Introduction
The analysis table in BriefBuilder is a table in which can make a requirements analysis. The analysis table can be found under the Analysis heading in the navigation menu.
Please note that you can also add analysis data on the detail view of an object. See here for more info on that.
The analysis table shows you two things. The columns on the left side show the requirements, the columns on the right side the analysis data. The analysis columns can be defined in the analysis settings menu.
In theory, the analysis table can be used to look at all the project’s requirements at once. But, in most cases, you will not want that because projects tend have a lot of requirements. Quite likely, you will lose overview and a practical issue that showing all requirements will slow down the table.
So, if you want to use this table effectively, we recommend you to make active use of the available selections and filters. Both are explained below.
Making selections
Once you clicked on the ‘Analysis table’ link in the menu, the first thing you will see a set of possible selections. This setup gives you a first possibility to select the kind of requirements that you want see in the table.
Note: if you do not apply any filter, you will get to see all requirements. This will, usually, slow down the performance of the table. So, it best to be specific about what you want to see.
You have the following selection options:
Tree
Focus on a particular part of model by selecting a tree (e.g. spaces tree or systems & elements tree) or a particular part of a tree (e.g. particular part of the building or a particular type of systems).
Object type
Trees can contain different types of objects (e.g. both systems and elements). Use this selection to focus on one particular type of object.
Label
Objects may be ‘tagged’ with labels. Use this filter if you only want to see objects with a particular label.
Requirement subject
Use this selection to focus on a specific requirement subject. For example, for the spaces tree, you can find requirement types like ‘indoor climate’ and ‘elements to be placed’.
Tip: combine different selections to find exactly what you are looking for. For example: to get all requirements concerning room acoustics, make the following selections:
(1) Tree: spaces
(2) Object type: space (indoor)
(3) Requirement subject: acoustic comfort
Filtering and sorting data
After making the selections, you will get to see the selected data presented in the table. Quite likely, you will want to further narrow down the results. This can be done by filtering and sorting the data in the table’s columns.
Filtering can be done via the icon that is located at the top of each column in the Analysis table.
Clicking on the filter, depending on which columns, you will be able to select on what part you want to filter on or you will be able to search by typing your search in a text field.
Please note: you can use multiple filters at once.
Sorting can be done via the icon, also located on top of each column. These are defined in an arrow pointing down and an arrow pointing up.
- Click on the arrow pointing down to sort in ascending order.
- Click on the arrow pointing up to sort in descending order.
The table’s columns
The table is divided into two parts: requirements and analysis.
Requirement columns
The first four columns display the requirements as described in the project model. It concerns the following columns:
Object
This shows the name and the type of object the requirement belongs to.
Requirement Type
This displays either the name of the requirement or the relation between the object in column ‘Object’ and in column ‘Related object’.
Related Object
This shows the name and the type of object the object in column 1 is related to.
Value/quantity
This shows the value of the requirement.
Analysis columns
After the four requirement columns, comes the analysis columns.
In the image below, you see the analysis columns as they have been predefined in BriefBuilder. It is important to note, however, that you can easily change these via the settings menu.
Crucial practicalities
For ease of use, the analysis table is provided with a number of practical features.
Increase display range
The display range is the number of rows per page that are displayed. This can be changed at the bottom of the page.
You can change the display range to either 10, 25 or 50 rows per page. Each row represents a requirement.
Note: Increasing the display range might make the model a bit slower, as there is more information it has to show at once.
Drag values over multiple cells
In the analysis table, you are able to ‘drag’ values over multiple cells. To do this you have to:
- Select the cell with the value that you want to use;
- Click on the small blue corner of the cell;
- Hold on to your mouse button;
- And drag your mouse up/down over the cells of which you want them to have the same value.
Export the table to excel
For the purpose of communication, it is sometimes easy to have data in Excel.
If you want analysis data in Excel, just click on the icon, right next to the overview’s name. If you click on that icon, you will get an Excel download of that particular overview.
Depending on the size of the overview, it may takes some time to download the file. You can find the file in the download folder of your computer.