Chapter 5 Repository Administration

Controlling Permissions for Repository Items

Permissions are access rights granted to users or groups on the repository, folders, documents, and model packages.

Depending on the type of work being performed, users need different access permissions on the different documents contained in the repository. The permissions are to be combined with the rights granted to users or groups (see Controlling Rights for Repository Users and Groups).

You can grant access permissions to a user or a group on the following items:

The repository root – these permissions apply to the entire contents of the repository.
Folders – these permissions apply to the contents of the folder.
Documents - both PowerDesigner models and external application files.
Model Packages inside PowerDesigner models.

Permission not applicable to diagrams and model objects
You cannot grant permissions on individual PowerDesigner diagrams or model objects.

When you create a folder or add a document in the repository, the item has default access permissions:

The user who created the item in the repository has Full access permission. This permission can be removed by an administrator.
Other users or groups have no permissions except the permissions granted to the folders they belong to. If they do not have any permission, they cannot see the folder in the repository browser

When you define access permissions on a folder or the repository root, the permissions apply to all the items it contains. You can subsequently modify the permissions for each sub-item.

The same process applies to grant access permissions on the root, a folder, a document, or a package.

To define access permissions on a repository item:

Right-click the item in the Repository Browser, and select Permissions from the contextual menu to open the item's property sheet at the Permissions tab.

Click the Add tool to open a selection box listing all the available users and groups.

Select one or more users and groups, and then click OK to add them to the item's Permissions list.

For each user or group, select the access permission from the drop down list box in the Granted Permission column. The following permissions are available:
- List - User or group has minimal permissions to view the item in the browser; display read-only property sheets and search for models.
- Read - User or group has all the List permissions, and can also compare documents, and extract the document (or folder contents) from the repository.
- Write - User or group has all the Read permissions, and can also consolidate, freeze and lock document versions.
- Full - User or group has all the Write permissions, and can also manage permissions granted to users or groups and remove locks on documents.
Note that users who do not have any permissions on a document or folder cannot even see these items in the browser.

Click OK to save your changes.

Permissions for consolidation

To consolidate documents in the repository you need the following permissions:

Consolidation	Permission required
First consolidation: creating a document in the repository	Write on the target location (folder or root)
Update: updating an existing document in the repository	Read on the target location and Write on the document (including, for PowerDesigner models, all impacted packages)