Performing impact analysis

Perform an impact analysis to view items related to requirements and understand the impact of a requirement change before you make it.

1. Click the Traceability tab and click Impact Analysis when you are viewing or editing a requirement.

The impacted items are displayed.

2. Select an impact type to display.

Show forward impact displays items directly impacted if the requirement changes.
Show backward impact displays related items that may directly affect the requirement if changed.

The items with a direct impact are displayed. Expand a direct impact to display items with an indirect impact. Click the Expand All button to expand all direct impacts or the Collapse All button to collapse all expanded impacts.

Arrows in the Relation column can help you determine how items are related. A solid arrow indicates the items are linked. Linked items are only displayed if the link definition allows dependent items to be marked as suspect. A dashed arrow indicates the items are related in a document.

3. Click an item number or summary to view it.

4. Click Save to save any changes.

If you determine that changes impact items related to the requirement, you may want to mark the items as suspect. This adds a flag to the items to indicate they should be reviewed. See Marking items as suspect.