Collections and modules offer different ways to group and
manage a set of artifacts. Both of these artifact types are flexible
but they do offer different capabilities. This topic summaries these
capabilities and presents typical uses of each artifact type to help
you get started. Adjust your usage to suit the needs of your team
and your project.
Table 1. Comparing capabilities of collections and modules
| Collection |
Module |
| Definition: A group of artifacts with no particular order or
hierarchy. |
Definition: A structured artifact that is composed of other artifacts.
Structure is created by modifying the order and hierarchy of the artifacts. |
Possible uses:
- Produce a quick, informal group of artifacts.
- Identify a set of artifacts based on a common focus, such as requirements and related artifacts
for an iteration, milestone, feature, function, team ownership, or other related purpose.
- Capture a set of artifacts for reviews, reports.
- Create a glossary (collection of term artifacts).
- Associate a set of requirements with a development plan or test plan. Generate development work
items and test cases, based on requirements in the collection.
|
Possible uses:
- Present and manage a requirements specification.
- Create a structured, hierarchical requirements document with numbered section headings and
subheadings. View in outline form or with full content.
- Manage the requirements document with views, filters, artifact types, attributes, tags, links,
and comments.
- Create separate modules for high-level requirements, detailed requirements, particular systems
and subsystems, or for some other common layer of abstraction, and create traceability between
requirements in these specifications.
- Associate a requirements specification with a development plan or test plan. Generate
development work items and test cases, based on the contents of the module.
|
Other capabilities:
- Create a collection by adding existing artifacts or by creating new artifacts within the
collection.
- Create a review of the collection and its artifacts.
- Export the collection contents to CSV format.
- Generate a document-style report in PDF, Microsoft Word, HTML, or XSL-FO format.
- Create a group of modules, or modules and other artifacts.
|
Other capabilities:
- Create a module by adding existing artifacts or by creating new artifacts within the module.
Create a module by importing information from text documents. While importing, you can use the
wizard to identify and create artifacts from the document content based on structure, key word, or
text delimiter, such as a semicolon or square bracket.
- Create links, tags, and comments that are associated with the entire module, or that are
specific to individual artifacts and only viewable in the context of the module.
- View in outline form (headings only) or with full content.
- Search and replace text in all artifacts in the module.
- Export a module view to CSV format.
- Create a collection from a saved view in a module.
- Generate a document-style report in PDF, Microsoft Word, HTML, or XSL-FO format.
|
| Notes: Collections
are represented as collections in the Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration (OSLC) Requirements
Management specification version 2.0 API.
|
Notes: Modules are
represented as collections in the Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration (OSLC) Requirements
Management specification version 2.0 API.
|