Fan Tutorial 3b - Verify System - Test Module
Before moving on with this part of the Tutorial please check, which type of Verification Flow is active in your Valispace instance! There are two ways of verifying Requirements in Valispace, through Verification and Validation (V&V) Activities and through Verification Methods (VMs). The V&V Activity flow will become the default one, whereas the VMs flow will be deprecated over the next months.
To check which one is active, please hover over the little test tube icon in your Module sidebar on the left:
![image-20240513-144432.png](../__attachments/2493775874/image-20240513-144432.png?inst-v=44f38daa-57b5-4679-9ae8-efe2696766be)
If what you see looks like this , your admin has enabled the Verifications & Validations Module. Please continue with the Fan Tutorial 3a - Verify System - V&V Module.
If what you see looks like this , your admin has enabled the Test Module. Please continue with the Fan Tutorial 3b - Verify System - Test Module.
Both Modules provide similar features but with a different look.
This tutorial will discuss how to conduct V&V activities using Valispace. We created requirements and components for our Valifan project in our previous tutorials. This tutorial will explain how requirements are linked to components, the default verification methods available in the tool, their closeout references, and demonstrate the automatic verification methods in Valispace.
This part of the tutorial takes approximately 30 - 45 mins to complete. All the values and the requirements provided are arbitrary.
Before we begin, let's review the basics of verifications in Valispace. Requirements are connected to one or more components, systems, or subsystems. These components are verified using verification methods. A component's requirement can be verified with single or multiple methods. Valispace offers five default verification methods: Rules, Inspection, Analysis, Review, and Test.
We will explore how to add components and verification methods to requirements and verify them with each verification method. Rather than asking you to click on icons, we'll provide a clear understanding of the verification process in Valispace.
Adding Components to the Requirement
Let's add the Fan
component as default to our specification Fan_Specs
. To add the default component to the specification
Select the
Fan_Specs
(1) and the click on the Tab saying “Spec- info“ (2), which brings you to the Fan_specs details tab (see Figure Specification Info)
![image-20240325-192122.png](../__attachments/2493775874/image-20240325-192122.png?inst-v=44f38daa-57b5-4679-9ae8-efe2696766be)
Accessing Specification Info - By clicking on “Spec. info“ you reach the information tab of the Specification.
In the Specification info tab, click on "Assign Components" and in the dropdown select “Fan“ to add it to your Specification as a default component (see Figure Default Specification Component).
![image-20240325-192533.png](../__attachments/2493775874/image-20240325-192533.png?inst-v=44f38daa-57b5-4679-9ae8-efe2696766be)
Default Specification Component - Adding default Components to your Specification makes it easier to carry out the Verification.
We have assigned the component “Fan” to all the requirements in Fan_specs specification. In case you have already defined a verification method, the component gets populated automatically to the verification method.
Creating and Loading Views for Verification in Valispace
Valispace offers various pre-selected attributes, such as Identifier, Text, Parents, Children, Type, State, Verification Status, Verification Methods, Components, Closeout References, Tags, and Properties. However, this may lead to excessive horizontal scrolling on smaller screens. To streamline the Verification process, users can generate custom views with only the essential attributes. Let's create a new view and load it.
Hover over any one of the attribute name cells. A new icon shows as shown in the image below. Click on the icon to open the menu.
![image-20240325-192929.png](../__attachments/2493775874/image-20240325-192929.png?inst-v=44f38daa-57b5-4679-9ae8-efe2696766be)
Accessing additional information for a column.
Once you click on the icon, you have a new dialog box, Select the last icon with three vertical windows.
![image-20240325-193120.png](../__attachments/2493775874/image-20240325-193120.png?inst-v=44f38daa-57b5-4679-9ae8-efe2696766be)
Selecting Columns to be displayed in the Table.
In this box, unselect all the attributes and select only the following attributes: Text, Parents, Children, Verification status, Verification Methods, Components, Closeout references and Tags.
The user can also select/unselect the attributes through the “Columns” on the right side. However, this method was shown to demonstrate how this can be done so that you can explore the filter option and other settings as well. The second icon with the funnel symbol is the filtering option.
Upon finishing, right-click on the tables to open the tables menu. In the dialog box, select
Save View.
![image-20240325-193524.png](../__attachments/2493775874/image-20240325-193524.png?inst-v=44f38daa-57b5-4679-9ae8-efe2696766be)
Save View - By saving a View all selected columns, columns widths' and applied Filters will be saved in a dedicated View.
A new dialog box opens where you can input “Verification_View” in
Save as new
(1) selectPrivate,(2)
and then clickSave
(3).
![image-20240325-193755.png](../__attachments/2493775874/image-20240325-193755.png?inst-v=44f38daa-57b5-4679-9ae8-efe2696766be)
Saving a View - Here you can select the name of your view as well as if it is private (just you can see it) or public (all your collaborators can see it) and you can select whether it is a favorite View.
Once the view is saved, the user can load them by right-clicking on the tables, selecting the option
Load View
and selecting theVerification_Views
.
Adding a Verification Method to Requirements
Valispace has five default Verification methods: Rules, Inspection, Analysis, Review and Test. Inspection, Analysis and Review are the manual verification methods, while the Rules and Tests are automatically updated based on the triggers in the System Design Module and Test Module. We will create each Verification Method and show you how to attach the Closeout References.
Closeout references: The supporting information that proves the verification method.
Manual Verification Method
Let’s add a manual verification method to the requirement R-Fan-001
, to do that,
Click on the three dots icon on the
Actions
columns of the requirement and selectAdd Verification Method
.A new dialog box opens, where you can select the Verification method. For the manual verification method, we will select
Inspection
and clickYes
on the confirmation window.Please check the Tutorial below for the flow.
Adding a verification method to a requirement
What happens when we add a Verification Method?
Once we assign a Verification method to a requirement, it gets added below. You can check this by clicking the
>
symbol near the Identifier nameR-Fan-001
. Clicking on the>
symbol expands the Verification method row (see Figure Requirement Verification Method).
![image-20240325-194639.png](../__attachments/2493775874/image-20240325-194639.png?inst-v=44f38daa-57b5-4679-9ae8-efe2696766be)
Requirement Verification Method - The Verification Method is displayed in a dropdown below the Requirement.
Note: the > icon near the inspection method is shown. When the > is selected, the component row expands where it shows the components attached to the Verification method. Since we have added “Fan” as default component, the component gets automatically populated to the Verification methods.
The red colour on the component shows that the Verification method of the component is not verified, while the green shows it is verified.
The user can add multiple components to the verification method by selecting the three dots on the Verification Method and selecting “Add Component“.
![image-20240325-194947.png](../__attachments/2493775874/image-20240325-194947.png?inst-v=44f38daa-57b5-4679-9ae8-efe2696766be)
Verification on a Requirement - Requirement with Verification Method and Component attached to it.
Changing Verification Status
To update the verification status of a component, follow these simple steps. First, ensure that the component meets our standards through a thorough inspection. Once you have confirmed that it aligns with our requirement, double-click on the red box in the Verification Status column of the component and select "verified" from the drop-down menu (see Figure Changing Verification Status).
![image-20240325-195716.png](../__attachments/2493775874/image-20240325-195716.png?inst-v=44f38daa-57b5-4679-9ae8-efe2696766be)
Changing Verification Status - By double clicking on the red-box a dropdown is present to select the current status of Verification.
The component's row colour will change from red to green, indicating that it has been verified. To confirm that the update has been successfully implemented, check the numbers - they should read as 1/1.
![image-20240325-195929.png](../__attachments/2493775874/image-20240325-195929.png?inst-v=44f38daa-57b5-4679-9ae8-efe2696766be)
Requirement Verified - When the Verification Status is changed to “Verified“ the colour changes and gives you a clear indication that the Component satisfies your Requirement.
For the Analysis Verification method, the procedure is similar, however, the “Closeout Reference” column is used to upload an external document or Report from the Analysis Module within Valispace and manually changing the verification status.
Automatic Verification Method
Rules - Verification method - Track your Valis against Requirements
Most technical developments are designed against strict requirements, e.g., mass, power consumption, budget, etc. Valispace maintains a complete overview of whether your design fulfils all of these requirements.
In the row of
R-Fan-001
, in the column Actions, click on the three dots icon and select the first option,Add Verification Method
. On the pop-up “Add New Verification Method”, select “Rules” and click on “Yes”.Click on the small arrow button near R-Fan-001 and again on the one next to Rules to open the Fan component in the next row. Double-click the area under the closeout reference column to get the pop-up to add your Boolean rules.
In the pop-up type the following rule
$Fan.Mass <= 300g
(1). Click on “Done” (2) - see Figure Rule Verification Method
ProTipp: Instead of the fixed 300g, search for the Vali that was created in the Text of the Requirement and compare it to the Mass of the Fan.
![image-20240325-200838.png](../__attachments/2493775874/image-20240325-200838.png?inst-v=44f38daa-57b5-4679-9ae8-efe2696766be)
Rule Verification Method - By adding various Rules to your Requirements automatic Verification against your System Design is ensured.
Valispace automatically checks for verification of this rule. The green on the requirement 2/2
notification indicates that this requirement has been met and verified by a total of two verification methods. Please use our click-through tutorial below to follow along:
Here, we show how you can compare the requirement vali with the design vali. Since the vali is created by valify option, the name would be different to you. To simplify and reduce confusion we compare the design value with a numeric value $Fan.Mass <= 300g
You can also always check the status of all requirements and rules of the project by opening the
Verification Status
tab in theRequirements
Module.
![image-20240325-201542.png](../__attachments/2493775874/image-20240325-201542.png?inst-v=44f38daa-57b5-4679-9ae8-efe2696766be)
Verification Status Tab - Shows the overall Verification Status of your Requirements in the selected Specification.
PowerUserTip: The tracking of the requirements also takes defined margins into account. In case your worst-case value calculated with margins violates the requirements, the tool will let you know if you use the property function i.e. property($<search_for_vali>, worstcase_plus). You can refer to our documentation here.
Tests - Verification Method (Optional)
Next Steps?
Congratulations, you now know your way around Valispace!
You can continue improving your Desktop Fan project. Here are some ideas:
Add Compliance to your requirements
Add a few parent/children relationships between requirements, check the Connections Graph, and notice the colour codes on the requirement.
Explore the Specification export script that is available for exporting the requirements to a Word document.