TIBCO Software Inc. Stockholders' Equity (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended						2 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Nov. 30, 2011	Nov. 30, 2010	Nov. 30, 2009	Nov. 30, 2010 April 2008 Plan [Member]	Nov. 30, 2011 April 2010 Plan [Member]	Nov. 30, 2010 April 2010 Plan [Member]	Jan. 20, 2012 December 2010 Plan [Member]	Nov. 30, 2011 December 2010 Plan [Member]	Nov. 30, 2011 Retained Earnings [Member]	Nov. 30, 2010 Retained Earnings [Member]	Nov. 30, 2009 Retained Earnings [Member]	Nov. 30, 2011 Additional Paid-In Capital [Member]	Nov. 30, 2010 Additional Paid-In Capital [Member]	Nov. 30, 2009 Additional Paid-In Capital [Member]	Nov. 30, 2011 Series A Preferred Stock [Member]	Nov. 30, 2011 Restricted Stock [Member]	Nov. 30, 2010 Restricted Stock [Member]
Stockholders Equity Note [Line Items]
Preferred stock, shares authorized	75,000,000														25,000,000
Preferred stock, par value	$ 0.001
Preferred stock, shares issued	0
Preferred stock, shares outstanding	0
Common stock, shares authorized	1,200,000,000	1,200,000,000
Common stock, par value	$ 0.001	$ 0.001
Common stock, shares issued	166,287,000	164,522,000
Common stock, shares outstanding	166,287,000	164,522,000
Restricted stock, shares	9,212,000	10,065,000														3,443,000	4,314,000
Preferred stock right, expiration date	March 5, 2014
Percentage of outstanding shares of common stock acquired	15.00%
Preferred stock right, exercise ratio	0.001
Preferred stock right, exercise price	$ 70
Preferred stock right triggering threshold	50.00%
Preferred stock right, common stock valuation equivalent	one share of our common stock per Right
Preferred stock right, redemption price	$ 0.001
Stock repurchase program, authorized amount						$ 300,000,000		$ 300,000,000
Remaining repurchase amount authorized from new program						158,900,000		105,900,000
Stock repurchase program remaining authorized repurchase amount, cancelled				26,700,000	158,900,000
Payments classification for shares repurchased	$ 194,059,000	$ 204,280,000	$ 106,447,000						$ 99,700,000	$ 116,600,000	$ 47,900,000	$ 94,400,000	$ 87,700,000	$ 58,500,000
Shares repurchased	7,310,000	15,084,000	12,928,000				2,800,000
Average price per share	$ 26.55	$ 13.54	$ 8.23				$ 24.08
Common stock options exercised, shares	8,018,000