Baselines #

Save a snapshot of your schedule before work begins, then compare it against the current state to see where the project has drifted.

A baseline captures the start date, finish date, duration, work, and cost of every task at a point in time.

Setting a Baseline #

Set a baseline from the Project menu using the Set baseline submenu:

• You can set a baseline for all tasks or only selected tasks.
• Ingantt supports up to 11 baselines.

Viewing Baselines #

Once a baseline has been saved, you can view it in the Gantt chart by toggling baseline visibility in the Baselines dialog. Baseline bars appear as thinner bars below the current task bars, using a distinct color per baseline number.

To manage baselines, use the Baselines item in the Project menu. The Baselines dialog lets you:

• View all saved baselines
• Remove baselines you no longer need
• Designate which baseline is used for Earned Value calculations

Baseline and Variance Columns #

You can add baseline and variance columns to the task list via the Options dialog. There are 55 baseline columns and 5 variance columns in total.

The 55 Baseline Columns #

Ingantt stores 11 baselines: the unnumbered Baseline, plus Baseline 1 through Baseline 10. Each one exposes the same five task columns:

• Baseline Start
• Baseline Finish
• Baseline Duration
• Baseline Work
• Baseline Cost

11 baselines × 5 fields = 55 baseline columns, all available from the column chooser in the task table. The unnumbered set is named plainly (Baseline Start); the numbered ones carry their number (Baseline 3 Start).

The 5 Variance Columns #

Variance columns are computed — current schedule minus baseline — and there are five:

• Start Variance
• Finish Variance
• Duration Variance
• Work Variance
• Cost Variance

There is one set of five, not one set per baseline. They compare the current schedule against one baseline — whichever is selected as the Earned Value baseline in Project → Earned Value Options, which defaults to the unnumbered Baseline. Change that setting and every variance column recomputes against the baseline you picked. A task whose chosen baseline was never set shows an empty variance rather than a zero.

Where Baselines Are Stored #

Baselines are stored inside the project file, not in a separate file. Saving the project saves its baselines.

If you try to set a twelfth baseline, Ingantt tells you All baseline slots are in use. Clear one in the Baselines dialog first. Open Project → Baselines and clear one.

Baselines are not the same thing as version history, which records the file itself over time. Use version history to go back to an earlier plan; use baselines to measure how far the current plan has drifted.

Interim Plans #

Interim plans store lightweight schedule snapshots (Start and Finish dates only) for quick comparison without the overhead of full baselines. Ingantt supports up to 10 interim plans (Interim Plan 1 through Interim Plan 10).

Set and clear interim plans from the Interim Plans item in the Project menu. You can display interim plan dates as columns in the task list.