Patent ID: 8639668

Claim:
A method for managing requirements of a project, the method comprising the steps of: a computer receiving a first plurality of entries for a first requirement, where each of the first plurality of entries is a member of a predefined list of valid entries for the requirements of the project; the computer receiving a second plurality of entries for a second requirement, where each of the second plurality of entries is a member of the predefined list of valid entries; the computer receiving a list of predefined categories, wherein the list of predefined categories represents potential divisions within each of the requirements of the project, and wherein each entry of the first and second plurality of entries is associated with at least one category from the list of predefined categories; the computer determining that an entry of the first plurality of entries matches an entry of the second plurality of entries, wherein the entry of the first plurality entries is associated with a first plurality of categories and the entry of the second plurality of entries is associated with a second plurality of categories; the computer determining that there is a category from the first plurality of categories that matches a category from the second plurality of categories; based on at least the entry of the first plurality of entries that matches the entry of the second plurality of entries and on the category from the first plurality of categories that matches the category from the second plurality of categories, the computer determining a rank indicative of a likelihood that the second requirement is a duplicate of the first requirement; the computer causing an analysis to be displayed in a user interface, the analysis indicating similarities between the first requirement and the second requirement, wherein the analysis comprises at least a listing of the entry of the first plurality of entries that matches the entry of the second plurality of entries; the computer receiving an indication of a user selection of an action to be performed in response to the displayed analysis; and the computer performing the action.