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Create and manage baselines from the Web Editor id223MB0ZF043

Last update: Mon Jan 29 2024 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

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It is recommended to use this Baseline feature from the Web Editor if you have upgraded to AEM Guides as a Cloud Service March release or later.

AEM Guides provides the Baseline feature integrated inside the Web Editor that allows the users to create baselines and use them to publish or translate topics of different versions. They can also publish multiple output presets of the same DITA map in parallel.

Create a Baseline

You can create a baseline from the Web Editor by performing the following steps:

  1. In the Repository panel, open the DITA map file in Map View.

  2. Click the Manage tab. The Baseline panel displays the baselines of the DITA map.

    Basleine panel {width="800"}

  3. On the Baseline panel, select the + icon at the top-right to start creating a baseline.

  4. Enter a name for the baseline in Name.

  5. In Configuration, you can either choose Manual update option or Automatic update option:

    Manual update: You can manually create a static baseline with a specific version of the topics and referenced content available on a specific date and time, or with a label defined for a version of topics:

    • In Select the version based on, select one of the following options:

      1. Date <time stamp>: Picks the topics’ version as on the specified date and time.

      2. Label: Select this option to pick the topics according to the label applied to them. If the topics have labels specified for them, the labels are listed in the dropdown. You can choose a label from the list. You can also add a label in the text box.

        For the direct references in static baselines, the labels are pulled from the latest saved version of the map. For example, if you have created labels Label Release 1.0 and Label Release 1.1 for versions 1.0 and 1.1 of Topic A, and then add Topic A to the map saved as version 1.0. In this case, you can view the labels Label Release 1.0 and Label Release 1.1 in the dropdown for static baseline labels.

        When you select Label, you can choose the direct and indirect references.

        • For direct references within the DITA map, you are given an option to use the latest version of topics that do not have the specified label applied to them.

          note note
          NOTE
          If you enter a label that does not exist and select the option Do not create a baseline then the baseline creation fails and gives an error message near the baseline name in the Baseline panel.

        • For indirect references within the DITA map, you are given an additional option to use the latest version of topics that do not have the specified label applied on them. You can also choose to Pick Automatically for the referenced content, and the system automatically picks the version of the referenced content corresponding to the version of the content in which it is referenced.

        Once you have selected a label or version as on date, then all referenced topics and media files within the map are selected accordingly. This selection of topics is not shown on the user interface, but it is saved in the backend.

    Automatic update: Select this option for baseline creation to automatically pick the topics according to the label applied to them.

    Baselines created using the automatic update configuration are updated dynamically. If you generate a baseline, download a baseline, or create a translation project using a baseline, the files are picked dynamically based on the updated labels. For example, if you have used version 1.2 of a topic with Label Release 1.0 for the baseline and later updated version 1.5 with Label Release 1.0, the baseline will be updated dynamically, and version 1.5 will be used.

    Create a baseline {width="300"}

    • Select Labels: If the topics have labels specified for them, then use the Select Labels dropdown to choose from the listed labels.
      The labels selected first are given higher priority over the later ones.

      For dynamic baselines, the labels are pulled from the latest saved version and the current working copy of the map. For example, if you have created labels Label Release A.1.0 and Label Release A.1.1 for versions 1.0 and 1.1 of Topic A and labels Label Release B.1.0 and Label Release B.1.1 for versions 1.0 and 1.1 of Topic B . Then you can add Topic A to Map A in version 1.0 and Topic B to Map A in 1.0* (working copy). In this case, you can view Label Release A.1.0 , Label Release A.1.1, Label Release B.1.0, and Label Release B.1.1 in the dropdown of dynamic baseline labels.

  6. Indirect References: For indirect references within the DITA map, you are given the following options:

    • Pick automatically: You can choose to Pick Automatically for the referenced content, and the system automatically picks the version of the referenced content corresponding to the version of the content in which it is referenced.

    • Use selected label: You can create a baseline with the selected label defined for a version of topics.

    • Use the latest version or the working copy: Use the latest version of topics that do not have the specified label applied on them, or if no version has been created, then use the working copy of the topics to create the baseline.

  7. Click Apply.

The baseline is created. The baseline creation happens asynchronously, so you can continue working on other files in the Web Editor. Once the baseline is created, a pop-up message is displayed confirming that the baseline has been created, and you also receive an Inbox notification for the same.

Manage baselines

You can manage your existing baselines using the various features on the Baseline dashboard.

  • You can search for an existing baseline using the text box in the Baseline panel. Use the Apply Filter icon to show all baselines or list the baselines with the creation status as Successful, In-Progress, or Failed.

  • Use the Refresh icon in the Baseline panel to recheck for all baselines and display a fresh list of baselines for the DITA map that’s opened in the Map View.

  • You can view or edit the contents of an existing static baseline by double-clicking the baseline from the list in the Baseline panel. The baseline editing window in the center displays the DITA map file, map’s contents or topics, and the referenced content.

    note note
    NOTE
    Edit operation for static baselines is only recommended for small number of reference changes. Edit operation is not recommended to change the version of the main DITA map as it must recalculate all the references. This may cause a baseline update failure for large DITA maps. For the larger DITA maps, you can create a new baseline or edit the properties of the baseline.
    Edit operation in case of dynamic baseline allows you to edit the properties of the baseline as the references for dynamic baselines are generated at runtime using the labels.

    options of a baseline {width="800"}

    You can also perform the following operations on the baseline from the Options menu:

Duplicate a baseline

You can duplicate a baseline and modify it according to your requirements.
duplicate a baseline {width="300"}
Duplicate a baseline based on a label or create an exact copy.

  1. Select Duplicate from the Options menu of a baseline. The Duplicate baseline dialog box opens.

    note note
    The default name of the baseline is <selected baseline name>_suffix (like sample-baseline_1). You can change the name according to your requirements.

    In Select the version based on, you can either choose the Exact copy option or the Label option:

    • Exact copy: Experience Manager Guides picks the same version of all the topics and creates an exact copy of the duplicated baseline.
    • Label: Using the dropdown, you can choose one of the listed labels. Experience Manager Guides picks those versions of the topics with the selected label defined for them, while for the remaining topics, it picks the version from the duplicated baseline. For example, you select the label Release 1.0 from the dropdown, then it picks those versions of the topics for which you have defined this label. For all other topics, it picks the version from the duplicated baseline.

  2. Click Duplicate.

  • Rename, or Delete an existing baseline.

  • Add, remove, or make changes to existing labels from the Manage Labels option for static baselines. If your administrator has configured pre-defined labels, then you are shown those labels in the Add Label dropdown list. For more information about adding labels, see Use labels.

    note note
    NOTE
    The process to add or remove labels happens asynchronously, so you can continue working on other files in the Web Editor. Once the label is added or removed, a pop-up message is displayed confirming that the label has been added or removed, and you also receive an Inbox notification for the same.

  • Edit properties of an existing static baseline that you have set while creating the baseline.

  • Export the snapshot of a baseline in a Microsoft Excel file with the Export Baseline option.

List of labels labels-list

The labels listed in the dropdown are based on the following criteria:

  • The labels should be added to one of the versions of the topics in the DITA map (on which the baseline is created).
  • And only the first-level references (topics or sub-maps) of the DITA map are considered for picking the labels.

Baseline filters

Using the Filters icon in the Baseline Filters panel you can apply filters on the baseline opened in the baseline editing window:

baseline filters {width="300"}

  • Filter the files based on filenames, or file location.
  • Filter the files based on the values for different columns like File Type, Reference Type and so on.
  • Choose the columns to be displayed in the baseline editing window.
NOTE
You can click a column heading and sort the files based on the columns in the baseline editing window.

Save or Reset a Baseline

Once you have edited the baseline, you can click the Save button on the top to save the changes to the baseline. You can click the Reset button if you don’t want to save the change and reset the baseline. When you click the Reset button a warning is displayed that your unsaved changes would be lost.

Parent topic:Work with the Web Editor

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