Patent Publication Number: US-2015088590-A1

Title: Requirements definition process aiding system

Description:
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE 
     The present application claims priority from Japanese application JP2013-197693 filed on Sep. 25, 2013, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to aid of an upper design process in system development, and in particular to a method for reducing omissions and oversights of examinations when applying a new measure. 
     As a conventional technique concerning aid of an upper design process in system development, there is JP-A-2007-241871 (Patent Literature 1). Patent Literature 1 provides a design aid system that facilitates finding malfunctions in design and aids the design. It is a technique for identifying a design part on a document relating to a design part on the basis of design contents acquired every design part and facilitating designer&#39;s confirmation. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In recent years, information of business that supports root undertaking of enterprises has been advanced. The business implemented on these systems does not continue to be used as it is once developed, but a reform for following a market change is also needed. In other words, it is necessary to apply a new measure to a business that is now under execution (AsIs business) and reform the business to a business in the next period (ToBe business). With the advance of the business, it also becomes necessary to update relating systems. 
     At this time, in the initial stage of the requirements definition process, contents of the new measure and the ToBe business are indefinite or insufficient in details in many cases. It is often impossible to clearly specify relations between them. When designing the ToBe business, therefore, reflection omission of the new measure occurs. Without revelation of this, advance to a lower process such as detailed design, mounting, or a test is conducted. Eventually, a return work occurs in some cases. For example, when applying a measure “conducting strict intention confirmation of the person himself or herself” (specifically, contents confirmation using a document and sealing), it is unknown in the initial analysis stage of business, in which business such a scene appears, and reflection of this measure is omitted. Furthermore, as another example, when applying a measure “electronic document” in addition to the above-described measure, presence and absence of a “blank form” (a measure that needs a blank form for sealing and a measure that makes the blank form itself electronic and that makes the blank form unused) contradict to each other. 
     This means that “conducting strict intention confirmation of the person himself or herself” and “electronic document” cannot be applied to the same business, In the initial stage of design, however, definition of the measure and definition of the business are vague and consequently it cannot he made clear whether to apply a plurality of contradicting measures to the same business together. 
     Here, terms used in the present specification will be defined. In general, “business” is a procedure on work. More specifically, however, the “business” can be described by using a flow of “processing” for a “resource” handled on the business and using a “rule” at the time when executing the processing. Furthermore, the “measure” is a factor that reforms an AsIs business to a ToBe business. In other words, the “measure” can be described as a change for “target (resource, processing, or rule) of a business. 
     In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention aids judgment of suitability of a measure by managing the relevancy between the measure and the business. For this purpose, the relation between the business function and a new measure is automatically generated, and a reflection omission of a measure and a sorting out omission of a business function are detected on the basis of previously defined dependence/exclusive relations among measures. 
     Furthermore, the following forms are also included in the present invention. A measure and a business are described by using information that is the target. A matrix is created between a measure and a business that handle a common “target.” List up is thus conducted. It is also possible to cause a designer to become aware that there is a possibility of a relation by displaying a result thereof on a screen or the like. 
     Furthermore, in the relation between measures and businesses, measures having no relations with a business are displayed on the screen. This indicates that there is a possibility that the measures will not be reflected. In addition, a dependence relation (when applying a certain measure A, a different measure B is also applied at the same time) and an exclusive relation (a measure A and a measure C are not applied to the same business at the same time) are previously defined between measures. If it is detected that one of measures in the dependence relation is applied to a business whereas the other is not applied to the same business, it is displayed on the screen that application of the measure is insufficient. Furthermore, if it is detected that both measures in an exclusive relation are applied to the same business, it is displayed on the screen that application of measures contradicts. 
     According to the present invention, it becomes possible to manage relations between businesses and measures with higher precision and it becomes possible to aid confirmation of consistency thereof. 
     Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a general configuration of a function according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  shows an example of a data structure recorded as a term dictionary; 
         FIG. 3  shows an example of a data structure for recording measures; 
         FIG. 4  shows an example of a display method on a screen for displaying relations among measures; 
         FIG. 5  shows an example of a data structure for recording businesses; 
         FIG. 6  shows an example of a data structure for holding and displaying relations between measures and businesses; 
         FIG. 7  shows a flow of processing for extracting relations between measures and businesses and creating a matrix; 
         FIG. 8  shows a flow of processing for extracting study omissions in the relations between measures and businesses on the basis of dependence relations between measures; and 
         FIG. 9  shows a flow of processing for extracting study omissions in the relations between measures and businesses on the basis of exclusive relations between measures. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT 
     Hereafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in  FIG. 1 , a requirements definition process aiding apparatus  1000  includes a term dictionary registration unit  1101 , a term dictionary  1102 , a measure editing unit  1201 , a measure storage unit  1202 , an inter-measure relation editing unit  1301 , an inter-measure relation storage unit  1302 , a business editing unit  1401 , a business storage unit  1402 , a measure-business relation matrix creation unit  1501 , a measure-business relation matrix storage unit  1502 , and a measure-business relation matrix exhibit-editing unit  1503 . By, the way, (1) an arrow in  FIG. 1  indicates a data flow between components. (2) Furthermore, each unit is implemented by software (a program). The requirements definition process aiding apparatus  1000 , which is a computer, executes computation in a computation device such as a CPU. As a result, functions of respective units are achieved. 
     The term dictionary registration unit  1101  is used in the measure editing unit  1301  and the business editing unit  1401  to make targets of business input in the respective places common. In other words, terms in use are prevented from diverging by registering measures and businesses by use of only the “targets” registered here. 
       FIG. 2  shows a tree for storing a term dictionary stored in the term dictionary storage  1102 . Terms are defined hierarchically with terms indicating a category  2000  designated as root nodes. The present embodiment is described by using three kinds, i.e., “resource,” “processing,” and “rule” as categories. However, expansion is possible by registering categories here. Respective nodes  2001  in the hierarchy are utilized as terms when defining measures and businesses. As for each node, a term indicating the target may be used as it is. Or an ID which uniquely indicates a node may be linked with a term and managed. In a case where terms are stored by using IDs, the IDs are used whenever referring to the terms thereafter. Furthermore, these kinds of information can be prepared by inputting and editing by use of an editor capable of editing information of a tree structure such as the XML (Extensible Markup Language) editor. 
       FIG. 3  shows a table for storing information concerning measures stored in the measure storage unit  1202 . The information is stored by using a measure name  3001  and a target name  3002 . The measure name  3001  permits hierarchical recording. As for the information of measures, information having a similar structure is created by using spread sheet software or the like and the measure editing unit  1201  reads the information and records the information into the measure storage unit  1202 . 
       FIG. 4  shows a screen image of the inter-measure relation editing unit  1301 . When editing inter-measure relations, measures recorded in the measure storage unit  1202  are arranged and displayed in header fields in a row and a column in a table ( 4001 ,  4002 ). In addition, target names of respective measures may also be displayed simultaneously ( 4003 ,  4004 ). The inter-measure relation editing unit  1301  displays pertinent cells with highlight, for measures handling the same target. In the illustrated example, “measure A” is a measure that changes “target Tα.” At this time, for “measure Ba,” “measure Bb,” “measure Ca,” and “measure Cc” which changes the same target, crossing cells are displayed with highlight. The designer judges study of relations to be indispensable for the highlighted cells. As for relations between measures, “dependence relation,” “exclusive relation,” and “no relation” are set. In the illustrated example, in a case where the “measure Ba” and the “measure Bb” are also executed always whenever the “measure A” is executed, flag D (“dependent”) is entered into crossing cells ( 4101 ). More specifically, when applying a measure “form-less (a document such as an application form is not used)” to a certain business, a measure “electronic sign (sealing at the time of application is electronically executed)” is also applied simultaneously. 
     Furthermore, in a case where there is an exclusive relation that the “measure Ca” is not executed when the “measure A” is executed, flag E (“exclusive”) is entered in a crossing cell ( 4102 ). Specifically, when applying a measure “form-less” to a certain business, a measure “continuation of document procedure (a business using a document such as an application form is followed)” is not applied to the same business. 
     In a case where there is no dependence relation, a flag NO (“no relation”) is entered ( 4103 ). By the way, a study omission can be prevented by accepting designer&#39;s entering of relations into the highlighted cells. 
       FIG. 5  shows a table for storing information concerning businesses stored in the business storage unit  1402 . A business name  5001 , a resource name  5002 , a processing name  5003 , and a rule name  5004  are target names specifying a business, a resource, processing, and a rule, respectively. As for the information of businesses, information having a similar structure is created by using spread sheet software or the like and the business editing unit  1401  reads the information and records the information into the business storage unit  1402 . 
       FIG. 6  shows a matrix of correspondence relations between measures and businesses created by the measure-business relation matrix creation unit  1501  and stored in the measure-business relation matrix storage unit  1502 . 
       FIGS. 7 to 9  are flow charts showing how the measure-business relation matrix creation unit  1501  creates the matrix shown in  FIG. 6 . At step  7001 , the measure-business relation matrix creation unit  1501  acquires information of measures and businesses from the measure storage unit  1202  and the business storage unit  1402 , respectively. At step  7002 , the measure-business relation matrix creation unit  1501  arranges the acquired measures and businesses respectively into rows and columns of the matrix, and displays the matrix. 
     In the image shown in  FIG. 6 , target names are also displayed for description. However, the target names may not be displayed. 
     At step  7003 , the measure-business relation matrix creation unit  1501  extracts a measure and a business that handle the same target out of measures and businesses, and displays pertinent cells with highlight. In an example shown in  FIG. 6 , “measure Ba” and “processing P 2 - 1 ” handle “target Tβ.” Therefore, a cell at a cross point is displayed with highlight ( 6001 ). 
     At step  7004  and subsequent steps, a reflection omission of a measure is extracted. Out of measures in the lowest layer (measures defined in the tree form having no child nodes), a measure that does not correspond to any business (that does not have a highlighted cell) is detected (step  7005 ). For the detected measure, a column thereof is displayed with highlight (step  7006 ). In the example shown in  FIG. 6 , “measure Cb” is not reflected to any business. Therefore, the column of “measure Cb” is displayed with highlight ( 6002 ). 
     At step  7007  and subsequent steps, a setting omission in dependence relations between measures is detected. At step  7007 , relation information between measures is acquired from the inter-measure relation storage unit  1302 . At step  7008 , dependence relations are extracted. The following processing is conducted for each dependence relation. At step  7009 , for a measure that is a dependence source in a dependence relation that is a processing target, highlighted cells are extracted. As for the extracted cells, it is determined whether cells in the dependence destination are highlighted (step  7011 ). If the cells in the dependence destination are not displayed with highlight, the cells in the dependence destination are displayed with highlight (step  7012 ). 
     In information recorded in the inter-measure relation storage unit  1302  as shown in  FIG. 4 , there is a relation of “dependence” between “measure Ba” and “measure Bb” ( 4104 ). This indicates that it is necessary to execute the “measure Bb” when executing the “measure Ba.” On the other hand, in  FIG. 6 , in businesses to which the “measure Ba” is applied, there is a place where the measure Bb” is not applied ( 6003 ). In the step  7011 , these cells are detected. 
     Furthermore, processing is conducted for all exclusive relations as well. At step  7013 , exclusive relations are extracted. Processing described hereafter is conducted for each of the exclusive relations. At step  7014 , as regards a measure that is a dependence source in an exclusive relation that is a processing target, places where cells are displayed with highlight are extracted. As for an extracted cell, it is determined whether a cell of dependence destination is displayed with highlight (step  7016 ). If the cell of dependence destination is displayed with highlight, both cells of dependence source and dependence destination are displayed with highlight (step  7017 ). 
     In information recorded in the inter-measure relation storage unit  1302  as shown in  FIG. 4 , there is a relation of “exclusion” between “measure A” and “measure Ca” ( 4102 ). This indicates that the “measure A” and the “measure Ca” cannot be applied to the same business, On the other hand, it is indicated in  FIG. 6  that the “measure A” and the “measure Ca” are applied to “business P 3 - 1 ” simultaneously ( 6004 ,  6005 ). At the above-described step  7016 , these cells are detected. 
     As described heretofore, the designer can extract omitted dependence relations and exclusive relations from dependence relations and exclusive relations among measures and display the omitted dependence relations and exclusive relations on the screen. 
     Furthermore, in the foregoing description, all marked places have been described as “displayed with highlight.” By changing the color, line thickness, pattern, and the like at respective highlighting steps, however, it can be expressed clearly at which step highlight display has been conducted. As a result, the designer can be informed what cause has brought about highlighting. As for a place detected here, there is a possibility of an extraction omission of a measure or a business itself, a detailing omission, a target setting omission, or a target detailing omission. It becomes possible for the designer to judge a study omission place by referring to the display of processing results without manually arranging all relations between measures and businesses. 
     By the way, in the embodiment of the present invention, there are two forms differing in whether there are the term dictionary registration unit  1101  and the term dictionary storage unit  1102  shown in  FIG. 1 . In the form that has not the term dictionary registration unit  1101  and the term dictionary storage unit  1102 , there is a difference only in that terms are not regulated and it is determined whether the targets are the same by referring to only character strings entered as target names. 
     According to the present embodiment described heretofore, it is not necessary for the designer to verify all combinations, but the designer need only confirm only extracted combinations. As a result, burden on design can be lightened. In other words, the designer can lighten the burden of checking study omissions on design by reviewing businesses and measures to which only a measure having no assignment to businesses is applied. Furthermore, the designer can lighten the burden of checking omissions on design by reviewing contents of measures and businesses and making them detailed suitably as to only combinations of measures and businesses detected from dependence relations and exclusive relations. 
     It should be further understood by those skilled in the art that although the foregoing description has been made on embodiments of the invention, the invention is not limited thereto and various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.