CLOUD | DATA CENTER AND SERVER

Requirements Reuse

Owned by David Sedlock
Last updated: Feb 20, 2024 by Niel Flores

Overview

R4J Cloud supports requirements reuse via the copy and paste operation. Requirements in a project tree, including their folder structure, can be copied to a different folder of that project or to a folder in a different project. (This works also for any kind of issue type, not only for requirements.) The following reuse scenarios are supported:

  • Copy folders only: If you have a good folder structure in one project, or in part of a project, you can copy that structure to a different project or to a different part of the same project.

  • Import folders and issues as is: If you have some requirements in a folder structure in one project that are valid as is in other projects, you can include them in the other projects by reference. Users then have one copy of a folder or issue, but it is visible in different places, and any changes made in one place are immediately seen in all places.

  • Copy folders and issues: If you have some requirements or folders in one project that are valid in other projects, or in a different folder of the same project, but may require subsequent changes independently of the original issues, you can copy them to the other projects or within the same project. The new requirements and folders are then distinct from their sources and changes in the original issues are not reflected in the copies.

  • Copy entire project tree into a new project: If you have a requirements project and want a new project to start from the current state of that project, you can copy its folders and requirements into a new project. For example, you have a template project that you want to use as the starting point for every new project.

Reuse issues dialog

When copied items are pasted, the Reuse Issues dialog appears, in which a choice between the different forms of requirements reuse is made and additional options are selected. The following options are available:

Option

Description

Comment

Option

Description

Comment

Method

Choose between two different kinds of reuse:

  • Create new issues: This option results in each issue being copied into the target project.

  • Import to tree: This option results in references to the issues being created in the target project.

Only available if the destination is a different project. If the target is the same project, issues can only be copied.

Copy attachments

Enable or disable the option to copy attachments.

Only available when copying issues.

Create links to new issues

Select a link type to create links in the source issues pointing to the copied issues.

Only available when copying issues.

After setting the options and selecting Paste, the Reuse Status appears. After the operation is finished the results are displayed. Error messages are shown in case of failures resulting from incompatible project configurations (e.g. a field used in the source project doesn’t exist in the target project).

The paste operation is executed in the background, so refreshing the page does not cancel the operation. Currently, only one paste operation at a time is allowed per tree.

The paste operation for copied issues achieves the following results:

  • The requirements, as well as any child requirements, and any subfolders and their requirements, as deep as the folder hierarchy extends, are copied as new folders and issues. Note that only issues in the source tree structure are copied. Issues related to them - such as subtasks, issues in epics and linked issues - are not automatically copied. You can get them to be included in the copy by adding them as children of source issues.

  • Parent-child links are automatically created. Creating other types of links between copied issues is not currently supported.

  • All fields included in the source issues are copied to the new issues (as long as they are modifiable in the target project). An exception is the Reporter field: The user who performed the operation is assigned as the reporter instead of the original reporter.

Use Cases

Purpose

Action

Purpose

Action

Copy folders only

  • Filter the tree structure by the folder issue type (typically the type named “Folder”) - see Tree Filter and Search.

  • Select the desired folder in the filtered project tree.

  • Select Copy in the context menu.

  • Select the target folder in the same project tree or in the tree of a different project.

  • Select Paste in the context menu.

  • If the target is in a different project, select the option Create new issues in the Reuse Dialog.

  • Select the other options as appropriate.

  • Select Paste.

Import folders and issues as is

  • Select a folder or requirement in the project tree.

  • Select Copy in the context menu.

  • Select the target folder in the tree of a different project.

  • Select Paste in the context menu.

  • If the target is in a different project, select the option Import to tree In the Reuse Dialog.

  • Select the other options as appropriate.

  • Select Paste.

Copy folders and issues

  • Select a folder or requirement in the project tree.

  • Select Copy in the context menu.

  • Select the target folder in the same project tree or the tree of a different project.

  • Select Paste in the context menu.

  • If the target is in a different project, select the option Create new issues in the Reuse Dialog.

  • Select the other options as appropriate.

  • Select Paste.

Copy entire project tree into a new project

  • Create the new project and activate it for R4J.

  • Select all the requirements and folders under the root folder of the source project.

  • Select Copy in the context menu.

  • Select the root folder of the new project.

  • Select Paste in the context menu.

  • Select the option Create new issues in the Reuse Dialog.

  • Select the other options as appropriate.

  • Select Paste.