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Automated classification of non-functional requirements

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Abstract

This paper describes a technique for automating the detection and classification of non-functional requirements related to properties such as security, performance, and usability. Early detection of non-functional requirements enables them to be incorporated into the initial architectural design instead of being refactored in at a later date. The approach is used to detect and classify stakeholders’ quality concerns across requirements specifications containing scattered and non-categorized requirements, and also across freeform documents such as meeting minutes, interview notes, and memos. This paper first describes the classification algorithm and then evaluates its effectiveness through reporting a series of experiments based on 30 requirements specifications developed as term projects by MS students at DePaul University. A new and iterative approach is then introduced for training or retraining a classifier to detect and classify non-functional requirements (NFR) in datasets dissimilar to the initial training sets. This approach is evaluated against a large free-form requirements document obtained from Siemens Logistics and Automotive Organization. Although to the NFR classifier is unable to detect all of the NFRs, it is useful for supporting an analyst in the error-prone task of manually discovering NFRs, and furthermore can be used to quickly analyse large and complex documents in order to search for NFRs.

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Acknowledgments

The work described in this paper was partially funded by NSF grants CCR-0306303 and CCR-0447594. Additional funding and access to project artefacts was provided by Siemens Corporate Research and Siemens Logistics and Automation plant in Grand Rapids, MI. We would like to express our appreciation to Wen Dou for constructing the iterative prototype tool.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Requirements Engineering, School of Computer Science, Telecommunications, and Information Systems, DePaul University, 243 S. Wabash Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60604, USA

    Jane Cleland-Huang, Raffaella Settimi, Xuchang Zou & Peter Solc

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  1. Jane Cleland-Huang
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  2. Raffaella Settimi
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  3. Xuchang Zou
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  4. Peter Solc
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Correspondence to Jane Cleland-Huang.

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Cleland-Huang, J., Settimi, R., Zou, X. et al. Automated classification of non-functional requirements . Requirements Eng 12, 103–120 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00766-007-0045-1

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