Authoring requirements

A requirement in TraceUnified is a controlled record, not a line in a document. Authoring one means creating that record and editing it under the controls that keep it trustworthy.

Creating a requirement

Add a new requirement from the Requirements module. It’s created with an identifier and the fields its item type defines, and its version history begins from the moment it exists. From there you fill in its content and connect it to the rest of the thread.

The description editor

The body of a requirement is written in a rich-text editor, so you can structure the text, add emphasis, and insert links and images where they help — useful for diagrams, referenced figures, or pointers to related material. The result is a readable, self-contained statement of the requirement rather than a bare string of text.

Editing under control

Editing a controlled record is deliberate. When you make a change that the workflow treats as controlled, you’re asked to supply a reason for change — a short justification that becomes part of the record’s history. This is what gives the audit trail its meaning: every meaningful change carries who made it, when, and why.

Edit locks

So two people don’t unknowingly overwrite each other, a record is locked to one editor while it’s being changed. If someone else holds the lock, you’ll see that the item is being edited and can pick it up once it’s released. You can review the records you currently hold locks on from My Locked Items in your account menu.

Frozen records

Some records are frozen — for example once they’ve been captured in a baseline or reached an approved state. A frozen record is read-only by design, preserving exactly what was reviewed and signed. To change it, you create a new version (see Versions & history), keeping the original intact.