {{{#!ini 66 54 [components] … … 77 65 === Creating specialized workflows 78 66 79 A workflow for a requirement is very different from a standard issue workflow. Using th:MultipleWorkflowPlugin (disclosure: I'm the maintainer) specific workflows for each new type may be created.67 A workflow for a requirement is very different from a standard issue workflow. With th:MultipleWorkflowPlugin you can create specific workflows for each new type. 80 68 81 69 Add this to your `trac.ini` file: … … 170 158 * th:TracTicketConditionalValidatePlugin 171 159 172 You have to adapt the given workflow to your own process but you get the idea.160 You have to adapt the given workflow to your own process. 173 161 174 162 === Parent - child relationships … … 178 166 * th:SubticketsPlugin 179 167 * th:MasterTicketsPlugin 180 * th:ChildTicketsPlugin ( my preferred solution anddescribed here)168 * th:ChildTicketsPlugin (described here) 181 169 182 170 For requirements tickets the th:ChildTicketsPlugin adds buttons to the ticket page to create a child ticket of type {{{requirement}}} or {{{testcase}}}. Any child tickets are directly shown on the ticket page. … … 184 172 See th:ChildTicketsPlugin/Examples for some screenshots of the plugin in action. 185 173 186 Add the following to your `trac.ini` file to use th:ChildTicketsPlugin:174 Add the following to your `trac.ini` file: 187 175 {{{#!ini 188 176 [childtickets] … … 208 196 }}} 209 197 210 With the given settings only tickets with type {{{requirement}}} or {{{testcase}}} are allowed as children of requirements tickets. Testcase tickets can't have any children. If you use your environment also for issue tracking it may be necessary to change the configuration to allow other ticket types like {{{defect}}} or {{{task}}} tickets.198 With the given settings only tickets with type {{{requirement}}} or {{{testcase}}} are allowed as children of requirements tickets. Testcase tickets can't have any children. If you use your environment also for issue tracking, then it may be necessary to change the configuration to allow other ticket types like {{{defect}}} or {{{task}}} tickets. 211 199 212 200 See the th:ChildTicketsPlugin page for more configuration options. 213 201 214 There is a macro th:ChildTicketTreeMacro to show a ticket hierarchy everywhere where wiki content is allowed. Thismay be useful for reporting purposes.202 You can use th:ChildTicketTreeMacro to show a ticket hierarchy everywhere where wiki content is allowed, which may be useful for reporting purposes. 215 203 216 204 === Requirements grouping 217 205 218 Grouping may be achieved by specifying different requirement types. Each level of the '''V model''' is mapped to a different ticket type. This is probably not practical enough when you have several thousand requirements for a single level. 219 220 Additional grouping may be done using the {{{component}}} field of a ticket or a custom ticket field. In our environment this is done using the custom field {{{docid}}}, because every requirement starts life in an external document with a unique document id which is imported into Trac after approval. 221 222 For this add the following to your `trac.ini` file: 206 Grouping of requirements may be achieved by specifying different requirement types. Each level of the '''V model''' is mapped to a different ticket type. This is probably not practical enough when you have several thousand requirements for a single level. 207 208 Additional grouping may be done using the {{{component}}} field of a ticket or a custom ticket field. This can be done using the custom field {{{docid}}}, because a requirement typically starts life in an external document with a unique document id which is imported into Trac after approval. To prepare for import and subsequent grouping add the following to your `trac.ini` file: 223 209 {{{#!ini 224 210 [ticket-custom] … … 229 215 }}} 230 216 231 By grouping it's possible to find requirements belonging to some part of your product/project. For example in hardware development you may group all requirements pertaining to the power supply by one id, thus making it easy for the power supply people to check for ful lfillment.217 By grouping it's possible to find requirements belonging to some part of your product/project. For example in hardware development you may group all requirements pertaining to the power supply by one id, thus making it easy for the power supply people to check for fulfillment. 232 218 233 219 === Cleaning up the ticket page 234 220 235 Depending on your audience the ticket page may be overwhelming, because of all the fields. But there are quite a few plugins to hide unneeded ticket fields or prevent changes. 236 237 th:CondFieldsGenshiPlugin is one of them and is used here to disallow changing the ticket type field. It's unlikely that a requirement morphs into a test case, so preventing any accidental damage is a good idea. 238 221 To some users the fields on the ticket page may be overwhelming. With the th:CondFieldsGenshiPlugin or th:DynamicFieldsPlugin it is possible to hide unneeded ticket fields or prevent undue changes. It's unlikely that a requirement morphs into a test case, so preventing any accidental damage is a good idea. 222 223 With the th:CondFieldsGenshiPlugin add the following to your `trac.ini` file: 239 224 {{{#!ini 240 225 [components] … … 250 235 }}} 251 236 252 Hide any other ticket fields you don't want your users to see or change.253 254 237 === Possible improvements 255 238 256 What is described here is a basic solution whichmay already work for you. You possibly want in addition:239 What has been described so far is a basic solution that may already work for you. You possibly want in addition: 257 240 258 241 * Some reporting: use TicketQuery for that or create TracReports.
