Workflow for Capturing Requirements from a Microsoft Word Specification Document

This workflow explains how to extract and import chapters, requirements, and comments from any requirement specification document authored in Microsoft Word. For requirements, you can capture not only text but also images and tables. This section explains how to capture a sample chapter, some requirements, and some comments.

Specifications are equivalent to a complete Microsoft Word document; a specification may contain ordered chapters, requirements, and comments.

Chapters are useful in categorizing requirements, such as performance requirements, user requirements, or comments.

Requirements contain rich text/graphics/tables and embedded objects that describe a system, performance, customer, user needs, and such.

Comments help with transitions between chapters or between requirements. Comments are not requirements, but are integral to the module and are helpful during the publishing of specification documents.

  1. Capture some chapters, requirements, and comments in the document using Requirement Capture. See Identifying Requirement Objects to Capture from Microsoft Word.
  2. Change or clear any captured objects that you do not want to include before importing the specification. See Managing Tags.
  3. Import the captured chapters, requirements, and comments. See Importing Captures into Traceable Requirements Management.
  4. Locate and view the imported customer specification in Traceable Requirements Management. See Requirement Specifications Page.

    You can also view the original Microsoft Word document itself. The original document is checked in along with the imported requirements. Traceable Requirements Management tracks the attributes of every object identified for capture whether it is imported or not. The Microsoft Word document that is checked into Traceable Requirements Management appears as an attachment to the newly created requirement specification.