Verifications within Valispace

This section covers the previous method of handling verifications within Valispace. If you are using the Verifications and Validations Module (V&V Module) shown in the image below within the Requirements & System Portal (RSP) in Altium A365 or Valispace, please refer to the documentation here.

We have introduced a new V&V Module, and the older verification method will be deprecated after all existing data has been migrated to the new module.

Once a specification is assigned to one or more components in your design, each requirement in that specification can be verified against each of those components. To see the related fields associated with the verification in Valispace, enable the columns on the right side (1). The columns which are related to the verification method are shown in the image below (2).

The new AG grid table view is different from the previous table view. In this new layout, the arrangement of the verification has been changed. The requirements are shown in each row. If the user wants to see/edit the verification methods, the user has to select the drop-down menu (3) which shows the existing verification methods in the requirement. For example, in this requirement Struct-0009, we have added two verification methods i.e Rules and Test.

In case you would like to see the list of components related to the verification method, click on the drop-down menu (4) of the verification method. This will in turn create a new row of the component of the verification method.

Note that the row’s colour of the verification methods is light blue while the component is red.

Verification methodology flow in Valispace

The typical verification methodology flow in Valispace is illustrated as shown in the image below:

Adding components to the Specification/Requirement

As explained in the “Create Specifications” section, when a specification is created, the user can add the component. If the component is added to a specification all the requirements within the specification will be automatically assigned to the specification component.

In case the user did not add the component during the specification creation, the user can add the component within the details tab of the specification. Upon clicking the default components, a popup opens up where the user can add multiple components or a single component.

Adding a Verification method to the Requirement

The verification method is generally the way how the user plans to verify the requirements. Within Valispace, we have five default verification methods called Analysis, Inspection, Review, Rules, and Tests. The user has two ways to add the verification method.

Methods

• The easy method is to hover over the requirement row and in the “actions” column select the first icon to get the drop-down menu

• Hover over the requirement row, drop down the verification method row and double click on “select method”. On clicking, a drop-down menu appears which contains the default VMs. Both these methods are illustrated in the gif below:

Valispace allows users to have multiple verification methods for the requirements. The above gif also shows how to add multiple verification methods to a requirement.

The Rules and Tests are automatic verification methods where the verification status changes automatically whenever the data within Valispace is updated. Other verification methods are manual and they have closeout references. The closeout references are the supporting documents/data which prove the verification method. The table below shows the explanation for the verification methods and their closeout reference.

Verification Method	Closeout Reference	Description
Analysis	Analysis, Upload (attachment)	This method is verified when you attach the supporting documents either from the Analyses Module or upload a document e.g. attaching a report.
Inspection	Manual	This is a manual change of the verification status as a result of inspections.
Review	Manual	This is a manual change of the verification status as a result of reviews.
Rules	Rules (Automatic)	Write a boolean expression to compare the requirement Valis with the system design Vali (from the component module) to see if it meets the required condition e.g. :
Test	Test (automatic from test module)	Refer the requirement to a test procedure from the test module. Whenever a test run is performed and the status of the tests is changed and approved, the verification status of the requirement automatically gets updated.

In case the user wants to have a different closeout reference or create a new verification method for their use case, the user can edit in the settings menu. You can find more information about it here in Verifications method settings.

Verification Assignment

A new section “Verification Assignment matrix” has been implemented in the requirements module in version v.1.56 to ease the verification and validation of engineering processes in valispace. This new matrix allows the user to have a full vision of which requirement is/isn’t attributed to which verification methods.

From the Verification Assignment matrix, the user can also add the new verification methods to the current requirements available (refer to the gif below).

The children (sub-type) of the verification methods can also be seen by clicking on the little arrow next to their names. Columns such as text, specifications, or any columns can be added to the verification assignment matrix section. Also, the user can filter the requirements or any other columns.

A history of changes is available in the VMs of the requirement. Now, the user can see when a verification method was assigned and who did the changes. The gif below shows how to access the history.

Additional Info on Verification Methodology

Adding additional components

Some requirements might have other components which do not default to the entire specification. In this case, Valispace allows the user to add a specific component to the specific requirement. To add the component, hover over the requirement row and drop down the verification method row. In the “Actions” column click the first icon. Refer to the gif below:

Adding a component to multiple verification methods

Yes, it is possible to add a component to multiple verification methods of Requirements. You can do this by selecting (tick) the verification methods inside the requirements that you would like to add and then clicking on any of the “Add Component Icon” on the left. Upon clicking, a pop-up opens from where you can select the component. Refer to the gif below:

Note: be careful to select the “Add Component Icon” from the verification method row. The icon on the requirement is “Add Verification Method Icon”.

Additional Fields related to Verifications

The user can add the status of the compliance. The default ones that are added as a standard setting within Valispace are Compliant, Partially Compliant, Non-Compliant and NA (not applicable).

Apart from the fields which are explained above, the user can add additional attachments in the attachment field, write verification comments or custom compliance comments, and add verification tags. Also, note that Valispace has fields that specify the verified by and verified on.