Requirements Management - Import Data

Introduction

Hello. Today is an exciting day because we now have an import capability to bring requirements data into OpenRose. This is an important addition, as users can now collaborate more effectively by working offline in their own environments, then exporting the required data — including traceability — and sending it to someone else to review, provide feedback on, or incorporate into a centralized repository. Once imported into the repository, the data can be managed further from that point onwards.

About the Feature

This feature was requested by OpenRose users and is documented on the project’s wiki. If you visit the repository at http://github.com/openrose , you will find the common area where users can download the application or view the source code, along with documentation. In the OpenRose wiki, we have outlined the concept of importing data into OpenRose.

The purpose of allowing users to import data is to enable them to restore requirements data that was previously exported from OpenRose — whether back into the same repository or into a different one. This provides a convenient way to share, transfer, or recover requirements information.

Export Levels Supported

Users can export data at six different levels:

• Three related to requirements: project, item type, and requirement item.
• Three related to baselines: baseline snapshot, baseline item type, and baseline item.

Whenever data is exported, the requirements breakdown structure is always included.

Sample Project: Charity Fundraising

Our example uses the Charity Fundraising sample project, which has three custom item types:

• Pre‑Fundraising Preparation
• Fundraising Event Execution
• Post‑Fundraising Activities

Each type contains a breakdown structure of requirements, some with traceability links.
Example: “Engage Participants and Volunteers” links to “Publish and Promote,” which itself links to “Plan Video Content.”

Creating the Import Demo Project

To demonstrate, we first create a demo project — Import Demo Project. We export a subset of Charity Fundraising and import it here.

In the export screen, we select the requirement Create and Publish Social Media Video and Reels Showcasing Fundraising Success (by ID) and export it. This generates a small 9 KB file containing the requirement plus its breakdown structure.

Importing the First Set

On the import screen, we select the file and choose to import under an existing item type (“Import Data Item Type”). With no existing child records, we import at the bottom. The process imports 10 records with one traceability link. The change history for imported items contains only the initial creation entry.

Within the imported set, “Plan Video Content” links to “Publish and Promote,” demonstrating that both the data and traceability remain intact.

Exporting and Importing an Item Type

We then delete the imported records and export the entire item type Post‑Fundraising Activities. This produces a ~15 KB file. When importing this file into the demo project, we can now choose from a drop‑down list of projects — a recent UI improvement.

We import the new item type at the top of the project. The breakdown structure, priorities, sort order, and traceability links are preserved exactly.

Example use case: a team creates an item type for security requirements, exports it as JSON, and shares it. Other teams can import it into their own projects, refer to it, and create traceability to related implementation requirements.

Exporting and Importing a Whole Project

Next, we export the entire Charity Fundraising project. While this still requires selecting its ID, future improvements may change this to a drop‑down. The exported project file appears in our downloads folder.

When importing a project, no target needs to be specified — the system detects the record type and creates a new project automatically. A random suffix (e.g., “IMP 91291”) is added to ensure each project name remains unique.

The imported project contains exactly the same data and cross‑item-type links as the original. The only difference is that the system “Parking Lot” item type appears at the top instead of the bottom, but this can easily be reordered in the detail view.

Cleanup and Baseline Discussion

After cleanup, we look briefly at baselines. In the export screen tree view, baselines have their own icon and ID. They allow you to specify included or excluded data.

Since baseline export/import has more detail, it deserves a separate, dedicated video.

Conclusion

We have demonstrated how to:

• Export and import a single item
• Export and import an entire item type
• Export and import a whole project

These actions can be performed within the same repository or across different ones. This capability helps teams, customers, and collaborators who use OpenRose — the free, open‑source requirements management application — to share and reuse structured requirements data effectively.

Thank you for following along, and have a great day.

 OpenRose, a free and open-source requirements management application / tool. For more information, visit 

https://github.com/openrose