Icons in Access Management :: SAS(R) Environment Manager 2.5 Administration: User's Guide

How are Denies and Grants Indicated?

Denies and Grants
Icon	Meaning
	Deny
	Grant

How are Direct Controls Indicated?

The main displays of effective permissions on the Authorization page use the following icons to provide immediate information about the source of each setting.

Direct Access Controls
Icon	Term	Meaning
	Direct control: Explicit	The direct access control is set on the current object and specifically assigned to the selected identity.
	Direct control: ACT	The direct access control comes from an applied access control template (ACT) whose pattern specifically assigns the grant or deny to the selected identity.
(none)	Indirect setting	The setting comes from someone else (a group that has a direct control), somewhere else (a parent object or the repository ACT), or special status (such as unrestricted). For the WriteMemberMetadata permission, indirect means that the setting mirrors the WriteMetadata setting.

Tip

The explicit and ACT indicator icons correspond to the white and green colors on the Authorization window in SAS Environment Manager. As in SAS Environment Manager, if both an explicit control and an applied ACT setting are present, only the explicit indicator is displayed.

Icon Combinations in the Main Authorization Displays
Icon	Meaning
	Deny from an explicit control
	Deny from an applied ACT
	Deny from an indirect source (such as a parent group or parent object)
	Grant from an explicit control
	Grant from an applied ACT
	Grant from an indirect source (such as a parent group or parent object)

Tip

For additional details about the source of a setting, use the permission origins feature.

What Does a Blank Cell in an ACT Pattern Mean?

The display of an ACT’s pattern is limited as follows:

An ACT’s pattern includes only those identities that have pattern settings. For this reason, the table on an ACT’s AuthorizationBasic tab usually includes only a few groups. Not all users and groups are listed.
An ACT’s pattern consists of only those settings that are explicitly defined in the pattern. For this reason, the table on an ACT’s AuthorizationBasic tab usually has grants or denies in only a few cells. The other cells are blank.

Note: This differs from the display in SAS Environment Manager, where the net effect of the pattern is displayed along with the pattern settings.

For each blank cell and each unlisted identity, the net effect of the pattern is determined by the closest pattern setting. Each identity’s group memberships determine which setting is closest. The precedence order is as follows:

The identity’s direct group membership have the highest precedence.
The identity’s nested group memberships are next, with each successive level of nesting having lower precedence than the preceding level. Nested memberships are a consideration only if the identity is a member of a group that is in turn a member of another group.
The identity’s automatic membership in the SASUSERS implicit group is next, unless the identity is a user who is not properly registered in the metadata. This group includes all registered users. For example, most users get their repository-level access through grants to SASUSERS in the default ACT’s pattern.
The identity’s automatic membership in the PUBLIC implicit group is last. PUBLIC is a superset of SASUSERS. PUBLIC includes everyone that can connect to the metadata server, regardless of whether they are registered users. Because PUBLIC is the broadest group, denies are usually assigned to it.

If an identity has conflicting pattern settings at the same level of precedence, the net effect of those settings is a deny. If there are no pattern settings that are relevant for an identity, the ACT has no effect on that identity.