Automated Requirement Measurement (ARM) Tool

The Automated Requirement Measurement (ARM) Tool was developed by the Software Assurance Technology Center (SATC) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as an early life cycle tool for assessing requirements that are specified in natural language. The objective of the ARM tool is to provide measures that can be used by project managers to assess the quality of a requirements specification document. The tool is not intended to evaluate the correctness of the specified requirements. It is an aid to “writing the requirements right”, not “writing the right requirements”.

The ARM tool searches each line of the requirements document for specific words and phrases the SATC has identified as quality indicators. Using these indicators, the ARM tool creates a file that includes three reports. This file contains a Summary Report, a detailed Imperative Report and a detailed Weak Phrase Report. The ARM Summary Report includes the total number of times each quality indicator occurs in the requirements document. The location within the source file of each specification statement identified by the tool and a copy of the specification statement are listed by the Imperative Report. The Weak Phrases Report lists the location and specifications that contain indicators that are considered to be phrases that weaken the specification.

Click Here to view a compilation of requirement/specification documents from NASA, Military, and Commercial projects.

Automated Requirement Measurement (ARM) Abstract

For additional Requirement and ARM related presentations, papers, and tutorials, please view our Project Support and Outreach page.

The SATC has just released a new version of ARM 95. Enhancements to ARM 95 Version 2.1 are indicated below.

Arm 95 Version 2.1 - Enhancements

Users can now define their own indicators or use the provided default indicators
Easy to use help file
Internal Web Browser
Easy transfer of data to spreadsheets, word documents, etc..
Redesigned Graphics User Interface (GUI)
Enhanced viewing capabilities - ARM Reports and Requirements file can be viewed inside the tool
Step-by-Step Walkthrough which guides you completely through the tool

If you have any questions or comments regarding ARM 95 Version 2.1 please let us know.

Downloading Instructions:

Please visit http://satc.gsfc.nasa.gov/tools/download to download any available version of the ARM Tool.

Please contact us with any comments or questions. We welcome your input.