Baselines

A baseline is a snapshot of a design part segment at a given point in time. This snapshot is comprised of related design parts and item revisions selected from the current project/stream. There are three categories of baseline:

- Release: A frozen configuration that captures single versions of items in the design part segment. This configuration typically represents a development milestone within a product lifecycle and is only done once per project/stream. Item revisions in this configuration cannot be modified unless the baseline is deleted.

- Design: A configuration that captures all revisions of all items in the design part segment. This configuration is used for reporting purposes. Item revisions in this configuration can be modified.

- Archive: A special type of release baseline that captures item revisions using one or more *ALL rules in the baseline template. This configuration is used for archive and retrieval by Dimensions CM.

You can create baselines using a rich set of filtering criteria, including design part, item type, and status. You can also create baselines based on requests. When you create a baseline, Dimensions CM records the status of all items included in it. All items in a baseline are fully preserved for future use, such as rebuilding the entire configuration or providing the basis for a new maintenance release.

Baselines are typically used to freeze a configuration within a project/stream for test, integration, build, or release purposes. They can also be used to meet the audit requirements for DOD-2167A, ISO9000, SEI Level accreditation, and contractual commitments to milestone payments.

Like other Dimensions CM objects, baselines have lifecycles. The status of a baseline reflects the status of the configuration as a whole, for example, PASSED TEST, FAILED TEST, or READY FOR RELEASE. It provides important management information on the progress of the project/stream.

Related Topics

Baseline and Release Templates

About Lifecycle Management