Using requirements management tools in software product line engineering

A software product line oriented approach to developing systems has an impact on the development process as a whole. Although the basic idea of product lines is simple, systematic implementation of the approach is a challenging task. In fact, today's software product lines have such complex variability that their handling must be supported by tools, otherwise a systematic approach would not be possible. The same holds for requirements management of product lines. On the basis of specific industrial scenarios the paper derives important requirements that have to be observed if requirements management tools are to be usefully applied to product lines. Current requirements management tools are evaluated on the basis of these requirements in their daily industrial use. The presented requirements can indicate the future direction of tool development and method research.