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What is a baseline and what is a summary
Baseline:
A baseline represents a model. A baseline view is a configuration of a view on that model. Each model has a start date and an end date. Every project has a default baseline view that presents statistical summaries of all data in a 3 month rolling window.
Summary:
Within that model there are a number of summaries. By default, there is:
Baseline Summary: a single collection of statistical measures for every entity and metric covering the entire duration of the baseline. This is used by default.
Monthly Summary: a collection of statistical measures for every entity and metric per calendar month that is in covered by the baseline time period.
Daily Summary: a collection of statistical measures for every entity and metric per day that is covered by the baseline time period.
The baseline view is presented in the UI front-end using the Sunburst chart visualisation.
Setting up the Baseline View:
Configurating the Baseline View using grouping values provides the user with the facility to view this summary data for the baseline in a number of ways. For example, by application, component, environment etc. However, when saving a new view, the user is presented with an option to change the time period. The available dates are those that are used in the default baseline duration, typically around 3 months.
The user can select a start date and end date then save that view. When that is done, a new model is created using only data from the date range the user specified. That model has all the summaries available above, but those summaries are based on the new time period. This is used extensively for monthly reporting. Typically a user would create a new model containing all data for that calendar month then use that as a basis for reporting and forecasting.
Creating timeboxed views in this way is the best way to store a snapshot of the environment indefinitely. The default baseline is a rolling window summarising the previous 3 months. Should you wish to record a particular month (or other time period), creating a view in this way will store that and make it always available on the front-end. It will not change or update as a result of new data.
For your reference, you can read the documentation here.