When working in BriefBuilder, it happens that you want to refer to other objects or requirements.
Think of a comment like, “Shouldn’t this space be linked to the large meeting room SP-405?”, or a Note that says, “This requirement should be seen in conjunction with REQ-3005”.
To make such references a bit easier to use, we automatically detect them when in text fields. This means that textual references are automatically converted to clickable links.
So, when typing e.g. “see REQ-3005”, this reference automatically becomes a clickable link (once you are out of the edit mode) to that particular requirement.
For this to work, you have to make sure that you are using the right format.
For objects: you have to use the ID that is pictured at the top of a an object’s detail view. E.g. SYS-100, SP-3006, etc.
For requirements you have to use the requirement ID that is shown on the detail view behind each requirement. E.g. REQ-123, REQ-89, etc.
In case you do not see any Requirement IDs on your screen, you first have to click on the last yellow toggle (the one with a # symbol) in the upper right corner of your detail view.
If a reference isn’t found (e.g. because the object or requirement in question has been deleted, or has not been created yet), you will see a notification “reference not found”.
A word of caution: references are nothing more than references. Handy, but not a substitute for ‘real’ relations!
For example: when you want to have two spaces connected, you should use the adjacency relation, thereby creating a real requirement, and not just type “should be connected to SP-1”.
Furthermore, you should be aware that when importing objects from other models, with references in them (e.g. in Notes), you will have to update or remove these references as they refer to objects and requirements in the original model.