Automatically Structuring Textual Requirement Scenarios

Abstract. Scenarios are valuable for supporting communication among system developers in the initial phases of requirements engineering. But the problem of how to fruitfully deal with large informal or semi-formal scenario collections consisting of weakly structured texts is still a key research issue. In this paper we report on the application of a novel approach for automatically structuring textual document collections to scenario management. We discuss how structuring scenarios can help to support the analysis and maintenance of scenario collections. To evaluate this approach we present a case study within the CAPE-OPEN project which is concerned with a collaborative effort of standardizing simulator software for chemical engineering. Scenarios, in software and systems engineering, describe processes and interactions related to a system under examination. They contain situations which reasonably might occur. It is commonly accepted that developing scenarios is a valuable approach for supporting communication in the initial phases of system development and, furthermore, that scenarios are a key element of change management [20]. The Us