Adding baselines

Add a baseline to capture a collection of items and relationships at a point in time, such as at a project milestone. You can choose to include the following items in the new baseline in any combination:

Folders, which also recursively adds all subfolders and items in a selected folder
Requirement documents, which also adds all requirements in the selected document
Specific issues, requirements, test cases, and manual test runs

The items you can add to a baseline depend on your security permissions. Ask your administrator or another high-level user for help.

You can also automatically include items related to the source items by links or other relationships.

1. Click Add on the Baselines list.

The Add Baseline dialog box opens.

Only one user can add, duplicate, or delete a baseline at a time. If another user is adding, duplicating, or deleting a baseline, the Add button is not available and a message is displayed.

2. On the Select Source Items page, select the items to include in the baseline.

Click Add Folder to add a folder to the baseline. You can only add public folders to baselines. Folders are added to baselines recursively, which means that all items and subfolders are also added to the baseline. See Adding folders to baselines.
Click Add Documents to add requirement documents to the baseline. All requirements in the selected documents are also added to the baseline. See Adding requirement documents to baselines.
Click Add Items to add issues, requirements, test cases, or manual test runs to the baseline. See Adding issues, requirements, test cases, and manual test runs to baselines.

If a new custom field is added to the project and the baseline is added before items with the new field are changed, the baseline will not include the new field.

3. To remove any selected source items, select the items and click Remove Items. You can also mouse over an item to remove and click .

4. Click Next.

5. On the Add Linked Items page, select the linked items and relationships to include in the baseline.

Linked Items — Select the types of items linked to the selected source items to include in the baseline. Select a filter if you only want to include filtered items in the baseline. You can:

Search for a filter.
Add a new filter — Choose Add Filter in the Filters list. See Adding filters.
Edit an existing filter — Mouse over the filter to edit in the Filters list and click . See Editing filters.
Delete a filter — Mouse over the filter to delete in the Filters list and click . See Deleting filters.

Relationships — Select the relationship types to use to add related items to the baseline based on the selected item types in the Linked Items area. All types includes all relationship types, which means that all items linked to the source items and related test case and generated manual test run relationships are added to the baseline. Specific types lets you select the links or relationships to use. Only items that use the selected types are added to the baseline.

In some areas of Helix ALM, such in matrix reports, parent/child relationships in requirement documents are also included. These relationships are not automatically included in baselines. You must add the parent document as a source item.

6. Click Next.

7. On the Details page, enter the basic information about the baseline.

Name — Enter a descriptive name for the baseline. A default name may be displayed in the field, but you can change it. You can enter up to 128 characters.
Description — Enter a description for the baseline. You may want to include information about the baseline contents and the reason it was added. You can enter up to 255 characters.

8. Click Add.

The baseline is added. It may take several minutes. A progress indicator may be displayed if the baseline contains a large number of items.

9. Go to the Baselines list to view the baseline. See Using the Baselines list. If any errors occurred when adding the baseline, it will be displayed in the Incomplete Baselines area. See Viewing and deleting incomplete baselines.

Other ways to add baselines

You can also add baselines from other areas in Helix ALM.

Location	To add a baseline:
Item lists - Issues, Requirements, Requirement Documents, Test Cases, Manual Test Runs, or Folders lists	Select items to add to the baseline, click Actions, and choose Add to Baseline.
Viewing and Editing item pages (e.g., Viewing Issue)	Click Actions and choose Add Baseline. The item is added to the Select Source Items list in the Add Baseline dialog box. If the item has changes, you are prompted to save it before adding the baseline.
Requirement documents	To add the entire document and all requirements to the baseline, select the document in the tree. To add specific requirements only to the baseline, select the requirements. Click Actions and choose Add Baseline. The selected document or requirements are added to the Select Source Items list in the Add Baseline dialog box.
Folders list	In the folders tree, select a folder to add to the baseline, click , and choose Add Baseline. The folder is added to the Select Source Items list in the Add Baseline dialog box. On the folder List, Task Board, or Detail tabs, click Actions and choose Add Baseline. If items are selected on the List or Task Board tabs, they are added to the Select Source Items list in the Add Baseline dialog box. If no items are selected, the folder is added to the Select Source Items list.