Using Specification Manager for requirements capture

[JonWild]

Hi....first post here, we've been using Sparx EA (v12.1) for requirements engineering and other business analysis activities for the last few months.

I'm hoping to use the Specification Manager in workshops as a convenient way to capture new requirements directly into Sparx, and I've set it up with the relevant columns into which to enter information, including some for tagged values.

So far so good.

However, when I enter text into 'memo' type tagged values, while the text is displayed correctly in the specification manager, it is not displayed at all in the tag when I look at it via the tagged values window - and not included in documentation.  Non-memo type tags work fine.

I've discovered a workaround, so that if I enter the value first via the tagged values window, it is then displayed correctly in spec manager....and subsequent amends made in spec manager are correctly updated in the tag.  However, this is far from ideal in a workshop environment.

Just to further complicate things, this behaviour is limited to tags configured via a requirements stereotype containing our customer tags (as attributes of the stereotype).  If I use the standard requirement element with our custom tags added via a project template package, then the tags are updated correctly in specification manager.  This method means adding requirements via a diagram which again is less than ideal in a workshop environment,

Has anyone any insight into whether this is a bug, or an issue with the stereotype configuration?

[Helmut Ortmann]

Hello,

I have the same issue with tagged value.

My solution was:
- Create a Profile (extend metaclass or existing stereotype like Functional Requirement (e.g.: EAREQ::FunctionalRequirement))
- Define an Attribute of type 'Memo'

It looks as it works.

With this approach you define your own type based on a metaclass or an existing profile.

Helmut

[JonWild]

Thanks very much for your response Helmut.

What I've done is create a new stereotype to extend the requirement metaclass, and set the tags up as attributes of the stereotype, with 'memo' type where applicable to match the tag configuration.  I've then deployed via MDG.

However, I still can't get the memo type tag values entered via Spec Manager to display in the tags window.

[Helmut Ortmann]

Hi Jon,

I tested it with a profile (save to *.xml and import from *.xml) with EA 12.1.

In Specification Manager I defined the display type according to my profile. Then I chose the Column (not Tagged Value!!). The name is: myRequirement::Memo1. The update between Tagged Value view and Specification Manager view isn't always smoothly. But I could work with it.

I played some time and found the above procedure. I admit, I needed some time and it's not perfect. In my opinion there is something to do to use it with a lot of data, like requirements for a complex system with more than thousand requirements.

Regards,

Helmut