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Before You Begin

You need access to the Design space and the system elements module in your Polarion project. The Flight Control Computer example project uses 12 system elements across 3 levels.

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Step 1: Open the System Elements Module

Navigate to the Design space in Polarion and open the system elements document (typically named after your top-level system, e.g., FCC System Elements). The module displays system elements in an outline view with columns for element type, DAL, and traceability counts.

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Step 2: Create the Top-Level System Element

  1. Insert a new work item at the root level of the outline
  2. Set the Title to your system name (e.g., Flight Control Computer)
  3. Set elementType to System — this is the top of the 3-level hierarchy
  4. Set dal to the highest DAL required for this system (A through E)
The dal value you assign to a system element determines required certification activities for every requirements spec, risk assessment, and PowerSheet associated with that element. Set DAL at system level before creating child elements — changing it later requires manual review of all linked documents.

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Step 3: Add Subsystems

  1. Insert child work items under the system element
  2. Set elementType to Subsystem for each
  3. Assign the appropriate dal for each subsystem
Each subsystem inherits the decomposition context of the parent system but carries its own DAL assignment. A subsystem may have a lower DAL than its parent if the system architecture allocates safety requirements accordingly. Example structure: diagram

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Step 4: Add Components

  1. Insert child work items under each subsystem
  2. Set elementType to Component
  3. Assign dal per component
Components are the leaf nodes — each maps directly to a Design FMEA (DFMEA) document and a design characteristics PowerSheet.
Document names for requirements specs (DRS-*), characteristics (CHARS-*), subsystem requirements (SUBRS-*), and functions (*-Functions) are referenced by risksheet breadcrumb navigation. Consistent element names make the breadcrumb links readable in SFMEA and DFMEA views.

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Step 5: Verify the Hierarchy in the System Structure Navigator

Open the System Structure Navigator report (available from the Home dashboard under Reports). This interactive view shows:
  • The full element tree with one-click navigation
  • Linked documents per element (requirements specs, risk assessments, PowerSheets)
  • Direct hyperlinks to Risksheet and PowerSheet views for each element
diagram After creating the hierarchy, allocate requirements, functions, failure modes, and test cases using the allocatedTo link role. The System Decomposition Report aggregates artifact counts per element level automatically once these links exist.
The exact field names and enumeration values for elementType (system, subsystem, component levels) and dal (DAL A–E) should be confirmed in your project’s custom field definitions. The values above reflect the aero1 reference project configuration.

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Step 7: Create Associated Documents

Once system elements exist, create the per-element analysis documents:
Element LevelRequired Documents
SystemFHA, SFMEA, PSSA, SSA
SubsystemSubsystem SFMEA, Requirements Spec (SUBRS-*)
ComponentDFMEA, Design Characteristics (CHARS-*), DRS (DRS-*)
The systemElementId custom field on each risksheet document drives breadcrumb navigation in SFMEA and DFMEA views, enabling one-click traversal up the hierarchy.

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You Should Now See

The System Structure Navigator displays your complete hierarchy — system, subsystems, and components — each with linked document counts and direct navigation links to the associated Risksheets and PowerSheets. The System Decomposition Report shows artifact counts per level, confirming allocatedTo links are resolving correctly.

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See Also

Code: .polarion/pages/spaces/_default/Data Model/attachments/diagram_1771111587_documents.mxg.svg, diagram_1771111587_risk.mxg.svg, diagram_1771111587_traceability.mxg.svg, modules/Requirements/SYSTEM-ELEMENTS/attachments/diagram_20260215-0024.44000.mxg.svg (0.53) · .polarion/pages/spaces/_default/Requirements Traceability Summary/page.xml, Verification Validation Summary/page.xml, Risk Control Effectiveness Report/page.xml, System Decomposition Report/page.xml, FMEA Coverage Report/page.xml, Classification Consistency Report/page.xml, System FMEA Report/page.xml, System Structure Navigator/page.xml (0.49) · .polarion/tracker/fields/testCase-custom-fields.xml, desReq-custom-fields.xml, processStep-custom-fields.xml, characteristic-custom-fields.xml, systemElement-custom-fields.xml, commonCauseEvent-custom-fields.xml, riskControl-custom-fields.xml, task-custom-fields.xml, custom-fields.xml (0.49) · .polarion/nextedy/sheet-configurations/DO-160G Environmental Qualification.yaml, Component RTM.yaml, Configuration Index.yaml, Design Verification Sheet.yaml, Interface Control Matrix.yaml, Problem Report Tracker.yaml, Process Steps.yaml, Review Action Item Tracker.yaml, SOI Stage Gate Dashboard.yaml, Use Steps Specification.yaml, User Need Validation Sheet.yaml, characteristics.yaml, component-characteristics.yaml, customer-requirements.yaml, design-requirements.yaml, subsystem-functions.yaml, subsystem-verification.yaml, system-elements.yaml, test-verification.yaml (0.45) · .polarion/nextedy/models/rtm.yaml (0.45) · modules/RiskTemplates/DFMEATemplate/attachments/risksheetTopPanel.vm, SubSystem-FMEATemplate/attachments/risksheetTopPanel.vm, System-FMEATemplate/attachments/risksheetTopPanel.vm, PFMEATemplate/attachments/risksheetTopPanel.vm, HazardTrackingTemplate/attachments/risksheetTopPanel.vm, DFMEATemplate/attachments/risksheetPdfExport.vm, SubSystem-FMEATemplate/attachments/risksheetPdfExport.vm, System-FMEATemplate/attachments/risksheetPdfExport.vm, PFMEATemplate/attachments/risksheetPdfExport.vm (0.43) · .polarion/tracker/fields/systemElementType-enum.xml, systemElement-status-enum.xml (0.43) · .polarion/pages/scripts/velocity/nextedy_solutions.vm (0.42) · datasets/sol-aero-ui-walkthrough/summary.md, navigation.md, dashboards/home-dashboard.md, dashboards/role-dashboards.md, dashboards/standards-compliance.md, risksheet-views/risksheet-views.md, work-item-types/data-model.md (0.40) · .polarion/documents/fields/custom-fields.xml (0.38)