Bridging the Gap between Natural Language Requirements and Formal Specifications.
Martin Böschen, Ralf Bogusch, Anabel Fraga, Christian Rudat · REFSQ Workshops · 2016
In this paper, we discuss the problem of transforming a natural language requirements specification into a formal specification. We present several methods to support the process and implemented them in a commercial tool, the Requirements Quality Suite. We achieve this by enriching the requirement text with additional structure (using a knowledge base) and asking the requirement engineer to formulate the requirements in Boilerplates. The additional structure is used to analyze the requirements automatically or semi-automatically leading finally to a formal specification. The formal specification then enables verification activities, such as testing or formal analysis. We discuss our methods by examples from an industrial case study and report on our experiences.