The requirements defined for a product will finally need to be checked against their implementation in order to ensure that we are satisfying all requirements. Given the large amount of requirements that someone usually has to deal with in engineering will finally also lead to a decent level of complexity around the test cases. In order to get a grip on this complexity it requires to put a well organized data model and overarching approach in place that connects requirements specifications with test management and also embeds a traceability between those. Moreover we also need to wrap this into a project management approach defining the schedule and resource assignments for the test. The great news: 3DEXPERIENCE has technology in place that supports you to do this. Following my previous post on requirements management & collaboration https://r1132100503382-eu1-3dswym.3dexperience.3ds.com/#community:4GJPS8QmTuC4wF8BSLitkw/post:K8ABR93UQwGOGSBlUROdNg
I want to use this post to talk about our solution which helps users build that continuity between requirements, test management, traceability and project management.
If we use for instance the V-diagram as a possible reference structure to represent the different levels of abstractions and domains in our engineering process (engineering processes are usually not really a V as they have a lot of iterations and are never purely sequential, but the representation is useful to illustrate the different levels of abstractions), what we want to achieve here is a digital continuity where we connect requirements specifications on the left with the test cases on the right in a fully traceable manner (including their revisions). And it does not matter whether the test result was gained through a simulation or physical test rig, we want to consume and connect both data. In order to do so, 3DEXPERIENCE provides a test management role (VRP) that provides a data model based definition of the test and allows to link these test cases to corresponding requirements. To overview the traceability between larger requirements and test specifications the traceability role (TRG) can be used to manage the overall traceability & navigation. All of this can be compiled into well organized dashboard in 3DEXPERIENCE as illustrated below where you see on the left a test specification with test cases and test executions defined.
On the right it illustrates in real-time the traceability relationships between requirements and test cases. The test specifications can also be equipped with additional data, e.g. which item we are testing against (in this case a physical product) as well as a project to which we want to link this test specification. If you specify a project then the test executions will show up as "tasks" in this 3DEXPERIENCE project. That means this test specification can either be a standalone project itself or it can be part of an overarching project plan for the product that is to be developed. This is very useful and will allow us to also define the schedule for the test executions so that we have a clear overview when each test will be executed. This allows us to also plan the needed & available resources, all aggregated and represented in a nice Gant Chart.
I have attached a demo that I created for some customers showing the complete process from defining the test specification, test case, test execution and connecting it with requirements, leveraging an end-to-end traceability to identify and add the physical test product as well as embedding all of this into a project management approach. Finally this is turned into an Excel spreadsheet report for exchange purposes with 3rd party tools or documentation.
