Functional requirements
Please note that ICA-AtoM is no longer actively supported by Artefactual Systems.
Visit https://www.accesstomemory.org for information about AtoM, the currently supported version.
Main Page > System requirements > Functional requirements
Purpose
Functional requirements state what the system must be able to do. The requirements provide:
- Parameters for designing the system.
- Criteria for testing the system (used in initial release and future iterations and upgrades).
- Planning guidelines for developing the system (improve existing or add new functionality).
- Documentation for standards compliance (link requirements to relevant international or national descriptive standards)
- A framework for structuring user-end documentation (step-by-step procedures for how to do things in the system).
Organization
Functional requirements are organized hierarchically, with high-level requirements broken down into sub- and sub-sub-requirements. To facilitate cross-references and links, each requirement has been assigned an alpha-numeric code: the alpha prefix designates the type of requirement (FR = functional requirement), the number establishes its position in the hierarchy. Six main functional requirements have been identified:
FR-1 Implement a system of control
Information
Each functional requirement includes some or all of the following information:
- Requirement number: FR-x.x.x, unique tracking number assigned to requirement.
- Requirement name: descriptive name assigned to requirement.
- Specification: brief description of requirement; users of the application must be able to do X, the system must be able to do X.
- Context (parent requirements): links to higher-level requirements, if applicable.
- Sub-requirements: links to lower-level requirements, if applicable.
- Source quotations: links to standards or other documents: why must the applicable be able to do X?
Associated metadata requirements
- What data must the application capture in order to be able to do X?
Associated quality requirements
- What design and interface features must the application have to do X well?
Associated technical requirements
- What system architecture, hardware / software configurations, and programming rules must the application implement to do X?
ICA-AtoM implementation
- Brief description of how ICA-AtoM implements X.
Known issues
- Brief indication of known problems or limitations in the current version of ICA-AtoM that should be addressed in future releases.
Use cases
- Links to descriptions of user-end scenarios relating to the requirement and how they are handled in ICA-AtoM.
User Manual sections
- Links to the User manual sections that provide step-by-step instructions for doing X.
Note that most of this detail will only be found at the lower-level requirements. Higher-level requirements will typically only include the requirement name, number, specification, and source quotation, with links to the lower-level sub-requirements.