Baselines

This page describes the baseline mode and how to create and use baselines in codebeamer.

Overview

Baselining is available for the following artifacts:

• Projects
• Trackers
• Document folders (directories)

Each type of baseline can be managed through the Baselines tab in the main menu, and project baselines can be created here. Tracker baselines can be created and managed through Baselines and Branches menu or in the context menu of the tracker. Document baselines can be created from a document folder in the Documents tab with the context menu of the folder. Project and tracker baselines can be managed both in the Baselines main menu and in the tracker baseline overlay menu. For tracker baselines, the tracker from which the baseline is created is indicated below the baseline name.

When a project baseline is created, a snapshot is saved of the following elements:

• Tracker items
• Documents
• Comments
• Attachments

The tracker and the directory baseline is a snapshot only of the artifact from which the baseline was created.

Using baselines has the following benefits:

• Possibility to go back to an earlier snapshot to see how the content looked like in that given time.
• Possibility to compare two baselines against each other.
• Possibility to use baselines for audit purposes, and identifying deviations by comparing baselines.
• Possibility to maintain wiki pages for multiple releases.

Once a baseline is created, items cannot be added, removed, or edited in it. The new baseline has the same access permissions as its source directory, and deleting the directory deletes the baseline as well. But when copying the source directory, the baseline is not copied.

To use the baselining function, users need to have the necessary permissions. The following baseline-related permissions exist in codebeamer:

• Baselines - View: allows users to view baselines in a project.
• Baselines - Admin: allows users to administer baselines in a project.

Create Baselines

To create a baseline click on the Baselines menu in the main menu bar, and click on the New Baselines link:

Specify the following attributes in the opened dialog:

• Name: the baseline's name, this property is mandatory and it must be unique
• Description: a short description of the baseline
• Signature (pre 20.11-LTS Carmen): the baseline is signed by the current user if the user's password is given in this textbox
• Gerenerate Signarture button (since 20.11-LTS Carmen): Generate an electronic signature for the baseline.
  For more information about signature generation please read this page: Generating Electronic Signature with SSO Login

Before 20.11-LTS (Carmen)

Since 20.11-LTS (Carmen)

Browse Baselines

Click on the selected baseline's name on the baseline list:

Then the baseline's content shown in the document management view:

Edit Baseline Properties

Click on the selected baseline's edit button:

Then the baseline properties opens in the default properties view:

Lock Baselines

Open baseline properties page, click on more menu and select the lock menu item:

If a baseline is locked it cannot be edited until someone (who has the right permissions) unlocks it.

Delete Baselines

Click on the selected baseline's delete button:

Compare Baselines

To select baselines use the two "SELECT BUTTON TO COMPARE" buttons at the top of the page:

Select the baseline by clicking it's name in the overlay:

Press the "Compare Selected Baselines" button:

The opened view shows the differences between the two baselines:

The differences between the selected baselines are separated into categories. Every category has a tab in the result view. The detailed modifications can be viewed by opening the category tabs, for example the work items:

Filtering Tracker Differences

All pages listing differences of trackers has the capability to filter using the Filter Widget. See Trackers page for more information.

There is one special filtering option called Target Baseline, which is specific to this view. By default the filtering is applied to the first (left) baseline (In the previous example the Baseline 1.) However it is possible to change this logic and apply filtering to the second (right) baseline.

Configuring the filtering option:

Results:

Exporting Tracker Differences

It is possible to export tracker differences including the configured filters in Excel format by clicking on the icon on the left corner.