Release
Date
Responsible Party
0.1
Major Changes
Table of Contents
Builtthetableofcontentshere.Insertitwhenyoufinishyourdocument.
1. Introduction
ThefollowingsubsectionsoftheSRSshouldprovideanoverviewoftheentireSRS.
1.1 Purpose
IdentifythepurposeofthisSRSanditsintendedaudience.
1.2 Scope.
Inthissubsection:
(1)Identifythesoftwareproduct(s)tobeproducedbyname
(2)Explainwhatthesoftwareproduct(s)will,and,ifnecessary,willnotdo
(3)Describetheapplicationofthesoftwarebeingspecified.Asaportionofthis,itshould:
(a)Describetherelevantbenefits,objectives,andgoalsaspreciselyaspossible
(b)Beconsistentwithsimilarstatementsinhigherlevelspecificationsiftheyexist.
1.4 References
Inthissubsection:
(1)ProvideacompletelistofalldocumentsreferencedelsewhereintheSRS.
(2)Identifyeachdocumentbytitle,reportnumber(ifapplicable),date,andpublishingorganization.
(3)Specifythesourcesfromwhichthereferencescanbeobtained.
1.5 Overview
DescribetherestoftheSRSandhowitisorganized.
(b)Identifytheprincipalexternalinterfacesofthissoftwareproduct(notadetaileddescription)
(c)Describethecomputerhardwareandperipheralequipmenttobeused(overviewonly)
Ablockdiagramshowingthemajorcomponentsofthelargersystemorproject,interconnections,and
externalinterfacescanbeveryhelpful.
(8)Signalhandshakeprotocols;forexample,XONXOFF,ACKNACK.
(9)Criticalityoftheapplication
(10)Safetyandsecurityconsiderations
3. Specific Requirements
ThissectionoftheSRSshouldcontainallthedetailsthesoftwaredeveloperneedstocreateadesign.
ThisistypicallythelargestandmostimportantpartoftheSRS.
(1) The details within it should be defined as individual specific requirements, following the
guidelinesforsoundrequirements(verifiable,unambiguous,etc.)
(2)Specificrequirementsshouldbeorganizedinalogicalandreadablefashion.
(3) Eachrequirementshouldbestatedsuchthatitsachievementcanbeobjectivelyverifiedbya
prescribedmethod.
(4) Sources of a requirement should be identified where that is useful in understanding the
requirement.
(5)Onewaytoclassifythespecificrequirementsisasfollows:
(a)FunctionalRequirements
(b)PerformanceRequirements
(c)DesignConstraints
(d)Attributes
(e)ExternalInterfaceRequirements
TheorganizationofthissectionoftheSRSshouldbechosenwiththegoalofproperlyspecifyingthe
requirementsinthemostreadablemanner.
ThissubsectionoftheSRSshouldspecifywhatistobedonebytheproduct,towhatlevelorspecific
requirement,whatinputsshouldbetransformedtowhatoutputs(nothowthisisdone),whatspecific
operationsarerequired. Wheretherationaleforarequirementisnotobvious,provideanexplanation.
Whereissuesneedtoberesolved,citethose.
For each function, specify requirements on inputs, processing, and outputs. These are usually
organizedwiththesefoursubparagraphs:
(1)Purposeofthefunction:Providerationaletoclarifytheintentofthefunction.
(2) Inputs: sources, valid ranges of values, any timing concerns, operator requirements, special
interfaces
(3)Operationstobeperformed:validitychecks,responsestoabnormalconditions,typesofprocessing
required
(4) Outputs:destinations,validrangesofvalues,timingconcerns,handlingofillegalvalues,error
messages,interfacesrequired
(1)Name
(2)Mnemonic
(3)SpecificationNumber
(4)Versionnumber
(5)Source
Foreachinterface:
(1)Discussthepurposeoftheinterfacingsoftwareasrelatedtothissoftwareproduct.
(2)Definetheinterfaceintermsofmessagecontentandformat.Itisnotnecessarytodetailanywell
documentedinterface,butareferencetothedocumentdefiningtheinterfaceisrequired.
Specifythevariousinterfacestocommunicationssuchaslocalnetworkprotocols,etc.
Describetherationaleforincludingthischaracteristicforthisproduct.
Describehowthepresence,absence,orlevelofthischaracteristicwillbemeasured;identifywaysto
testthecharacteristiconcetheproductiscomplete.
(2)Specifyfeaturesthatshouldbemodifiedtoadaptthesoftwaretoaninstallation.
4. Supporting Information
Thesupportinginformation;thatis,theTableofContents,theAppendices,andtheIndex,maketheSRS
easiertouse.TheAppendicesarenotalwaysconsideredpartoftheactualrequirementsspecificationand
arenotalwaysnecessary.Theymightinclude:
(a)SampleI/Oformats,descriptionsofcostanalysisstudies,resultsofusersurveys.
(b)SupportingorbackgroundinformationthatcanhelpthereadersoftheSRS.
(c)Adescriptionoftheproblemstobesolvedbythesoftware.
(d)Thehistory,background,experienceandoperationalcharacteristicsoftheorganizationtobe
supported.
(e)Acrossreferencelist,arrangedbymilestone,ofthoseincompletesoftwarerequirementsthat
aretobecompletedbyspecifiedmilestones.
(f) Specialpackaginginstructionsforthecodeandthemediatomeetsecurity,export,initial
loading,orotherrequirements.
(3)WhenAppendicesareincluded,theSRSshouldexplicitlystatewhetherornottheAppendicesare
tobeconsideredpartoftherequirements.