Tool Mentors > Rational Suite AnalystStudio Tool Mentors > Managing Stakeholder Requests Using Rational ClearQuest and Rational RequisitePro

Purpose

This tool mentor describes how to create and associate requirements in Rational RequisitePro® with enhancement requests in Rational ClearQuest®, allowing the analyst to efficiently track the origin of requirements. It also describes how to manage requirement properties from within ClearQuest.

Note: Both RequisitePro and ClearQuest must be installed, and a Rational Administrator project must be configured with both products to access this functionality.

Related Rational Unified Process information:

Overview

The analyst’s role is to incorporate user feedback and stakeholder needs into the system definition. Rational’s integration between ClearQuest and RequisitePro allows qualified enhancement requests to be easily associated with related requirements, thereby tracking the source of requirements.

For each enhancement request identified to drive system functionality from ClearQuest, the analyst can create or associate one or many requirements by reformulating the text of the enhancement request into a valid requirement definition. A well-defined requirement definition refers to those requirements that are testable, unambiguous, consistent, verifiable, and complete. Requirements are stored in RequisitePro, but can be created either in ClearQuest or RequisitePro, and their properties may be managed from within either ClearQuest or RequisitePro.

Note: Associating requests to requirements is accomplished from the RequisitePro or ClearQuest Windows applications.

Tool Steps

This document contains the following steps:

  1. Enable the ClearQuest and RequisitePro integration
  2. Use ClearQuest to select a RequisitePro project
  3. Use ClearQuest to associate requirements with enhancement requests
  4. Use ClearQuest to create requirements from enhancement requests
  5. Manage requirement properties from ClearQuest

1. Enable the ClearQuest and RequisitePro integration To top of page

Minimal setup is necessary to associate enhancement requests to requirements. This setup involves using a Rational Suite project to point to the ClearQuest database and the RequisitePro project. In the setup, the ClearQuest administrator defines the types of requirements that can be created from ClearQuest. Each customer defines a mapping to automate the customer's individual process. For information on enabling this integration, see the document entitled Rational Suite Administrator's Guide on your documentation CD.

2. Use ClearQuest to select a RequisitePro project To top of page

To associate enhancement requests with requirements, each enhancement request must identify a Rational Suite project to be used as the source of the available requirements.

To select a RequisitePro project from ClearQuest:

  1. Select an enhancement request and click Actions > Modify to allow the record to be edited.
  2. Click the Main tab.
  3. In the RA Project field, the drop-down list displays a listing of valid Rational Suite projects. Each Rational Suite project is associated with a unique RequisitePro project. Choose the appropriate project and click Apply. ClearQuest saves the project reference with the enhancement request record.

3. Use ClearQuest to associate requirements with enhancement requests To top of page

After a Rational Suite project has been identified in ClearQuest, the analyst is ready to associate enhancement requests with requirements. This association can only be done using the ClearQuest Windows application, and only after the enhancement request has been submitted—not at the time of submission. If there is an existing requirement representing the stakeholder needs expressed in the enhancement request description, the analyst associates the enhancement request with the existing requirement by selecting the requirement from the complete list of requirements. Many enhancement requests can be associated with one requirement, and many requirements can be associated with one enhancement request. In effect, there can be a many-to-many relationship between enhancement requests and requirements.

To associate an enhancement request with an existing requirement:

  1. Select an enhancement request and click Actions > Modify to allow the record to be edited. You can select multiple enhancement requests to associate with the same requirement by pressing the Ctrl or Shift key while clicking the mouse.
  2. Click the Requirements tab. This tab is used to select and remove associated requirements as well as viewing the properties of the associated requirements.
  3. Click the Add to List button. The Select Requirement dialog is displayed. Requirements displayed in this dialog are dynamically queried from the RequisitePro project specified. See step 2,  Use ClearQuest to select a RequisitePro project. Requirement types are available for selection to allow the analyst to select the type of requirement to create.
  4. In the Requirements of type field, select the FEAT requirement type. All FEAT requirements are displayed.
  5. Select the desired requirement and click OK.
  6. Click Apply to save your changes.

Refer to the Tool Mentor: Eliciting Stakeholder Requests Using Rational ClearQuest for further details.

4. Use ClearQuest to create requirements from enhancement requests To top of page

If the stakeholder need reflected in the enhancement request definition is not represented by any existing requirements, the analyst can create a new requirement from ClearQuest.

  1. Select an enhancement request and click Actions > Modify to allow the record to be edited. You can select multiple enhancement requests to associate with the same requirement by pressing the Ctrl or Shift key while clicking the mouse.
  2. Click the Requirements tab. This tab is used to select and remove associated requirements as well as viewing the properties of the associated requirements.
  3. Click the Add to List button. The Select Requirements dialog is displayed. Requirements displayed in this dialog are dynamically queried from the RequisitePro project specified. See step 2, Use ClearQuest to select a RequisitePro project. Requirement types are available for selection to allow the analyst to select the type of requirement to create.
  4. Click Create . The Requirement Properties dialog is displayed.
  5. Click the General tab and type the requirement name and text. Make sure you select the appropriate package to contain your new requirement.
  6. Click the Attributes tab and type the requirement attributes.
  7. Click OK after the requirement definition is completed. The Select Requirement dialog box reappears.
  8. Scroll to the bottom of the requirements list to locate the newly created requirement, highlight it, and click OK.
  9. Click Apply to save the changes. The requirement is associated with the enhancement request.

Note: Requirements created in this manner are located only in the database, not in documents. Requirements not located in RequisitePro documents can be managed from ClearQuest. Within RequisitePro, you can relocate the requirement to a document for further elaboration by cutting the requirement out of the Views Workplace and pasting it (using RequisitePro Requirement > Cut and Requirement > Paste) into the desired RequisitePro document.

For more information regarding the elaboration of feature requirements in a document, see Tool Mentor: Developing a Vision Using Rational RequisitePro.

5. Manage requirement properties from ClearQuest To top of page

Requirement properties for requirements created in a database can be accessed directly from within ClearQuest. After the enhancement request has been associated with a requirement, the analyst can review and modify the requirement properties of the associated requirement while working directly in ClearQuest. The Requirement Properties dialog box provides viewing and editing of requirements properties. These properties include requirement attributes, history, and relationships.

  1. Select an enhancement request and click the Requirements tab. This tab is used to view the properties of the associated requirement.
  2. Click Actions > Modify to allow the record to be edited.
  3. Select the associated requirement and click Properties at the bottom of the form. The requirement properties are displayed.
  4. Make changes to the requirement.
  5. Click OK to save the changes.

For more information regarding the properties of a requirement, see RequisitePro online Help.

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