Eclipse Requirements Modeling Framework

tweet share share share share flattr Modeling has been a hot topic for many years, with UML being one of the most popular ones. Models have many advantages: They provide structure, remove redundancies, and allow fancy things to be done with the ... [More] model, even the generation of tests or code. We also sometimes […] The post Why Paper Still Matters in the World of Models appeared first on Formal Mind GmbH. [Less]

Modeling has been a hot topic for many years, with UML being one of the most popular ones. Models have many advantages: They provide structure, remove redundancies, and allow fancy things to be done with the model, even the generation of tests or ... [More] code. We also sometimes The post Why Paper Still Matters in the World of Models appeared first on Formal Mind GmbH. [Less]

Modeling has been a hot topic for many years, with UML being one of the most popular ones. Models have many advantages: They provide structure, remove redundancies, and allow fancy things to be done with the model, even the generation of tests or ... [More] code. We also sometimes The post Why Paper Still Matters in the World of Models appeared first on Formal Mind GmbH. [Less]

Modeling has been a hot topic for many years, with UML being one of the most popular ones. Models have many advantages: They provide structure, remove redundancies, and allow fancy things to be done with the model, even the generation of tests or ... [More] code. We also sometimes model without even noticing: Software code represents also a (non-graphical) model, and the writer of requirements – with IBM Rational DOORS or formalmind Studio – is also building a requirements model. Trends in Systems Engineering (German) But first, as a service to our German readers, the list of articles since the last newsletter on our companion blog, SE-Trends: Ist agiles Systems Engineering möglich? Von der Anforderung zum Modell Mit Effizienz an der falschen Sache arbeiten Warum wir beim Modellieren zwischen Lesen und Schreiben unterscheiden müssen Wie Systemdenken die Todesrate in der Chirurgie fast halbiert hat Interview mit Tim Weilkiens zu SysML Schafft Daimler die Einführung von Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE)? If you speak German, please check it out, and please forward this to interested friends and colleagues. Visit SE-Trends >> Back to Modeling While geeks appreciate models, many people shy away from them, as they can be intimidating. This is the reason why document generation is a very important topic: A carefully tailored document generator  can make the difference between acceptance or rejection by the stakeholders. To understand this, we have to remember that we can separate stakeholders in broadly two groups: Those who author models and those who read them. The first group is usually much smaller than the later. And there is rarely a need to confront the readers with the modeling tools at all. Reading vs. Writing Models Creating Models is hard. Creating high-quality models is even harder. It takes a lot of effort and lots of experience, and requires not only the mastery of the modeling language, but also of the methods, patterns and tools. For the modeling effort to succeed, it is crucial to have at least one experienced modeler in the team, who can act as the mentor and coach to the junior modelers. But the total number of modelers is usually small, compared to the team as a whole. Reading Models is much easier. The most important aspect is to master the language elements and to be able to understand their meaning. For instance, people have been drawing boxes and arrows forever. But in UML there are a small number of different arrows with distinct meanings. It is important that the readers understand the differences. Training Another take-away of this insight are the consequences for training: Readers and writers must be trained differently, for two reasons: First, teaching to read is much faster than teaching how to model. And there are usually many more readers than writers. For cost reasons alone it makes sense to give the many readers a shorter reading-lecture, while the writers have to take the longer modeling lecture. The second reason is frustration: Readers include non- or moderately-technical people like project managers, customers, and so on. Making these people sit through a class that they are not that interested in, and that may even leave them behind, is counter-productive. It may make them reject the project before it has even started. Therefore, all the readers need is a short crash course that should not be longer than a day. Realizing that the two groups need different training raises the question of the scope of the training. The writers need to learn how to use the modeling tool as well, although these could be separate trainings as well - especially in the beginning, a tool can be too distracting. The basics of modeling can also be learned on a whiteboard. But do the readers even have to know the tool? We don’t think so. Documents Most models can be consumed on paper, and don’t require a tool at all. This is certainly true for UML models. There are some models that benefit from being viewed in a tool, like 3D-sketches. But even in those cases, there may be a lightweight viewer available that does not overwhelm the reader with too many distracting user interface controls. But this also means that the document generation is fairly important, again for a number of reasons: First, we do not want to frustrate the readers, most of whom probably have little experience reading models, beyond the crash course they received. Therefore, the documents should be as intuitive as the modeling language allows them to be. Second, the modelers must be prepared to get frequent requests for updated documents, generated from the model. Therefore, it must not take long to generate them. For larger projects it may even be sensible to set up a continuous integration system that automatically generates the most frequently used documents either on demand, or on an hourly or daily basis. Bottom Line Stop thinking about documents as paper: They are "read-only views on your model", using a technology (paper) that is familiar to all stakeholders. As a bonus, it even comes with a built-in commenting system (pen and text marker). If you look at things this way, you’ll keep your stakeholders happy and informed, while your project can benefit from the power of modeling. [Less]

Modeling has been a hot topic for many years, with UML being one of the most popular ones. Models have many advantages: They provide structure, remove redundancies, and allow fancy things to be done with the model, even the generation of tests or ... [More] code. We also sometimes model without even noticing: Software code represents also a (non-graphical) model, and the writer of requirements – with IBM Rational DOORS or formalmind Studio – is also building a requirements model. Trends in Systems Engineering (German) But first, as a service to our German readers, the list of articles since the last newsletter on our companion blog, SE-Trends: Ist agiles Systems Engineering möglich? Von der Anforderung zum Modell Mit Effizienz an der falschen Sache arbeiten Warum wir beim Modellieren zwischen Lesen und Schreiben unterscheiden müssen Wie Systemdenken die Todesrate in der Chirurgie fast halbiert hat Interview mit Tim Weilkiens zu SysML Schafft Daimler die Einführung von Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE)? If you speak German, please check it out, and please forward this to interested friends and colleagues. Visit SE-Trends >> Back to Modeling While geeks appreciate models, many people shy away from them, as they can be intimidating. This is the reason why document generation is a very important topic: A carefully tailored document generator  can make the difference between acceptance or rejection by the stakeholders. To understand this, we have to remember that we can separate stakeholders in broadly two groups: Those who author models and those who read them. The first group is usually much smaller than the later. And there is rarely a need to confront the readers with the modeling tools at all. Reading vs. Writing Models Creating Models is hard. Creating high-quality models is even harder. It takes a lot of effort and lots of experience, and requires not only the mastery of the modeling language, but also of the methods, patterns and tools. For the modeling effort to succeed, it is crucial to have at least one experienced modeler in the team, who can act as the mentor and coach to the junior modelers. But the total number of modelers is usually small, compared to the team as a whole. Reading Models is much easier. The most important aspect is to master the language elements and to be able to understand their meaning. For instance, people have been drawing boxes and arrows forever. But in UML there are a small number of different arrows with distinct meanings. It is important that the readers understand the differences. Training Another take-away of this insight are the consequences for training: Readers and writers must be trained differently, for two reasons: First, teaching to read is much faster than teaching how to model. And there are usually many more readers than writers. For cost reasons alone it makes sense to give the many readers a shorter reading-lecture, while the writers have to take the longer modeling lecture. The second reason is frustration: Readers include non- or moderately-technical people like project managers, customers, and so on. Making these people sit through a class that they are not that interested in, and that may even leave them behind, is counter-productive. It may make them reject the project before it has even started. Therefore, all the readers need is a short crash course that should not be longer than a day. Realizing that the two groups need different training raises the question of the scope of the training. The writers need to learn how to use the modeling tool as well, although these could be separate trainings as well - especially in the beginning, a tool can be too distracting. The basics of modeling can also be learned on a whiteboard. But do the readers even have to know the tool? We don’t think so. Documents Most models can be consumed on paper, and don’t require a tool at all. This is certainly true for UML models. There are some models that benefit from being viewed in a tool, like 3D-sketches. But even in those cases, there may be a lightweight viewer available that does not overwhelm the reader with too many distracting user interface controls. But this also means that the document generation is fairly important, again for a number of reasons: First, we do not want to frustrate the readers, most of whom probably have little experience reading models, beyond the crash course they received. Therefore, the documents should be as intuitive as the modeling language allows them to be. Second, the modelers must be prepared to get frequent requests for updated documents, generated from the model. Therefore, it must not take long to generate them. For larger projects it may even be sensible to set up a continuous integration system that automatically generates the most frequently used documents either on demand, or on an hourly or daily basis. Bottom Line Stop thinking about documents as paper: They are "read-only views on your model", using a technology (paper) that is familiar to all stakeholders. As a bonus, it even comes with a built-in commenting system (pen and text marker). If you look at things this way, you’ll keep your stakeholders happy and informed, while your project can benefit from the power of modeling. [Less]

ReConf 2016, arguably the most important conference on requirements in Germany, will take place next week in Munich. If you are concerned with ReqIF or requirements engineering, read on to learn about the talks and events that you should not miss. Of ... [More] course, Formal Mind is active there as well with a talk on the ISO 29910 standard, together with Dr. Andrea Herrmann. Trends in Systems Engineering (German) But first, as a service to our German readers, the list of articles since the last newsletter on our companion blog, SE-Trends: Die vier wichtigsten Standards des Systems Engineering Rezension: Das INCOSE SE-Handbuch 4.0 Der ICONIX-Prozess: Mit vier Diagrammen von Anwendungsfall zum Code Spezialist oder Generalist – was für Systems Engineers brauchen wir? Neuer Systems Engineering Online-Kurs von MIT, NASA und Boeing If you speak German, please check it out, and please forward this to interested friends and colleagues. Visit SE-Trends >> ReConf 2016 – Four events you should not miss So here are the events that we strongly recommend you to visit: Is my ReqIF tool compatible? Just because it says "ReqIF" does not mean it fully supports "ReqIF". Many tools have limitations and don't support the full set of ReqIF features. requisis aims to make this more transparent by building a database with the features of the various tools. Nikolai Stein will present this database at the science track. This database is already accessible. So if you want to see how two tools play together, check out the interactive tool. Monday, 19:00, Room Ammersee 2: Interoperabilität von verschiedenen ReqIF-Schnittstellen Using ReqIF with ISO 29110 The standard ISO 29110 is a lightweight process for software and systems engineering. Our talk is primarily concerned with the standard, but we will also report on a case study that used the standard for a student project. In this project, formalmind Studio was used as the requirements tool. So visit this talk to see ReqIF-based requirements management. Tuesday, 12:05, Room Ammersee 1: Standardkonforme Entwicklung mit ISO 29110 – auch für die Kleinen See how different tools deal with ReqIF - life! The ProStep Implementor Forum has the mission to ensure that the various ReqIF implementations are really interoperable. To make this tangible, vendors of ReqIF-compatible tools have a chance to present their tools during the lunch break. And interested parties have a chance to see the tools in action and to ask questions to the various vendors. Tuesday, 12:50, Room Wörthsee: Anforderungsaustausch mit OMG ReqIF (Tooldemonstration) Standards create companies – The story of ReqEdit The creation of the ReqIF standard produced quite a bit of motion in the tool market: established companies scrambled to implement ReqIF support, and new players entered the field. One of them is ReqEdit, which sells a lightweight, ReqIF-based tool. They tell the story of their company: Tuesday, 11:10, Room Ammersee 2: Die Geschichte hinter ReqEdit See you in Munich! Of course, ReConf has much more to offer: besides great talks, it is the place to network with the RM&E-Community. If you want to hook up with us, please drop us a line. [Less]

ReConf 2016, arguably the most important conference on requirements in Germany, will take place next week in Munich. If you are concerned with ReqIF or requirements engineering, read on to learn about the talks and events that you should not miss. Of ... [More] course, Formal Mind is active there as well with a talk on the ISO 29910 standard, together with Dr. Andrea Herrmann. Trends in Systems Engineering (German) But first, as a service to our German readers, the list of articles since the last newsletter on our companion blog, SE-Trends: Die vier wichtigsten Standards des Systems Engineering Rezension: Das INCOSE SE-Handbuch 4.0 Der ICONIX-Prozess: Mit vier Diagrammen von Anwendungsfall zum Code Spezialist oder Generalist – was für Systems Engineers brauchen wir? Neuer Systems Engineering Online-Kurs von MIT, NASA und Boeing If you speak German, please check it out, and please forward this to interested friends and colleagues. Visit SE-Trends >> ReConf 2016 – Four events you should not miss So here are the events that we strongly recommend you to visit: Is my ReqIF tool compatible? Just because it says "ReqIF" does not mean it fully supports "ReqIF". Many tools have limitations and don't support the full set of ReqIF features. requisis aims to make this more transparent by building a database with the features of the various tools. Nikolai Stein will present this database at the science track. This database is already accessible. So if you want to see how two tools play together, check out the interactive tool. Monday, 19:00, Room Ammersee 2: Interoperabilität von verschiedenen ReqIF-Schnittstellen Using ReqIF with ISO 29110 The standard ISO 29110 is a lightweight process for software and systems engineering. Our talk is primarily concerned with the standard, but we will also report on a case study that used the standard for a student project. In this project, formalmind Studio was used as the requirements tool. So visit this talk to see ReqIF-based requirements management. Tuesday, 12:05, Room Ammersee 1: Standardkonforme Entwicklung mit ISO 29110 – auch für die Kleinen See how different tools deal with ReqIF - life! The ProStep Implementor Forum has the mission to ensure that the various ReqIF implementations are really interoperable. To make this tangible, vendors of ReqIF-compatible tools have a chance to present their tools during the lunch break. And interested parties have a chance to see the tools in action and to ask questions to the various vendors. Tuesday, 12:50, Room Wörthsee: Anforderungsaustausch mit OMG ReqIF (Tooldemonstration) Standards create companies – The story of ReqEdit The creation of the ReqIF standard produced quite a bit of motion in the tool market: established companies scrambled to implement ReqIF support, and new players entered the field. One of them is ReqEdit, which sells a lightweight, ReqIF-based tool. They tell the story of their company: Tuesday, 11:10, Room Ammersee 2: Die Geschichte hinter ReqEdit See you in Munich! Of course, ReConf has much more to offer: besides great talks, it is the place to network with the RM&E-Community. If you want to hook up with us, please drop us a line. [Less]

ReConf 2016, arguably the most important conference on requirements in Germany, will take place next week in Munich. If you are concerned with ReqIF or requirements engineering, read on to learn about the talks and events that you should not miss. Of ... [More] course, Formal Mind is active Read the full article: The Four Events That You Should Not Miss At ReConf 2016 [Less]

ReConf 2016, arguably the most important conference on requirements in Germany, will take place next week in Munich. If you are concerned with ReqIF or requirements engineering, read on to learn about the talks and events that you should not miss. Of ... [More] course, Formal Mind is active The post The Four Events That You Should Not Miss At ReConf 2016 appeared first on Formal Mind GmbH. [Less]

ReConf 2016, arguably the most important conference on requirements in Germany, will take place next week in Munich. If you are concerned with ReqIF or requirements engineering, read on to learn about the talks and events that you should not miss. Of ... [More] course, Formal Mind is active The post The Four Events That You Should Not Miss At ReConf 2016 appeared first on Formal Mind GmbH. [Less]