Ebase Security – User and Group Maintenance

Fundamentals

All users of the Ebase Designer must be authenticated. In addition, runtime users i.e. users running Ebase forms, may also be authenticated. It is mandatory for all runtime users of the Ebase Workflow System to be authenticated.

Groups are used in conjunction with the Ebase Workflow System where they are used to control the assignment of tasks to individuals or groups of individuals. If Ebase Workflow is not being used, groups can be ignored.

Maintaining User Definitions

The user maintenance dialog is accessed from the tools menu (Tools -> Maintain security) then clicking the Users tab. This function is only available to users with the following authorization:

(See Ebase Security Authorization for more information)

Type:	SECADMIN
Name:	USER
Function:	Write

Note that function Read grants read-only access.

From this dialog box you can choose to maintain an existing user by double clicking on a user or clicking the Maintain User button, delete an existing user, or create a new user.

Double-clicking on a user presents a dialog where the user can be maintained.

Security Roles: defines the security roles associated with the user. These roles contain authorizations that are used to control access to both the Ebase Designer and runtime environments once the user has signed on. Use the Add and Delete buttons to add or delete roles. Roles can also be associated with groups – when a user signs on, the names of all roles are determined using both user level roles and group level roles. (See Ebase Security Authorization for more information)

Designer User: check this to grant access to the Ebase Designer.

Reset password: check this and then complete password and confirm password to reset a user’s password.

Password/confirm password: used to set an initial password for new users or to reset the password for existing users.

Groups: provides display only information on groups of which the user is a member. User/group relationships are maintained from the Groups tag.

Maintaining Group Definitions

The group maintenance dialog is accessed from the tools menu (Tools -> Maintain security) then clicking the Groups tab. This function is only available to users with the following authorization:

(See Ebase Security Authorization for more information)

Type:	SECADMIN
Name:	USER
Function:	Write

Note that function Read grants read-only access.

From this dialog you can choose to maintain an existing group by double clicking on a group or clicking the Maintain Group button, delete an existing group, or create a new group.

Double-clicking on a group presents a dialog where the group can be maintained.

The Group Members tab is used to add or remove users to or from the group. The memberships for each user represent roles (roles is used here in a general sense and should not be confused with Security Roles) that the user can play within the group e.g. Manager or Team Leader. These can be maintained by clicking on a user name in the Group Members panel, then using the Add and Remove buttons in the Memberships panel. Only those memberships defined using the Supported Memberships tab can be added.

The Supported Memberships tab is used to maintain a list of memberships which are possible for the group.

Use the Add membership and Remove membership buttons to add or remove memberships. When a group is initially created three default memberships are created: Member, Manager and Team Leader. These can be removed if required and any new memberships can be added.

The Exclusive checkbox indicates that only one member of the group is permitted to have this membership. This checkbox works together with the assignment expression dialog used by the Ebase Workflow System.

Selecting the Person radio button indicates that a single person should be assigned to the task. The system will only display memberships that have the exclusive flag checked. Selecting the Group radio button indicates that there are multiple people who could be assigned to the task. The system will only display memberships that have the exclusive flag unchecked

The Roles tab is used to add security roles to the group. When a user signs on, the names of all roles are determined using both user level roles and group level roles for all groups of which the user has any sort of membership. This facility makes it possible to establish groups that are really composite roles i.e. a grouping of roles. Users could then be added to the group.