Creating a Traceability Link Between Requirements in the Requirements Specification Editor

You can select the source and target of a traceability link to establish a refining or covering relationship between the selected requirements in the Requirements Specification Editor.

Note: You can drag a requirement in a specification open in one tab and drop it on a requirement in a specification open in another tab to create a traceability link. The process is the same as if you use the context menu actions.

Before you begin: The source and target requirements must already exist in requirement specification structures that are opened in the Requirements Specification Editor on the dashboard. The source and target requirements can be in requirement specifications that are open in different tabs or instances of the Requirements Specification Editor, but they must be in the same dashboard.

After the Requirements Specification Editor instances are open in the dashboard, you must add a scope to the context of the requirements specifications using Systems Traceability Dashboarding to automatically define the direction of traceability link created between the requirements in the Requirements Specification Editor instances. The Requirements Specification Editor is only aware of scopes created while it is open in the dashboard. Only the last scope added in any Systems Traceability Dashboarding instance open in the dashboard is available to the Requirements Specification Editor. If the last scope added in any Systems Traceability Dashboarding is removed, no scope is available to the Requirements Specification Editor.

See Also
Requirements Specification Editor
Requirements Specification Editor User Interface
Editing Rich Content in the Requirements Specification Editor
Reordering the Requirement Specification's Structure in the Requirements Specification Editor
Managing the Status of a Traceability Link Between Requirements in the Requirements Specification Editor
Removing a Traceability Link Between Requirements in the Requirements Specification Editor
Configuring Preferences for the Requirements Specification Editor
  1. Click next to the requirement that you want to be the source of the traceability link.
    The requirement's context menu opens.
  2. Select Start Link.
  3. Navigate to the requirement specification that contains the target requirement.
  4. Click next to the requirement that you want to be the target of the traceability link.
    The requirement's context menu opens.
  5. Select End Link.

    If there is a scope and context defined between the requirement specifications in Systems Traceability Dashboarding, the traceability link is automatically created using the existing context.

    If there is not a scope and context defined between the requirement specifications in Systems Traceability Dashboarding, the Select a relationship dialog box opens.

  6. Select the direction of the traceability link:
    • Downstream Requirement means that the source requirement is refined into the target requirement.
    • Upstream Requirement means that the source requirement covers the target requirement.
  7. Click Confirm to create the traceability link.

The traceability link between the requirements is now visible in the Requirements Specification Editor and in Systems Traceability Dashboarding.