TableofContents

1. Introduction
1.1. Purpose
delineatethepurposeoftheSRS
specifytheintendedaudiencefortheSRS
1.2. Scope
identifythesoftwareproduct(s)tobeproducedbyname
explainwhatsoftwareproduct(s)will,and,ifnecessary,willnotdo
describetheapplicationofthesoftwarebeingspecified,includingrelevantbenefits,
objectives,andgoals
beconsistentwithsimilarstatementsinhigherlevelspecifications,iftheyexist
1.3. Definitions,acronyms,andabbreviations
definitionsofallterms,acronyms,andabbreviationsrequiredtoproperlyinterpretthe
SRSthisinformationmaybeprovidedbyreferencetooneormoreappendixesinthe
SRSorbyreferencetootherdocuments
1.4. References
provideacompletelistofalldocumentsreferencedelsewhereintheSRS
identifyeachdocumentbytitle,reportnumber(ifapplicable),date,andpublishing
organization
specifythesourcesfromwhichthereferencescanbeobtain
thisinformationmaybeprovidedbyreferencetoanappendixortoanotherdocument
1.5. Overview
describewhattherestoftheSRScontains
explainhowtheSRSisorganized

2. Overalldescription
thissectionoftheSRSshoulddescribethegeneralfactorsthataffecttheproductandits
requirements
thissectiondoesnotstatespecificrequirements
instead,itprovidesabackgroundforthoserequirements,whicharedefinedindetailinSection3,
andmakesthemeasytounderstand
2.1. Productperspective
puttheproductintoperspectivewithotherrelatedwithotherrelatedproductsifthe
productisindependentandtotallyselfcontained,itshouldbestatedhere
describehowthesoftwareoperatesinsodevariousconstraints
systeminterfaces
thisshouldlisteachsysteminterfaceandidentifythefunctionalityof
thesoftwaretoaccomplishthesystemrequirementsandtheinterface
descriptiontomatchthesystem
userinterfaces
thelogicalcharacteristicsofeachinterfacebetweenthesoftware
productanditsusersthisincludesthoseconfigurationcharacteristics
(e.g.,requiredscreenformats,pageorwindowlayouts,contentofany
reportsormenus,oravailabilityofprogrammablefunctionkeys)
necessarytoaccomplishthesoftwarerequirements
alltheaspecsofoptimizingtheinterfacewiththepersonwhomust
usethesystem.thismaysimplycomprisealistofdosanddontson
howthesystemwillappeartotheuser
hardwareinterfaces
Thisshouldspecifythelogicalcharacteristicsofeachinterface
betweenthesoftwareproductandthehardwarecomponentsofthe
system.Thisincludesconfigurationcharacteristics(numberofports,
instructionsets,etc.).Italsocoverssuchmattersaswhatdevicesare
tobesupported,howtheyaretobesupported,andprotocols.For
example,terminalsupportmayspecifyfullscreensupportas
opposedtolinebylinesupport.
softwareinterfaces
Thisshouldspecifytheuseofotherrequiredsoftwareproducts(e.g.,a
datamanagementsystem,anoperatingsystem,oramathematical
package),andinterfaceswithotherapplicationsystems(e.g.,the
linkagebetweenanaccountsreceivablesystemandageneralledger
system).Foreachrequiredsoftwareproduct,thefollowingshouldbe
provided:
name
mnemonic
specificationnumber
versionnumber
source
foreachinterface,thefollowingshouldbeprovided:
discussionofthepurposeoftheinterfacingsoftwareas
relatedtothissoftwareproduct
definitionoftheinterfaceintermsofmessagecontentand
formatitisnotnecessarytodetailanywelldocumented
interface,butareferencetothedocumentdefiningthe
interfaceisrequired
communicationsinterfaces
thisshouldspecifythevariousinterfacestocommunicationssuchas
localnetworksprotocols,etc
memory
thisshouldspecifyanyapplicablecharacteristicsandlimitson
primaryandsecondarymemory
operations
Thisshouldspecifythenormalandspecialoperationsrequiredbythe
usersuchas:
Thevariousmodesofoperationsintheuserorganization
(e.g.,userinitiatedoperations)
Periodsofinteractiveoperationsandperiodsofunattended
operations
Dataprocessingsupportfunctions
Backupandrecoveryoperations
siteadaptationrequirements
definetherequirementsforanydataorinitialization
sequencesthatarespecifictoagivensite,mission,or
operationalmode(e.g.,gridvalue,safetylimits,etc)
specifythesiteormissionrelatedfeaturesthatshouldbe
modifiedtoadaptthesoftwaretoaparticularinstallation
2.2. Productfunctions
ThissubsectionoftheSRSshouldprovideasummaryofthemajorfunctionsthatthe
softwarewillperform
Thefunctionsshouldbeorganizedinawaythatmakesthelistoffunctions
understandabletothecustomerortoanyoneelsereadingthedocumentforthefirsttime
Textualorgraphicalmethodscanbeusedtoshowthedifferentfunctionsandtheir
relationships.Suchadiagramisnotintendedtoshowadesignofaproduct,butsimply
showsthelogicalrelationshipsamongvariables
2.3. Usercharacteristics
ThissubsectionoftheSRSshoulddescribethosegeneralcharacteristicsofthe
intendedusersoftheproductincludingeducationallevel,experience,andtechnical
expertise.Itshouldnotbeusedtostatespecificrequirements,butrathershouldprovide
thereasonswhycertainspecificrequirementsarelaterspecifiedinSection3
2.4. Constraints
provideageneraldescriptionofanyotheritemsthatwilllimitthedevelopersoptions:
regulatorypolicies
hardwarelimitations
interfacestootherapplications
paralleloperation
auditfunctions
controlfunctions
higherorderlanguagerequirements
signalhandshaleprotocols
reliabilityrequirements
criticalityoftheapplication
safetyandsecurityconsiderations
2.5. Assumptionsanddependencies
ThissubsectionoftheSRSshouldlisteachofthefactorsthataffecttherequirements
statedintheSRS.Thesefactorsarenotdesignconstraintsonthesoftwarebutare,
rather,anychangestothemthatcanaffecttherequirementsintheSRS.Forexample,
anassumptionmaybethataspecificoperatingsystemwillbeavailableonthe
hardwaredesignatedforthesoftwareproduct.If,infact,theoperatingsystemisnot
available,theSRSwouldthenhavetochangeaccordingly
2.6. Apportioningofrequirements
ThissubsectionoftheSRSshouldidentifyrequirementsthatmaybedelayeduntilfuture
versionsofthesystem.

3. Specificrequirements
ThissectionoftheSRSshouldcontainallofthesoftwarerequirementstoalevelofdetail
sufficienttoenabledesignerstodesignasystemtosatisfythoserequirements,andtestersto
testthatthesystemsatisfiesthoserequirements.Throughoutthissection,everystated
requirementshouldbeexternallyperceivablebyusers,operators,orotherexternalsystems.
Theserequirementsshouldincludeataminimumadescriptionofeveryinput(stimulus)intothe
system,everyoutput(response)fromthesystem,andallfunctionsperformedbythesystemin
responsetoaninputorinsupportofanoutput.
3.1. Externalinterfaces
Thisshouldbeadetaileddescriptionofallinputsintoandoutputsfromthesoftware
system.Itshouldincludebothcontentandformatasfollows
nameofitem
descriptionofpurpose
sourceofinputordestinationofoutput
validrange,accuracy,and/ortolerance
unitsofmeasure
timing
relationshipstootherinputs/outputs
scrrenformats/organization
windowformats/organization
dataformats
commandformats
endmessages
3.2. Functions
Functionalrequirementsshoulddefinethefundamentalactionsthatmusttakeplaceinthe
softwareinacceptingandprocessingtheinputsandinprocessingandgeneratingtheoutputs.
ThesearegenerallylistedasshallstatementsstartingwithThesystemshall...
validitychecksontheinput
exactsequenceofoperations
responsestoabnormalsituations,including
overflow
communicationfacilities
errorhandlingandrecovery
effectofparameters
relationshipofoutputstoinputs,including
input/outputsequences
formulasforinputtooutputconversion
3.3. Performancerequirements
Thissubsectionshouldspecifyboththestaticandthedynamicnumericalrequirements
placedonthesoftwareoronhumaninteractionwiththesoftwareasawhole.Static
numericalrequirementsmayincludethefollowing:
Thenumberofterminalstobesupported
Thenumberofsimultaneoususerstobesupported
Amountandtypeofinformationtobehandled
Dynamicnumericalrequirementsmayinclude,forexample,thenumbersof
transactionsandtasksandtheamountofdatatobeprocessedwithincertaintime
periodsforbothnormalandpeakworkloadconditions
3.4. Logicaldatabaserequirements
Thisshouldspecifythelogicalrequirementsforanyinformationthatistobeplacedinto
adatabase.Thismayincludethefollowing:
typesofinformationusedbyvariousfunctions
frequencyofuse
accessingcapabilities
dataentitiesandtheirrelationships
integrityconstraints
dataretentionrequirements
3.5. Designconstraints
Thisshouldspecifydesignconstraintsthatcanbeimposedbyotherstandards,
hardwarelimitations,etc
3.5.1. Standardscompliance
Thissubsectionshouldspecifytherequirementsderivedfromexisting
standardsorregulations.Theymayincludethefollowing:
reportformat
datanaming
accountingprocedures
audittracing
3.6. Softwaresystemattributes
3.6.1. Reliability
Thisshouldspecifythefactorsrequiredtoestablishtherequiredreliabilityof
thesoftwaresystemattimeofdelivery.
3.6.2. Availability
Thisshouldspecifythefactorsrequiredtoguaranteeadefinedavailabilitylevel
fortheentiresystemsuchascheckpoint,recovery,andrestart
3.6.3. Security
Thisshouldspecifythefactorsthatprotectthesoftwarefromaccidentalor
maliciousaccess,use,modification,destruction,ordisclosure.Specific
requirementsinthisareacouldincludetheneedto:
Utilizecertaincryptographicaltechniques
Keepspecificlogorhistorydatasets
assigncertainfunctionstodifferentmodules
restrictcommunicationsbetweensomeareasoftheprogram
checkdataintegrityforcriticalvariables
3.6.4. Maintainability
Thisshouldspecifyattributesofsoftwarethatrelatetotheeaseofmaintenance
ofthesoftwareitself.Theremaybesomerequirementforcertainmodularity,
interfaces,complexity,etc.
3.6.5. Portability
Thisshouldspecifyattributesofsoftwarethatrelatetotheeaseofportingthe
softwaretootherhostmachinesand/oroperatingsystems.Thismayinclude
thefollowing:
Percentageofcomponentswithhostdependentcode
Percentageofcodethatishostdependent
Useofaprovenportablelanguage
Useofaparticularcompilerorlanguagesubset
Useofaparticularoperatingsystem
3.7. Organizingthespecificrequirements
Differentclassesofsystemslendthemselvestodifferentorganizationsof
requirementsinSection3oftheSRS
3.7.1. Systemmode
Somesystemsbehavequitedifferentlydependingonthemodeofoperation.
Forexample,acontrolsystemmayhavedifferentsetsoffunctionsdepending
onitsmode:training,normal,oremergency.Whenorganizingthissectionby
mode,theoutlineinA.1orA.2shouldbeused.
3.7.2. Userclass
Somesystemsprovidedifferentsetsoffunctionstodifferentclassesofusers.
enorganizingthissectionbyuserclass,theoutlineinA.3shouldbeused.
3.7.3. Objects
Objectsarerealworldentitiesthathaveacounterpartwithinthesystem.For
example,inapatientmonitoringsystem,objectsincludepatients,sensors,
nurses,rooms,physicians,medicines,etc.Associatedwitheachobjectisa
setofattributes(ofthatobject)andfunctions(performedbythatobject).These
functionsarealsocalledservices,methods,orprocesses.Whenorganizing
thissectionbyobject,theoutlineinA.4shouldbeused.
3.7.4. Features
Afeatureisanexternallydesiredservicebythesystemthatmayrequirea
sequenceofinputstoeffectthedesiredresult.Forexample,inatelephone
system,featuresincludelocalcall,callforwarding,andconferencecall.Each
featureisgenerallydescribedinasequenceofstimulusresponsepairs.
Whenorganizingthissectionbyfeature,theoutlineinA.5shouldbeused
3.7.5. Stimulus
Somesystemscanbebestorganizedbydescribingtheirfunctionsintermsof
stimuli.Forexample,thefunctionsofanautomaticaircraftlandingsystemmay
beorganizedintosectionsforlossofpower,windshear,suddenchangein
roll,verticalvelocityexcessive,etc.Whenorganizingthissectionbystimulus,
theoutlineinA.6shouldbeused
3.7.6. Response
Somesystemscanbebestorganizedbydescribingallthefunctionsinsupport
ofthegenerationofaresponse.Forexample,thefunctionsofapersonnel
systemmaybeorganizedintosectionscorrespondingtoallfunctions
associatedwithgeneratingpaychecks,allfunctionsassociatedwithgenerating
acurrentlistofemployees,etc.TheoutlineinA.6(withalloccurrencesof
stimulusreplacedwithresponse)shouldbeused.
3.7.7. Functionalhierarchy
Whennoneoftheaboveorganizationalschemesprovehelpful,theoverall
functionalitycanbeorganizedintoahierarchyoffunctionsorganizedbyeither
commoninputs,commonoutputs,orcommoninternaldataaccess.Dataflow
diagramsanddatadictionariescanbeusedtoshowtherelationships
betweenandamongthefunctionsanddata.Whenorganizingthissectionby
functionalhierarchy,theoutlineinA.7shouldbeused.
4. SupportingInformation
4.1. Tableofcontents
4.2. Index
4.3. Appendixes
TheappendixesarenotalwaysconsideredpartoftheactualSRSandarenotalways
necessary.Theymayinclude
Sampleinput/outputformats,descriptionsofcostanalysisstudies,orresultsof
usersurveys
SupportingorbackgroundinformationthatcanhelpthereadersoftheSRS
Adescriptionoftheproblemstobesolvedbythesoftware
Specialpackaginginstructionsforthecodeandthemediatomeetsecurity,
export,initialloading
otherrequirements

Appendixes
Index

A.1TemplateofSRSSection3organizedbymode:v1

3.Specificrequirements
3.1Externalinterfacerequirements
3.1.1Userinterfaces
3.1.2Hardwareinterfaces
3.1.3Softwareinterfaces
3.1.4Communicationsinterfaces
3.2Functionalrequirements
3.2.1Mode1
3.2.1.1Functionalrequirement1.1
.
.
.
3.2.1.nFunctionalrequirement1.n
3.2.2Mode2
.
.
.
3.2.mModem
3.2.m.1Functionalrequirementm.1
.
.
.
3.2.m.nFunctionalrequirementm.n
3.3Performancerequirements
3.4Designconstraints
3.5Softwaresystemattributes
3.6Otherrequirements

A.3TemplateofSRSSection3organizedbyuserclass
3.Specificrequirements
3.1Externalinterfacerequirements
3.1.1Userinterfaces
3.1.2Hardwareinterfaces
3.1.3Softwareinterfaces
3.1.4Communicationsinterfaces
3.2Functionalrequirements
3.2.1Userclass1
3.2.1.1Functionalrequirement1.1
.
.
.
3.2.1.nFunctionalrequirement1.n
3.2.2Userclass2
.
.
.
3.2.mUserclassm
3.2.m.1Functionalrequirementm.1
.
.
.
3.2.m.nFunctionalrequirementm.n
3.3Performancerequirements
3.4Designconstraints
3.5Softwaresystemattributes
3.6Otherrequirements
A.2TemplateofSRSSection3organizedbymode:v2

3.Specificrequirements
3.1.Functionalrequirements
3.1.1Mode1
3.1.1.1Externalinterfaces
3.1.1.1.1Userinterfaces
3.1.1.1.2Hardware
interfaces
3.1.1.1.3Software
interfaces
3.1.1.1.4Communications
interfaces
3.1.1.2Functionalrequirements
3.1.1.2.1Functional
requirement1
3.1.1.2.nFunctional
requirementn
3.1.1.3Performance
3.1.2Mode2
.
.
.
3.1.mModem
3.2Designconstraints
3.3Softwaresystemattributes
3.4Otherrequirements

A.4TemplateofSRSSection3organizedbyobject
3.Specificrequirements
3.1Externalinterfacerequirements
3.1.1Userinterfaces
3.1.2Hardwareinterfaces
3.1.3Softwareinterfaces
3.1.4Communicationsinterfaces
3.2Classes/Objects
3.2.1Class/Object1
3.2.1.1Attributes(directorinherited)
3.2.1.1.1Attribute1
.
.
.
3.2.1.1.nAttributen
3.2.1.2Functions(services,methods,director
inherited)
3.2.1.2.1Functionalrequirement1.1
.
.
.
3.2.1.2.mFunctionalrequirement1.m
3.2.1.3Messages(communicationsreceivedorsent)
3.2.2Class/Object2
.
.
.
3.2.pClass/Objectp
3.3Performancerequirements
3.4Designconstraints
3.5Softwaresystemattributes
3.6Otherrequirements

A.5TemplateofSRSSection3organizedbyfeature
3.Specificrequirements
3.1Externalinterfacerequirements
3.1.1Userinterfaces
3.1.2Hardwareinterfaces
3.1.3Softwareinterfaces
3.1.4Communicationsinterfaces
3.2Systemfeatures
3.2.1SystemFeature1
3.2.1.1Introduction/Purposeoffeature
3.2.1.2Stimulus/Responsesequence
3.2.1.3Associatedfunctional
requirements
3.2.1.3.1Functional
requirement1
.
.
.
3.2.1.3.nFunctional
requirementn
3.2.2Systemfeature2
.
.
.
3.2.mSystemfeaturem
.
.
.
3.3Performancerequirements
3.4Designconstraints
3.5Softwaresystemattributes
3.6Otherrequirements

A.6TemplateofSRSSection3organizedbystimulus
3.Specificrequirements
3.1Externalinterfacerequirements
3.1.1Userinterfaces
3.1.2Hardwareinterfaces
3.1.3Softwareinterfaces
3.1.4Communicationsinterfaces
3.2Functionalrequirements
3.2.1Stimulus1
3.2.1.1Functionalrequirement1.1
.
.
.
3.2.1.nFunctionalrequirement1.n
3.2.2Stimulus2
.
.
.
3.2.mStimulusm
3.2.m.1Functionalrequirementm.1
.
.
.
3.2.m.nFunctionalrequirementm.n
3.3Performancerequirements
3.4Designconstraints
3.5Softwaresystemattributes
3.6Otherrequirements

A.7TemplateofSRSSection3organizedbyfunctionalhierarchy
3.Specificrequirements
3.1Externalinterfacerequirements
3.1.1Userinterfaces
3.1.2Hardwareinterfaces
3.1.3Softwareinterfaces
3.1.4Communicationsinterfaces
3.2Functionalrequirements
3.2.1Informationflows
3.2.1.1Dataflowdiagram1
3.2.1.1.1Dataentities
3.2.1.1.2Pertinentprocesses
3.2.1.1.3Topology
...
3.2.1.nDataflowdiagramn
3.2.1.n.1Dataentities
3.2.1.n.2Pertinentprocesses
3.2.1.n.3Topology
3.2.2Processdescriptions
3.2.2.1Process1
3.2.2.1.1Inputdataentities
3.2.2.1.2Algorithmorformulaofprocess
3.2.2.1.3Affecteddataentities
...
3.2.2.mProcessm
3.2.2.m.1Inputdataentities
3.2.2.m.2Algorithmorformulaofprocess
3.2.2.m.3Affecteddataentities
3.2.3Dataconstructspecifications
3.2.3.1Construct1
3.2.3.1.1Recordtype
3.2.3.1.2Constituentfields
...
3.2.3.pConstructp
3.2.3.p.1Recordtype
3.2.3.p.2Constituentfields
3.2.4Datadictionary
3.2.4.1Dataelement1
3.2.4.1.1Name
3.2.4.1.2Representation
3.2.4.1.3Units/Format
3.2.4.1.4Precision/Accuracy
3.2.4.1.5Range
...
3.2.4.qDataelementq
3.2.4.q.1Name
3.2.4.q.2Representation
3.2.4.q.3Units/Format
3.2.4.q.4Precision/Accuracy
3.2.4.q.5Range
3.3Performancerequirements
3.4Designconstraints
3.5Softwaresystemattributes
3.6Otherrequirements

A.8TemplateofSRSSection3showingmultipleorganizations
3.Specificrequirements
3.1Externalinterfacerequirements
3.1.1Userinterfaces
3.1.2Hardwareinterfaces
3.1.3Softwareinterfaces
3.1.4Communicationsinterfaces
3.2Functionalrequirements
3.2.1Userclass1
3.2.1.1Feature1.1
3.2.1.1.1Introduction/Purposeoffeature
3.2.1.1.2Stimulus/Responsesequence
3.2.1.1.3Associatedfunctionalrequirements
3.2.1.2Feature1.2
3.2.1.2.1Introduction/Purposeoffeature
3.2.1.2.2Stimulus/Responsesequence
3.2.1.2.3Associatedfunctionalrequirements

3.2.1.mFeature1.m
3.2.1.m.1Introduction/Purposeoffeature
3.2.1.m.2Stimulus/Responsesequence
3.2.1.m.3Associatedfunctionalrequirements
3.2.2Userclass2

3.2.nUserclassn

3.3Performancerequirements
3.4Designconstraints
3.5Softwaresystemattributes
3.6Otherrequirements