A baseline is a representation in XML format of what exists in a project. IBM® Rational® RequisitePro® includes a tool that you can use to create baselines, view them in a tree structure, or compare two baselines and generate reports of the comparison. You can also build new projects from existing project baselines.

Sometimes you need to be able to create baselines for multiple projects or automate baseline creation. In these situations, you must use the Rational RequisitePro Baseline Manager Library to easily create these baselines.

About the library

The baseline manager library (RqBaseComp.dll) is part of the Rational RequisitePro Extensibility Interface (RPX). It contains the CreateBaseline method that you can use to create baselines for multiple projects or automate baseline creation.

The CreateBaseline method

The CreateBaseline method receives DataDescriptor as an argument that provides information about the properties of a RequisitePro baseline. You can find more information about DataDescriptor in the RequisitePro Help menu under Extensibility Interface Reference.

The following line is an example of the syntax: BaseCompDataDescriptor.CreateBaseLine(oData As DataDescriptor) As Boolean

The BaseCompDataDescriptor object and its methods are available in the RqBaseComp.dll library, which is included in the bin directory of the Rational RequisitePro installation folder: C:\Program Files\IBM\RationalSDLC\RequisitePro\bin\RqBaseComp.dll.

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Use cases for creating baselines from the library

When you use the baseline manager library, you can customize the baseline creation task by writing scripts. Use this approach when you need to create baselines frequently for the same project, or repeatedly for multiple projects, such as in the following situations:

• Generate baselines for each project in a specific path.
• Generate baselines for each project from the RequisitePro catalog.
• Generate baselines on a timed interval, such as daily, weekly, or monthly.

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Code examples

The following code samples offer guidance about how to create a project baseline by using either Visual Basic or Java.

The example in Listing 1 shows how to create a project baseline of a RequisitePro sample project. To run this script, you must add a reference for the library, such as C:\Program Files\IBM\RationalSDLC\RequisitePro\bin\RqBaseComp.dll.

Listing 1. Creating a project baseline

             Dim a_oData As RqBaseComp.DataDescriptor
             Dim a_oBaseComp As RqBaseComp.BaseCompApplication
             Dim a_sRQSPath As String
             Dim a_sProjectName As String

             Set a_oBaseComp = New RqBaseComp.BaseCompApplication
             Set a_oData = New RqBaseComp.DataDescriptor 
             a_sRQSPath = "C:\Program Files\IBM\RationalSDLC\RequisitePro" & _
             "\samples\Learning_Project-Use_Cases\"

             a_sProjectName = a_sRQSPath & "LEARNING - USE CASES.RQS"

             With a_oData
                  'set .ReqProProject = a_oProject ' can use this or the RQSFilepath
                .RQSFilePath = a_sProjectName
                .UserName = "admin"
                .UserPassword = ""
                .Location = a_sRQSPath & "Baselines"
                .Label = "Baseline-label"

                 'baseline type
                .ElementType = eProject

                ' what do you want to baseline
                .Traceability = True
                .Discussion = True
                .History = True
                .CPT = True

             End With
             ' Create the baseline
             a_oBaseComp.CreateBaseLine a_oData
             Set a_oBaseComp = Nothing
             Set a_oData = Nothing
            

The code in Listing 2 shows how to create a project baseline by using the Java language. This particular snippet shows the use of the baseline options passed as parameters so they are set dynamically.

To run this code you must add the following library: C:\Program Files\IBM\RationalSDLC\RequisitePro\lib\BaseComp.jar.

Listing 2. Creating a project baseline

            BaseCompRPXProxy bcRPXProxy = (BaseCompRPXProxy) new
                BaseCompRPXProxy();
           RPXProxyDataDescriptor oDataDesc = new
                RPXProxyDataDescriptor();
          ProxyProject oProject = null;

          oProject = bcRPXProxy.openProject(projectPath, projectUserID,
                projectPWD);

            oDataDesc.project(oProject);
            oDataDesc.projectFilePath(projectPath);

            oDataDesc.userName(projectUserID);
            oDataDesc.userPassword(projectPWD);
            oDataDesc.label(projectLabel); 
            oDataDesc.location(projectDest);
           
            // Options
            oDataDesc.traceability(projectTraceability);
            oDataDesc.cpt(projectCPT);
            oDataDesc.discussion(projectDiscussion);
            oDataDesc.history(projectHistory);

            oDataDesc.elementType( EnumProxyElementType.project);

            bcRPXProxy.createBaseline(oDataDesc);

            oProject.closeProject(); 

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Import baselines from RequisitePro to IBM Rational Requirements Composer

In IBM Rational Requirements Composer 3.0.1.x there is a feature you can use to import the baselines that you created from the library into projects. This feature is available in the requirements composer tool by selecting Administration > Import RequisitePro Project.

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Downloads

Information about download methods

Resources

Learn

• To learn more, start with the developerWorks page for Rational RequisitePro, and then dig deeper (see the Discuss and Get products and technologies sections, too):
  • Check the product library for demos, evaluation guides, webcasts, and white papers.
  • For details and documentation, check the information center.
  • Read this section in the information center: Using baselines in Rational RequisitePro
  • Find out more about the Rational RequisitePro Extensibility Interface
  
  
• Visit the Rational software area on developerWorks for technical resources and best practices for Rational Software Delivery Platform products.
  
  
• Stay current with developerWorks technical events and webcasts focused on a variety of IBM products and IT industry topics.
  
  
• Attend a free developerWorks Live! briefing to get up-to-speed quickly on IBM products and tools, as well as IT industry trends.
  
  
• Watch developerWorks on-demand demos, ranging from product installation and setup demos for beginners to advanced functionality for experienced developers.
  
  
• Improve your skills. Check the Rational training and certification catalog, which includes many types of courses on a wide range of topics. You can take some of them anywhere, any time, and many of the "Getting Started" ones are free.
  
  

Get products and technologies

• Download the Rational Requirements Composer free trial.
  
  
• Evaluate IBM software in the way that suits you best: Download it for a trial, try it online, use it in a cloud environment, or spend a few hours in the SOA Sandbox learning how to implement service-oriented architecture efficiently.
  
  

Discuss

• Join the Rational ReqPro forum to ask questions and participate in discussions.
  
  
• Rate or review Rational software. It's quick and easy. Really.
  
  
• Share your knowledge and help others who use Rational software by writing a developerWorks article. Find out what makes a good developerWorks article and how to proceed.
  
  
• Follow Rational software on Facebook, Twitter (@ibmrational), and YouTube, and add your comments and requests.
  
  
• Ask and answer questions and increase your expertise when you get involved in the Rational forums, cafés, and wikis.
  
  
• Get social about thought leadership. Join the Rational community to share your Rational software expertise and get connected with your peers.
  
  

About the author

Fabian Lomeli is a software engineer at IBM, based in Guadalajara, Mexico. He is on the Rational RequisitePro development team where he focuses on databases, baselines, LDAP, and FIPS topics.

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Table of contents

• About the library
• Use cases for creating baselines from the library
• Code examples
• Import baselines from RequisitePro to IBM Rational Requirements Composer
• Downloads
• Resources
• About the author
• Comments

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