Software Requirements

Specification
for

<Project>

Version 1.0 approved

Prepared by <author>

<organization>

<date created>

Copyright © 2002 by Karl E. Wiegers. Permission is granted to use, modify, and distribute this document.
Software Requirements Specification for <Project> Page ii

Table of Contents
Table of Contents....................................................................................................................... ii
Revision History......................................................................................................................... ii
1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Purpose..................................................................................................................................1
1.2 Project Scope.........................................................................................................................1
1.3 References..............................................................................................................................1
2. Overall Description.............................................................................................................. 1
2.1 Product Features.....................................................................................................................1
2.2 User Classes and Characteristics.............................................................................................1
2.3 Operating Environment..........................................................................................................2
3. System Features................................................................................................................... 2
3.1 System Feature 1....................................................................................................................2
3.2 System Feature 2 (Your Project should outline at least 10 features).........................................3
4. External Interface Requirements........................................................................................ 3
4.1 User Interfaces........................................................................................................................3
4.2 Hardware Interfaces................................................................................................................3
4.3 Software Interfaces (Possibility optional)................................................................................3
5. Other Nonfunctional Requirements.................................................................................... 3
5.1 Performance Requirements.....................................................................................................3
5.2 Safety Requirements...............................................................................................................3
5.3 Security Requirements............................................................................................................4
5.4 Software Quality Attributes....................................................................................................4
6. Other Requirements (This section is Optional, if you have included all the needed
requirements in the Functional and Non-Functional sections)................................................4

Revision History
Name Date Reason For Changes Version
Software Requirements Specification for <Project> Page 1

1. Introduction

1.1 Purpose
<Identify the product whose software requirements are specified in this document, including the
revision or release number. Describe the scope of the product that is covered by this SRS,
particularly if this SRS describes only part of the system or a single subsystem.>

1.2 Project Scope

<Provide a short description of the software being specified and its purpose, including relevant
benefits, objectives, and goals. Relate the software to corporate goals or business strategies. If a
separate vision and scope document is available, refer to it rather than duplicating its contents
here. An SRS that specifies the next release of an evolving product should contain its own scope
statement as a subset of the long-term strategic product vision.>

1.3 References
<List any other documents or Web addresses to which this SRS refers. These may include user
interface style guides, contracts, standards, system requirements specifications, use case
documents, or a vision and scope document. Provide enough information so that the reader could
access a copy of each reference, including title, author, version number, date, and source or
location.>

2. Overall Description

2.1 Product Features

<Summarize the major features the product contains or the significant functions that it performs or
lets the user perform. Details will be provided in Section 3, so only a high level summary is
needed here. Organize the functions to make them understandable to any reader of the SRS. A
picture of the major groups of related requirements and how they relate, such as a top level data
flow diagram or a class diagram, is often effective.>

2.2 User Classes and Characteristics

<Identify the various user classes that you anticipate will use this product. Describe the pertinent
characteristics of each user class. Certain requirements may pertain only to certain user classes.>
Software Requirements Specification for <Project> Page 2

2.3 Operating Environment

<Describe the environment in which the software will operate, including the hardware platform,
operating system and versions, and any other software components or applications with which it
must peacefully coexist.>

3. System Features
<This template illustrates organizing the functional requirements for the product by system
features, the major services provided by the product. You may prefer to organize this section by
use case, mode of operation, user class, object class, functional hierarchy, or combinations of
these, whatever makes the most logical sense for your product.>

3.1 System Feature 1

<Don’t really say “System Feature 1.” State the feature name in just a few words.>
3.1.1 Description and Priority
<Provide a short description of the feature and indicate whether it is of High,
Medium, or Low priority. You could also include specific priority component ratings,
such as benefit, penalty, cost, and risk (each rated on a relative scale from a low of
1 to a high of 9).>
3.1.2 Stimulus/Response Sequences
<List the sequences of user actions and system responses that stimulate the
behavior defined for this feature. These will correspond to the dialog elements
associated with use cases.>
3.1.3 Functional Requirements
<Itemize the detailed functional requirements associated with this feature. These
are the software capabilities that must be present in order for the user to carry out
the services provided by the feature, or to execute the use case. Include how the
product should respond to anticipated error conditions or invalid inputs.
Requirements should be concise, complete, unambiguous, verifiable, and
necessary.>

<Each requirement should be uniquely identified with a sequence number or a

meaningful tag of some kind.>

REQ-1:
REQ-2:
Software Requirements Specification for <Project> Page 3

3.2 System Feature 2 (Your Project should outline at least 10 features)

4. External Interface Requirements

4.1 User Interfaces

<Describe the logical characteristics of each interface between the software product and the
users. This may include sample or mock screen images or diagrams.>

4.2 Hardware Interfaces

<Describe the logical and physical characteristics of each interface between the software product
and the hardware components of the system. This may include the supported device types, the
nature of the data and control interactions between the software and the hardware, and
communication protocols to be used.>

4.3 Software Interfaces (Possibility optional)

<Describe the connections between this product and other specific software components (name
and version), including databases, operating systems, tools, libraries, and integrated commercial
components. Identify the data items or messages coming into the system and going out and
describe the purpose of each. Describe the services needed and the nature of communications.
Refer to documents that describe detailed application programming interface protocols. Identify
data that will be shared across software components. If the data sharing mechanism must be
implemented in a specific way (for example, use of a global data area in a multitasking operating
system), specify this as an implementation constraint.>

5. Other Nonfunctional Requirements

5.1 Performance Requirements

<If there are performance requirements for the product under various circumstances, state them
here and explain their rationale, to help the developers understand the intent and make suitable
design choices. Specify the timing relationships for real time systems. Make such requirements as
specific as possible. You may need to state performance requirements for individual functional
requirements or features.>

5.2 Safety Requirements

<Specify those requirements that are concerned with possible loss, damage, or harm that could
result from the use of the product. Define any safeguards or actions that must be taken, as well
as actions that must be prevented. Refer to any external policies or regulations that state safety
Software Requirements Specification for <Project> Page 4

issues that affect the product’s design or use. Define any safety certifications that must be
satisfied.>

5.3 Security Requirements

<Specify any requirements regarding security or privacy issues surrounding use of the product or
protection of the data used or created by the product. Define any user identity authentication
requirements. Refer to any external policies or regulations containing security issues that affect
the product. Define any security or privacy certifications that must be satisfied.>

5.4 Software Quality Attributes

<Specify any additional quality characteristics for the product that will be important to either the
customers or the developers. Some to consider are: adaptability, availability, correctness,
flexibility, interoperability, maintainability, portability, reliability, reusability, robustness, testability,
and usability. Write these to be specific, quantitative, and verifiable when possible. At the least,
clarify the relative preferences for various attributes, such as ease of use over ease of learning.>

6. Other Requirements (This section is Optional, if you have

included all the needed requirements in the Functional and
Non-Functional sections)
<Define any other requirements not covered elsewhere in the SRS. This might include database
requirements, internationalization requirements, legal requirements, reuse objectives for the
project, and so on. Add any new sections that are pertinent to the project.>