Updating - Baselines

OVERVIEW – Baselines are…

1. Before moving on to our next tutorial, go to the Project View.  Click Enterprise on the menu-bar and select Enterprise Project Structure…
   
   Highlight the CRE – Creating node and click Add.  Rename the new node as follows:  EPS ID – UPD; EPS Name – Updating.  Click Close.
   
   Now, copy the CAL – Calendars project and paste the copy into the UPD – Updating EPS node.  Rename the project:  Project ID – BAS; Project Name – Baselines.
   
   Open the new project.
   
   
2. In the Activity View on the menu bar, click on Project and select Maintain Baselines…
   
   
3. The Maintain Baselines window appears with no baselines.  Click Add.
   
   
4. On the Add New Baseline dialogue box, you are given two options.  Make sure that the top one, “Save a copy…”, is selected and then click OK.
   
   Note – If you have another project in your EPS view that you would like to become a baseline choose the bottom option, “Convert another project…”  If you do choose this option be aware that the project that you make a baseline will no longer be visible in the EPS and it will no longer be useable as an individual project.
   
   Note – You can have as many baselines maintained on a project as desired.
   
   
5. Depending upon the size of the project, the new baseline may take a few moments to appear.  At the moment, the new baseline is an identical copy of the current project therefore the data date and last update date will be the same as well.  In the Baseline Type drop-down menu on the lower left, you can choose what type of schedule is the baseline.  Choose Initial Plan from the list.  Click Close.
   
   
6. We now have a baseline associated with our schedule.  However, currently we can gain no benefit from having it because we haven’t assigned it to the schedule yet.  Go to Project on the menu bar and click Assign Baselines… from the drop-down menu.
   
   
7. The Assign Baselines window is displayed.  There are two types of baseline assignments:  Project & User.  A Project baseline is global and can be seen by all users who use a database and open up a project.  User baselines can only be seen by the user who assigns them and there can be up to three of them assigned at any given moment.
   
   
8. Click on the drop-down menu under Project Baseline and choose the baseline we added, Baselines – B1.  Notice that the default baseline is the <Current Project>. 
   
   Note – If we had multiple projects open, you would have to use the drop-down menu at the top to choose which project you are assigning a baseline to.
   

Click OK.  We now have a baseline assigned and accessible for us to use to help analyze the progress of our schedule.  There are several ways to view the baselines data, however, since the schedule and baseline are identical we’ll come back to this after we have had time to progress the schedule.

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