Sending and receiving ReqIF and RIF files

You can use the Requirements Interchange Format to send data from one project to another.

Before you begin

When you export a package, all the views that you can access in the modules in the Requirements Interchange Format definition are included in the package.

To make sure that the data that is included in the package is manageable, set up a special Requirements Interchange Format user account that only has access to the views that you want to include in the package.

Sending a ReqIF or RIF file

  1. Create a Requirements Interchange Format definition. This is called a ReqIF definition or RIF definition. The definition specifies the data to include in the package and the access rights when it is imported. See Creating ReqIF and RIF definitions.
  2. Export the definition to an XML file that is called a ReqIF package or RIF package. The data that is specified in the definition is copied to the file. See Exporting ReqIF and RIF packages.

    If you add edit access to any of the data in the package, Rational® DOORS® locks the copy in your database, making it read-only. Data in the Requirements Interchange Format file is either read-only in your database or read-only in the package. See ReqIF and RIF locks on local data.

  3. Send the package, in the same way as you would any other file.
  4. A user receives your package imports it into a project, as described in the following section. Users work on the data within the constraints of the access rights that you added to the data.
  5. When users in the remote database are finished updating the data, they return the package to you and you import it into your project, as described in the following section.

Receiving a Requirements Interchange Format file

When you receive new data in a ReqIF or RIF package and import it into a project:
  • A ReqIF or RIF definition is created.
  • One or more modules are created in the project. Modules that are imported in ReqIF packages are created at the project level. Modules that are imported in RIF packages are created in a folder hierarchy that corresponds to the hierarchy in the project where the data was exported.
When you receive returned data in a ReqIF or RIF package and import it into the project where the data was originally created:
  • You choose an existing definition, if one is not selected by default.
  • A folder is created to contain the imported data.
  • After importing the data, you must merge the updated data with the existing data.

When you receive data, do the following tasks:

  1. Import the data into the project. See Importing ReqIF and RIF packages.
    Note: Your data is not updated until you merge the imported package.
  2. Merge returned data with the original data. See Merging ReqIF and RIF packages. It is probable that some of the data in the modules will be editable, and some will be read-only. If the third-party has finished the updates and has returned the locks to you, the locks are removed. If the file was an update, and the third-party plans to send you more edits, they might keep the locks.
  3. When you have finished updating the data, export the definition. See Exporting ReqIF and RIF packages.

    When you export the definition, you can return the edit locks, so that you cannot make any further updates to the data. The data is exported to an XML file, which you can return to the original Rational DOORS database.


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