A managed baseline is essentially a snapshot of an object at a specific point in time. You can create a baseline in the context of a product or a library.

Once you have created a baseline, you can add and remove objects and documents that reflect the product structure. Business information associated with the objects and documents is also recorded.

A baseline can contain any number of objects and documents, and an object or document can be in any number of baselines. A baseline can hold only one version and iteration of an object or document, however.

Typically, baselines are intended for the objects that are checked in. If a previous iteration is in the baseline, you are prompted to replace the current (vaulted) iteration with the working copy, if you are adding the object individually. If, for example, you are adding multiple parts (using the populate option), it is assumed that you want all of the parts replaced and you are therefore not prompted to replace each part individually.