REQCHECKER™ Change Log
REQCHECKER 1.14 beta (development version)
Version 1.14 beta1 Build Jan. 2022
Ugrade limits
Increased maximum capacity to 100,000 requirements for text reports and 40,000 requirements for Excel and PDF reports.
Chocolatey
Deployment with Chocolatey is supported. You can deploy REQCHECKER™ with a single command, e.g. choco install reqchecker --pre
.
Jira reader
Atlassian Jira Software is an open-source flexible project management web application. It can be used to record tickets defining the need for a software or system change. The Jira reader plugin extracts tickets from a Jira custom query and imports them as requirements. A .jira
file stores the connection credentials and the link to the query.
New programming languages
REQCHECKER™ supports 8 additional programming languages or parameter files: Kotlin, Groovy, PHP, TypeScript, YAML, Objective-C, ASP, Swift.
Fixed
Fixed batch import of a directory with some files using mixed character case (e.g. myfile.CPP)
REQCHECKER 1.13
Version 1.13.1 Build Jan. 2023
Fixed
Support of USB network device for key licensing system.
Fixed
Fix install and uninstall in silent mode.
Version 1.13.0 Build Sept. 2022
Regular Expression for Linked attribute
REQCHECKER™ is able to accept sereval syntax for the tag LINKED. In particular, this function makes it easier to recognise references to requirements so that they are not misunderstood as statements.
Log filtered positions
REQCHECKER™ shows the list of positions effectively filtered in its log area. The user can better understand the effects of active filters on the analysed texts.
Modern GUI
The visual aspect of the man-machine interface is modernised. It’s nicer!
Decimal rate for partial coverage
The value of the rate for a partial coverage accept decimal value with a maximum of 3 digits after decimal point. E.g. <<REQ_01>> #P 0.5%. The partial coverage method with percentage can thus continue to be used when a requirement is implemented by more than 100 covers.
Extended wildcards
The wildcard syntax offers more features: character range, pattern list. It brings a gain in efficiency for users who are not familiar with regular expressions.
Upgrade Technical stack
Upgrade technical stack to get better performance and security.
Fixed
Fix of the regular expression error message E11
to make it more readable.
Fixed
When importing an Excel file in "database" mode, requirements whose initial version was not specified remain without a defined version.
REQCHECKER 1.12
Version 1.12.5 Build April 2022
Fixed
The "Auto importation" mode assign the higest priority (e.g. Must
) when a sentence contains two requirements of several prioroties (e.g. You must go and you should leave now.
).
Fixed
Custom property with type Single Line Text
now accept empty value.
Fixed
Improves the English and French recognition patterns for the "Auto importation" mode.
Fixed
The E31 error when no TPC port is available between 9490 and 9499 is no longer blocking: REQCHECKER™ can be used but Add-in for Microsoft Word cannot.
Fixed
Rare case of an error message when closing an MS Powerpoint document.
Version 1.12.4 Build April 2022
Fixed
Improves the French recognition patterns for the "Auto importation" mode.
Version 1.12.3 Build March. 2022
Fixed
Add-in for Microsoft Word quick properties improvements: remove an offset when editing a property, keep the cursor in the document after inserting a property, avoid an error when writing a string in a read-only numeric property
Version 1.12.2 Build Feb. 2022
Fixed
Created new custom field instead of reusing system attributes when importing an EXCEL file in "Database" mode.
Fixed
Update signing certificate for macro included in EXCEL reports. Update fonts and styles.
Fixed
Bugs in some cases of importing an EXCEL file in database mode.
Version 1.12.1 Build Nov. 2021
Fixed
Fixed issue on opening some MS WORD 97 (*.doc) documents.
Version 1.12.0 Build Nov. 2021
Redmine reader
Redmine is an open-source flexible project management web application. It can be used to record tickets defining the need for a software or system change. The Redmine reader plugin extracts tickets from a Redmine custom query and imports them as requirements. A .redmine
file stores the connection credentials and the link to the query.
Auto importation mode
This extraction mode allows to import sentences from a document without any particular structure and to automatically recognize those that are potentially requirements. With this mode, any document can be covered.
Requirement sort order for EXCEL reports
A new option Excel sorted by ID sorts requirements by ID in EXCEL reports (Enabled) or use the discovery order (Disabled).
Quick Properties
Add-in for Microsoft Word provides quick access to editing and inserting MS WORD custom properties.
Excel links improvement
Add-in for Microsoft Word supports links to a statement located in an EXCEL file.
Coverage Matrix improvements
Automatically set the numeric type for EXCEL columns whose value is a number.
Standalone Add-in for Microsoft Word
Minor improvements for Add-in for Microsoft Word: installation is independant from REQCHECKER™ ; upgrade does not require uninstallation
Fixed
Case where a document store on OneDrive cannot be connected to a local Reqchecker project
Fixed
Microsoft WORD document format with track changes is now supported.
Fixed
Batch calculations being stopped when a Word and/or Excel file is corrupted.
Fixed
GUI bug when deleting a document after a multiple selection.
REQCHECKER 1.11
Version 1.11.4 Build August 2021
Fixed
Fixed a random bug when the project folder is accessed via a Windows network drive
Fixed
(Add-in for Microsoft Word) rare bug where the Insert Statement button has no effect.
Fixed
bug when reading some huge PDF documents
Fixed
do not give up reading a PDF document when the first page does not contain any text (blank or raster)
Fixed
bug when updating a existing report that has been manually modified: improved message when the ID column is missing, added support for XLSX files, added support for document without RESULT column, added support of header at first row
Version 1.11.3 Build Jan. 2021
Fixed
bug of Add-in for Microsoft Word when searching and highlighting when the searched text is part of the identifier
Version 1.11.2 Build Dec. 2020
Fixed
bug accessing the token server through a VPN with blocked internet access
Fixed
bad error message when the authentication token on Google Drive is expired
Version 1.11.1 Build December 2020
Fixed
bug when reading rare Word document with a bad structure.
Fixed
wrong message when an empty Word file (0 bytes) is used.
Fixed
structure of the Add-in for Microsoft Word side panel to accommodate users using very large text sizes for Windows.
Fixed
compatibility check between Add-in for Microsoft Word and REQCHECKER™.
Fixed
some connection problem when a proxy is registered on the computer.
Version 1.11.0 Build September 2020
Google Docs reader
REQCHECKER™ is able to read Google Docs documents accessed from Google Drive.
Improvements for MS Word .doc reader
Now the reader works without the need to install Microsoft WORD on the computer. The read speed is greatly improved. The plugin supports more features: tracking of changes taken into account, images, hidden text not visible, custom chapter numbering.
Cross document rules
The Cross document rules check module allows you to control how requirements are covered in different documents, for example by ensuring that all high-level requirements are covered in both the software architecture AND the low-level requirements. This type of control is necessary to implement the V-cycle rules of IEC 62304, DO178C, ISO 26262, etc.
Default document mode improvement
The default mode assigned to a new document is improved: if the document can be read in "database" mode then this mode is assigned, otherwise the most used mode for documents with the same extension is assigned.
Fixed
Fixed of the support of the Title for requirements and Title on next line options in Add-in for Microsoft Word.
Fixed
Fixed rare cases where the hardware key changes over time.
Fixed
Fixed Add-in for Microsoft Word inserts a solution of the regular expression and not the expression itself for the different markers.
REQCHECKER 1.10
Version 1.10.8 Build June 2020
Fixed
Fixed of the display of requirements in reports for documents that contain text in Cyrillic, Arabic, Madarin, Japanese.
Version 1.10.7 Build Feb. 2020
Fixed
Fixed report generation when CRC can not be computed.
Fixed
Fixed Add-in for Microsoft Word unable to relaunch computation when if fails.
Fixed
Fixed disconnections on a OneDrive: changed the recognition of the Reqchecker project associated with a document: used the project name instead of the full path.
Version 1.10.6 Build Jan. 2020
Fixed
Corrects the reading of documents that are locked by another application. This adds compatibility with Microsoft OneDrive.
Fixed
Add-in for Microsoft Word is compatible with Windows 10 versions that do not support .NET 4.5.2.
Version 1.10.5 Build Jan. 2020
Fixed
Fixed corrupted EXCEL file when updating a verification report.
Version 1.10.4 Build Nov. 2019
Fixed
Fixed a bug when clicking on a report button in the toolbar when a calculation is in progress.
Fixed
Fixed font size when the user enlarges the text at Windows system level.
Version 1.10.3 Build Oct. 2019
GUI improvements
Add a toolbar and the recent files list.
Fixed
Add-in for Microsoft Word: Fixed the browse button is unable to detect the latest opened Reqchecker instance.
Fixed
Add-in for Microsoft Word: Fixed the link to a statement fails when the document path contains special characters (e.g. &
character.).
Fixed
Present only the available extraction mode depending on the selected files if the statement page.
Version 1.10.2 Build Sept. 2019
Fixed
Add-in for Microsoft Word: Fixed cases where the Insert Coverage button fails when the requirement ID contains dots.
Fixed
Fixed missing coverage when a sub part of the requirement ID does not match the regular expression.
Version 1.10.1 Build Sept. 2019
Check summary
The summary of all check errors is added to the Verification Table.
Fixed
Fixed report name when the project has not been saved.
Fixed
Fixed error when opening MS WORD 97 documents that require to be fixed, to be converted, or require user confirmation before opening.
Fixed
Fix detection of a new version behind some proxies
Fixed
Fixed a case where the coverage style is not correct in Add-in for Microsoft Word with MS Word 2010.
Fixed
Fixed inability to change the ID of a document that does not support chapter recognition.
Fixed
Fixed a bug when calculating using OpenOffice before it was first opened by the user.
Fixed
Fixed inability to cover requirements built from a sub-paragraph when their cover document is listed before their declaration document.
Fixed
Fixed bug on hyperlinks in latest version of Markdown Viewer browser extension.
Version 1.10.0 Build May 2019
Authoring addin for Microsoft WORD
Requirement creation with template, custom attributes, automatic ID creation.
Full text search, including exact term search and error type filter.
Integrated requirement viewer including highlight of search results and dynamic navigation between documents.
Coverage creation with automatic version management.
See Word Add-In
Reader improvements
MS Word .docx reader: add support for text and table in a shape. Reduce duration of PDF report generation.
Default requirement attributes
Initial list of attributes for a new project has been improved.
Parser improvement
In case of conflict between two tags when one is included in the other (e.g. #P for partial coverage and #Priority for requirement priority), REQCHECKER™ selects the longest one.
Non blocking dynamic folder
When a dynamic folder is analyzed, the work does not stop on unsupported documents.
GUI Improvement
A slider is inserted to resize the message area at the bottom of the GUI.
Placeholders for report
Placeholders can be used for the report directory and file name.
Fixed
Fixed issue that blocks opening MS WORD 97 (*.doc) documents.
Fixed
Fixed case where link to source position does not reach exactly the requested paragraph for .docx document.
Fixed
Fixed custom tag are not included in text report if name and keyword are not identical.
Fixed
Fixed PDF rare case of missing Space characters.
Fixed
Fixed must not insert MS WORD temporary documents (~$.doc and ~$.docx) in dynamic folders.
Fixed
Chapter number are no longer included in chapter title for PDF with automatic titles recognition.
Fixed
Do not stop with error when including a folder content if a file is already inserted
Fixed
Fixed case where heading cannot be covered if the file ID contains the 0
character.
REQCHECKER 1.9
Version 1.9.3 Build Feb. 2019
Non-standard version
The menu Options > Non-standard version accepts requirement with a version that begins with a letter. If unchecked, the version must begin with a digit.
LEAF for empty heading
If a requirement is created from a document chapter and if this chapter is empty, then the associated requirement is set as LEAF. This avoids to cover useless chapters.
Backward compatibility
If you encounter LEAF_COVERED_ERROR on empty requirement extracted from a document chapter, then you shall remove its coverages that are no longer required.
Version 1.9.2 Build Jan. 2019
Heading support for ODT documents
Add support of heading and style name for OpenOffice documents (*.ODT OpenDocument format). Statement retrieval from Heading is now supported. Filtering by style name is now supported.
Basic markdown support
Add basic support for markdown documents as text files.
HTTPS Website
Add links to HTTPS website for online help, contact form, download page etc..
Fixed
Fixed issue when opening some MS WORD 97 (*.doc) documents.
Fixed
Fixed issue when using relative path for custom logo.
Fixed
Fixed issue when reading xlsx file in some cases with empty cells before content cell on the same row.
Fixed
Fix unvisible change on verification report in difference mode when inserting or deleting an empty line.
Adds a ¶
character to present the inserted or deleted empty line.
Version 1.9.1 Build Oct. 2018
Fixed
Fixed issue when LEAF tag is empty.
Version 1.9.0 Build Oct. 2018
New help
Updated webhelp now available online and offline.
Linked requirement
Two requirements can be linked with the new tag LINKED. This new relationship helps on impact analysis. More...
Coverage Matrix improvements
Option Text in coverage matrix is replaced by Extended Coverage Matrix. It controls the display/hide of text, management rate, coverage rate, links and custom tags in the Matrix sheet. The requirement ID column in the matrix sheet of the Coverage Matrix contains hyperlinks that link to the requirement details in the Status sheet. More...
Verification Table improvement
When the Verification Table is updated, added rows are inserted in the same order than in the source document. More...
Markdown Report improvement
Markdown Report uses markdown structure. More...
TSE compatibility
Floating token system is compliant with Microsoft Terminal Services. More...
Update PIE colors
PIE colors can be customized. More....
Fixed
Does not display the title column in the Verification Table and the Coverage Matrix when Title for requirements option is enabled.
Fixed
Remove the boring EXCEL macro warning when opening an xlsm report.
REQCHECKER 1.8
Version 1.8.1 Build Aug. 2018
Fixed
Possibility of crash on old MS WORD (.doc) documents when document is empty
Fixed
Compatibility with some Microsoft Hyper-V configuration
Fixed
Possibility of crash on requirements longer than 32k with a reviewing error that ends after 32k.
Version 1.8.0 Build Apr. 2018
Note
Several improvements increase software ability to extract requirements from PDF and WORD documents. The new check feature runs several checks on requirement titles and text to increase consistency and ease of reading. French, German, and English are the languages supported. The new Syntax+Full extraction mode considers any part of the document as a requirement.
NEW EXTRACTION FEATURES
New custom tag types
(REQCHECKER™ PRO only) Requirement custom tags (or attributes) can use the following new types:
Multiline Text
extracts a requirement tag on several lines. The text is read until the nextknown thing
: next keyword, next chapter or next requirement.Cell Text
extracts the tag keyword from a table cell and the tag value from the next cell. Reader plugins must support table recognition (for example: .pdf, .docx).
Reader improvements
The MS Word .docx and .doc reader plugin recognizes the bullet style (one level only). The MS Word .docx reader plugin recognizes table cells (one level only). The PDF reader plugin detects and ignores watermarks. Paragraph recognition is improved. (REQCHECKER™ PRO only)
Parser improvements
Accepts the dash character -
as part of a requirement version.
Forces the first character of a requirement version to be a digit or an exception. This improves version parsing when there is no termination tag END VERSION. The exceptions are v
, V
and DELETED
for compatibility with some existing projects.
Allows file ID to be 8 characters long when it is modified manually.
Backward compatibility
If you can not parse version that begin with a letter, then you shall upgrade to Reqchecker 1.9.3 or higher and set the option Options > Non-standard version
Requirement filtering by title
(REQCHECKER™ PRO only)
This set of filters ignores (removes) requirements whose title matches one of the filters in the list. The filter value is case-sensitive. The filter value can use *
(one or more characters) or ?
(any character) wildcards to filter a position containing text.
Default values for a new project ignore requirements containing dotted lines in a table of contents; this avoids the several statements error when the table of content refers to some requirement statements.
Text filtering by style name
(REQCHECKER™ PRO only)
This set of filters ignores (removes) the text of the document whose style name matches one of the filters in the list. The filter value is case-sensitive. The filter value can use *
(one or more characters) or ?
(any character) wildcards to filter a position. Default values for a new project ignore the table of content styles; this avoids the several statements error when the table of content refers to some requirement statements.
Compatibility with REQTIFY
- The new
title for requirement
parsing option. When disabled, no title is read from requirement. - The statement version tag and the coverage version tag can use the same keyword.
- The BEGIN COVER statement prefix (see Coverage GUI tab) can be written in the line or cell immediately preceding the REQUIREMENT ID.
- Comparison of requirement versions is not case-sensitive.
New Syntax+Full
extraction mode in Data Source tab
This new extraction mode considers any part of the document as a requirement. It extracts requirements using syntax and all other paragraphs extracted too. This mode provides a way to extract text for checking and traceability.
New Limit text to first section
option
If enabled and if END TEXT tag is defined, the extracted requirement text stops at the next section (next chapter or next sheet) or the next tag.
NEW CHECKING FEATURES
Check engine
The check engine runs several checks on requirement titles and text to increase consistency and ease of reading. French, German, and English are the languages supported. The language used by checks is selected dynamically to match the main language of the analyzed document. Combined with the Syntax+Full parsing option, a full document, including requirements (if any) and other paragraphs, can be reviewed. If a static or dynamic folder is used in the Data Sources tab, the check engine checks a batch of documents. All errors are listed in the Verification Table and the Coverage PDF Report. The requirements that are not compliant with rules have the VALIDATION_ERROR status. Each check component can be fully enabled / disabled.
Blacklist check component
Blacklist check component finds all ambiguous (most
, often
, at ... level
) or forbidden (ASAP
, TBC
, TBD
, etc.) terms and expressions. Detection may or may not be case-sensitive. Wildcards can be used to specify the forbidden expression, or advanced regular expression.
Rules are executed in the declaration order. When part of the text does not comply with a rule, it will not be used for the next rules.
Several predefined lists of expressions are available for French, German, and English.
Customize controls
Rules can be customized or extended to another language. (REQCHECKER™ PRO only)
Metrics check component
Metrics check component checks several metrics that make text hard to read or ambiguous:
* Maximum Negation Count: checks the maximum number of negations included in a sentence. Sentences with too many negations are hard to read.
* Maximum Sentence Length: checks the maximum number of words included in a sentence. Sentences which are too long are hard to understand.
* Maximum Number of Conjunctions and Adverbs: too many coordination conjunctions (and
, or
, for
, same for French and German, etc.), subordinate conjunctions (after
, though
, unless
, same for French and German, etc.), link adverbs (furthermore
, unlike
, besides
, same for French and German, etc.) and logical relation adverbs (because
, since
, in order that
, same for French and German, etc.).
Deletion management for Verification Table
(REQCHECKER™ PRO only)
The Verification Table separates the DELETED status, and requirement deletion from documents. Requirements with DELETED status appear in the Verification Table with the !DELETED!
prefix displayed in the title and in the text. Requirements removed from documents appear with a strike-through the text and the (deleted)
value in the Result column.
NEW REPORTING FEATURES
The new INCOMPLETE_MANAGEMENT_ERROR status is used instead of AMBIGUOUS_COVERAGE_ERROR whenever the management rate is below 100%.
Backward compatibility
Switch from version 1.7 to 1.8 will change the automatic requirement footprint in some rare cases.
-OTHER-
Feature
GUI Improvement: The New menu creates a new empty project.
Fixed
default value of new project field (ascendant compatibility) are not saved if they are not modified.
Fixed
PDF chapter titles recognition when font sizes changes for the same level at several position in the document
Fixed
value are not correctly saved in .cover file and keep their default value after loading
Fixed
issues when reading a document with heading mode and with statement custom attributes.
Fixed
order of requirement in Verification Table and Coverage Matrix.
Fixed
unable to find ID column on some EXCEL file by using database mode
Fixed
link from Verification Table and Coverage Matrix to Microsoft Word *.docx document containing hidden text (add support of w:vanish ooxml element)
REQCHECKER 1.7
Version 1.7.3 Build Oct. 2017
Verification Table and Coverage Matrix improvement
New option Text in coverage matrix adds a column with the requirement text in the two tabs of Coverage Matrix. (REQCHECKER™ PRO only)
Fixed
Adds safe launcher shortcut as workaround when standard launcher fails on some computers with memory issues
Version 1.7.2 Build Oct. 2017
Fixed
chapter titles recognition in MS WORD .docx document when the title style is applied to en empty line.
Fixed
some case of coverage version parsing
Version 1.7.1 Build Sept. 2017
Fixed
coverage rate value for requirement with PARTIAL tag with an percentage is provided
Fixed
some uninstallation cases on Windows XP
Fixed
unable to open software on some 64 bits platform without Java already installed
Fixed
wrong virtual machine detection on some host computers with VMWare Player (REQCHECKER™ PRO only)
Version 1.7.0 Build Aug. 2017
Automatic Impact Analysis
The software automatically creates a version for each requirement where no version is defined by the statement. The automatic version is a 6 characters length hash number. The hash is computed from the text and picture read from PDF and MS Word docx documents. The automatic version is not dependant from the following changes: case sensitive change, bullet modification, spaces.
Dynamic folders
The Add Folder button in Data sources tab now inserts either the files in batch mode, or lists the files at runtime. This works for folder and sub-folders. The advanced patterns allows filters like *.{cpp,h}.
Path update
The path of a file or a folder can be updated without changing other characteristics.
Regular expression conversion
When user switches from standard to advanced regular expression, the existing values are converted. Switch back to standard expression is not possible, then values are reset to default.
New export under Java enum format
This allows to reference requirements directly from Java language, for example as link in JavaDoc source code. (REQCHECKER™ PRO only)
Read comments for new languages
Python (.py, .pyw), Windows and Linux script files (.bat, .sh), C include files (.inc). (REQCHECKER™ PRO only)
Fixed
Increased maximum length of requirement text. This allows to catch longer text, in particular for heading mode where paragraphs can be long.
Fixed
PDF reader: some cases of landscape page are now correctly read. (REQCHECKER™ PRO only)
Fixed
False differences presented in Verification Table in update mode when the text contains some unprintable characters. (REQCHECKER™ PRO only)
Fixed
Verification Table no more includes deleted requirements. (REQCHECKER™ PRO only)
REQCHECKER 1.6
Version 1.6.2 Build July 2017
Fixed
Crash when reading some PowerPoint files
Fixed
Rare case where new line is not detected in PDF
Version 1.6.1 Build June 2017
PDF Improvement
Improved PDF chapter titles recognition: new numbering patterns
Version 1.6.0 Build May 2017
Leaf requirements
The new LEAF tag defines that the requirement is leaf. A leaf requirement is covered by default; it must not be explicitly covered. The default tag value is #Leaf and can be customized. Leaf requirement have a correct status in the reports. The status can be error if it is covered, has several statements etc. Example:
[REQ_02]The red light must be on if the sub-system raises an alert. <<DSC_0012>> #Partial <<DSC_0013>> #Leaf
Statement from heading numbers
Statement from heading numbers is available for MS Word 97 documents
Management rate
The management rate is the rate of requirement explicitly managed, excluding requirement with error. The coverage rate is the coverage rate excluding not applicable and not managed requirements. For example let 3 requirements covered, 1 explicitly not covered, 2 not applicable and 4 not yet managed, with a total of 10 requirements. The management rate is 60% (6/10) and the coverage rate is 75% (¾).
Coverage rate
Coverage rate can be detailed in percentage. The coverage rate is more accurate, especially if requirements are not unitary. For example:
<<REQ_0040>> #Partial 13% ... <<REQ_0040>> #Partial 30% ... <<REQ_0040>> #Partial 40% ... <<REQ_0040>> #NA 17%
Coverage PDF Report Improvement
Updated Coverage PDF Report with new look and rates
Performance improvement
Performance improvement about 20%
German language
Graphical user interface and tooltips are available in German
§beginning
Display §beginning for position found before the first encountered chapter in PDF or WORD documents.
§beginning
(REQCHECKER™ PRO only)
The text of a custom tag without end tag stops at the end of line (previous behaviour) or when another tag if read. This allows to write all tags on the same line.
Eclipse content assistance
(REQCHECKER™ PRO only)
C++ and Java developers can import the requirement definition and use the Eclipse IDE content assistant (CTRL+SPACE) to select the requirement and insert coverage.