Preparing for a ReqIF import

ReqIF import only supports requirements and requirement documents. Other item types, such as test cases, are not supported.

Before you perform a ReqIF import, review the following information to understand the prerequisites and recommendations to help ensure successful imports.

Perforce can help with your organization's ReqIF imports. Contact Perforce Sales for information.

Prerequisites

Importing a ReqIF file requires the following:

  • The ReqIF Exchange Service must be installed and running on the Helix ALM Server computer (Windows only). The service is automatically installed with the Helix ALM Server and starts and stops at the same time as the server. If the Helix ALM Server is running, the ReqIF Exchange Service is running. To check if it is running, look for the 'ReqIFExchange.exe' Windows process.
  • You must be logged in to Helix ALM using a requirements management license.
  • You must be in a security group with the Import From ReqIF File permission enabled. Ask your administrator or other high-level user for help. Security groups are managed in the Helix ALM desktop client. See Administration security commands in the desktop client help for information.
  • You must be in a security group with permissions to add requirements and requirement documents, and other required actions performed during an import. If you perform an import and do not have permissions to perform actions, they fail and are reported in the import results. Ask administrator or other high-level user for help.

Recommendations

Follow these recommendations to help make your ReqIF imports easier and successful.

  • Make sure you understand how data is structured in your ReqIF file and how to map it correctly in Helix ALM.
  • Review How specific ReqIF data is mapped and imported for information about how specific data is imported and what is ignored or skipped during imports.
  • Perform an import in your test environment first to make sure data is imported the way you expect. This is especially important if you are importing to a Helix ALM project with automation rules that automatically perform actions when items are added or if you do not have permission to delete items in the case where mistakes occur.
  • New fields are not added to Helix ALM during import. If you need to add fields to Helix ALM to map to ReqIF data, add them before importing. For dropdown field values, you can indicate in the import mapping file if you want to automatically add any values that do not already exist in Helix ALM during import or manually add them to the mapping file.