Asta Vision and baselines

Baselines of Asta Vision programmes are created each time a workflow rule that causes a baseline to be created is carried out in Asta Vision. Asta Vision can be configured to work with baselines in one of two ways:

'Asta Powerproject Managed Baselines' mode. Using this mode, once a baseline copy of a programme is available, provided that the programme is not in progress, the baseline is checked out along with the programme - when you check out or start a collaboration session - automatically. Using this baseline behaviour, you can merge changes to a programme into baselines manually, using Asta Powerproject's standard baseline merge functionality, and these changes are uploaded automatically when you check in the programme.
'Vision Managed Baselines' mode. Using this mode, baselines are never checked in and out along with the corresponding programme. A copy of the baseline is downloaded automatically when you check out or start a collaboration session on the corresponding programme, for viewing purposes only. Using this baseline behaviour, you cannot merge changes to a programme into baselines manually and any changes you make to a baseline in Asta Powerproject are lost as they are not uploaded when you check in the programme.

Downloading specific revisions of programmes and baselines

Regardless of baseline mode, if you download a specific revision of a programme, you can choose to download a specific revision of the programme's baseline as well. This enables you to compare the downloaded programme against a baseline. If you download a programme and a baseline, a zip file containing both programme and baseline is downloaded to your computer, with the baseline appearing as an imported baseline in the programme.

If you download a specific revision of a programme from within Asta Powerproject - as opposed to from the website - you can also choose to download a different revision of the programme and treat this as a baseline. This enables you to compare the downloaded programme against any other revision of the programme. For example, if you were downloading the Delivery programme, you could choose to download the Contract revision of the programme and treat this as a baseline in Asta Powerproject.

Depending on the way in which Asta Vision is configured, a copy of a particular programme type's baseline may be downloaded automatically when programmes of a later type are checked out or downloaded to your computer, in addition to the later programme's baseline. This enables you to compare the baseline of an earlier programme type against a later programme.

Baselines of Asta Vision projects always exist as separate files; you cannot embed this type of baseline into the project.

More information on downloading specific revisions of programmes and baselines

Importing specific programme or baseline revisions to act as a baseline once a programme is checked out or downloaded

When working with a checked out or downloaded programme - and when working in a collaboration session - in Asta Powerproject, you can choose at any time to import a baseline from Asta Vision, or a different revision of the programme which is then treated as a baseline. This may be useful if you have checked out or downloaded a programme without a baseline. You do this by clicking the Vision button on the Baseline/What If Manager dialog and selecting the baseline or revision of the programme that you want to import.

Specifying that a programme or baseline revision should be imported automatically when the current programme is checked out or downloaded

You can specify that a programme or baseline revision should be imported and treated as a baseline automatically each time the current Asta Vision programme is checked out or downloaded. This saves you from having to import the programme or baseline revision manually each time.

To specify that a programme or baseline revision should be imported and treated as a baseline automatically:

On the Project tab, in the Properties group, click Baseline Manager. The Baseline/What If Manager appears.
Click Vision. The Import From Vision dialog appears.
Select the type of programme that you want to import and treat as a baseline, for example Contract or Delivery, in the Programme type field.
Specify whether you want to import a programme revision or a baseline revision in the Programme or baseline field. The Select programme field displays the programme or baseline revisions of the selected programme type.
Select the programme or baseline revision that you want to import and treat as a baseline in the Select programme field.
If you want the programme or baseline revision to be imported automatically each time you check out or download the current Asta Vision programme, saving you from having to import it manually each time the programme is checked out or downloaded, select the Always download this baseline check box.

If you select this check box, the selected programme or baseline revision appears in the Baseline/What If Manager dialog with a icon, indicating that it will be imported automatically for use as a baseline whenever the current programme is checked out or downloaded. This saves you from having to import the programme or baseline revision manually each time.
Click Import. The selected programme or baseline revision is imported from Asta Vision and is treated as a baseline.

A graphical indicator - cloud - is displayed in the Name column in the Baseline/What If Manager dialog for any baselines that are imported automatically when the current programme is checked out or downloaded.

If you want to stop a programme or baseline revision from being imported automatically as a baseline each time the current Asta Vision programme is checked out or downloaded, select it in the Baseline/What If Manager dialog and click Delete. This does not delete the programme or baseline revision from Asta Vision, but it will stop it from being imported automatically as a baseline each time the current programme is checked out or downloaded.

Importing projects from your computer for use as a baseline

As well as being able to download different programme revisions and baselines from Asta Vision, you can import projects from your computer for use as a baseline. The project that you import obviously needs to be a version of the programme you are working with - it makes no sense to import a completely different project and attempt to use that as a baseline with as Asta Vision programme.

If you import a project from your computer for use as a baseline with an Asta Vision programme, a copy is taken of the project or baseline and the resulting baseline is not linked to the Asta Vision programme; you can use the baseline until you check in the programme or end the collaboration session, at which time the copy of the baseline is deleted from your computer.

Collaboration sessions, Asta Enterprise and Asta Vision baselines

If you start a collaboration session or check out a programme to an Asta Enterprise server, only the baseline that relates to the current programme type is downloaded.

If you download and import a baseline, or a different revision of the programme which is then treated as a baseline, the baseline you download will be saved to the Enterprise server, in the same folder as other checked out programmes. Each baseline is given a unique file name in the folder: the baseline ID is appended to the end of the file name, resulting in a file name such as 'Baseline (Contract) 2.ppb2'. These baselines are deleted from the Enterprise server when you check in the programme, or if you choose to delete the baseline manually using the Baseline/What If Manager dialog. These downloaded baseline files are never checked in and any changes you make to them will be lost.

If you start a collaboration session or check out a programme to an Asta Enterprise server, you cannot use the Baseline/What If Manager dialog to create new baselines.