FAQ

Getting Started with rmtoo

• What is the input file format?

  The file should be plain text. The file should contain a sequence of details. Each detail is a group of lines, in name: value pairs. For multiline values, indent by one space on the lines after the first. It’s possible to leave a blank line between requirements, for readability. Please consult the rmtoo-req-format(5) man page for further information.

• What tags are supported?

  Currently the following tags are supported:

  • Class
  • Solved by
  • Description
  • Effort estimation
  • Invented by
  • Invented on
  • Name
  • Owner
  • Priority
  • Rationale
  • Status
  • Type

  For a detailes discussion about the semantic see the rmtoo-req-format(5) man page.

• Can I split a large set of requirements into a set of separate files?

  You must - each requirment must go in one file.

• Does a requirement have a unique id?

  Yes - each requirement has an id which is the case sensitive name of the file where it’s described in - without the suffix. Example: file name ‘OutputPrio.req’ -> id ‘OutputPrio’

• Are there any guidelines for the use of ‘Id’?

  Just write a unique phrase, the shorter the better. You can also use numbers if you want. It’s typically easier to handle the requirements when the ‘Id’ gives a hint about the content.

• How do I specify dependencies?

  Give only one Solved by field per requirement. The value should be the ‘Id’s of the requirement which solves you current requirement. You must specify a Solved by - except for all leaves (requirements which cannot / should not detailed any more).

• How do I put paragraphs in the Rationale?

  To start a new paragraph, write \par at end of the current paragraph. (This will automatically converted to the appropriate output format.)

• Are there any guidlines for the use of Effort estimation?

  The effort estimation is meant to be a symbolic effort point number as used in SCRUM. Please consult the rmtoo-req-format(5) man page for detailed information.

• What units are expected in the Effort estimation field?

  None - this is a symbolic number. See rmtoo-req-format(5) man page.

• What values are valid for the Status field?

  Supported values for the ‘Status’ field are ‘not done’ and ‘finished’. See rmtoo-req-format(5) man page.

• What values are valid for the Type field?

  Supported values are ‘master requirement’, ‘requirement’ and ‘design decision’. Please consult the rmtoo-req-format(5) man page for details.

• What does ‘Class’ do? How should it be used?

  Class can be one of ‘implementable’ or ‘detailable’. If a requirement is at a detail level that it can be implemented, the Class should be set to ‘implementable’. In the other case (the default) the requirement must be elaborated and some dependent requirements must be defined. Please consult the rmtoo-req-format(5) man page for details.

• How should I remove a requirement?

  Remove it from the file system (with rm), then remove it from the vcs (with ‘git rm’) then do a checkin.

Every day usage

• Is is possible to rename the rmtoo directory?

  No - this is not possible. Mostly all python files assume that the top level directory is called ‘rmtoo’.

• rmtoo prints make: *** No rule to make target ...

  This typically happes when an requirement was removed or renamed. In this case the automatically generated dependency file must be deleted (typically with rm .rmtoo_dependencies) or a make force will do this for you.

• I cannot compile rmtoo. What should I do?

  There is no need to compile rmtoo. It comes as a set of modules. You can unpack and just use it.

• I got the error ImportError: No module named rmtoo.lib.RmtooMain

  This is a hint, that the PYTHONPATH is not set correctly when using the tar packaged version of rmtoo.

• make test displays a low test coverage

  The reason for this is currently unknown. After removing all (old) .pyc files find . -name "*.pyc" | xargs rm the coverage is correctly computed.

• The requirement looks fine but rmtoo complains about a missing tag

  If you are using some strange line delimiters (such as carriage return and linefeed - as used by MSDos), rmtoo cannot parse the requirements. Please convert it to the commonly used file format just using line feeds (LF, 0x0A).