Controlling Access

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
  • Build multiple catalog views
  • Control access to the catalog based on a set of constraints

Catalog Views

"Marco, how can I control access to the catalogs?"

"Good question, Ajay! You can control access by defining Catalog Views, which are essentially a set of constraints. You will be able to create multiple views for different use cases. Catalog views allow you to control access to the catalog based on a set of constraints. You can also use Catalog Data Filtering when creating the Catalog Views."

Catalog Views

The Catalog Views task allow you to control access to the catalog based on a set of constraints you define. There are two approaches you can take to defining a catalog view:

  • Start with everyone having access to the entire catalog and then narrow that access based on a set of criteria.
  • Start with no one having access to the catalog and then broaden that access based on a set of criteria.

If you start with full access, you then restrict that access based on:

  1. Group and/or department membership.
  2. One or more of supplier, catalog, and commodity code.
  3. For example, you can hide items from supplier ABC from anyone who does not belong to the group.

If you start with no access, you can then broaden that access based on:

  1. Group and/or department membership.
  2. One or more of supplier, catalog, and commodity code.
  3. For example, you can show only the catalog from supplier ABC to members of the IT Managers group.

Catalog Data Filtering

Use Catalog Data Filtering to narrow results based on specific field(s) or value(s).

Catalog Data is Global

  • All items can be made visible to all users.
  • You can add catalog views with filters to your configuration to limit the catalog items that are visible to various users.

Typical Implementation

  • Not all items are visible to all users.
  • The application filters the data to control which items should be visible to which users.

The catalog is a view of items in the currently activated catalogs. You can use various techniques to filter data and decide which catalog items will be visible. For example, you could show or hide certain catalogs or catalog items to users who are in or who are not in a certain cost center or group. This module describes how filtering works and how you can use the Catalog View workspace in the Ariba Administrator to control which items are visible to various users.

Note

SAP Ariba uses this terminology for the "In Group/Cost Center" and "Not in Group/Cost Center" options:

  • A qualified user is a member of the Group or Cost Center specified in the constraint
  • A disqualified user is not a member of the Group or Cost Center specified in the constraint

Note

SAP Ariba Best Practice:

Catalog constraints can be defined after the system is in production. Ariba recommends to create the required catalog views when you are implementing the system, at least for the initial rollout. Over time, you may discover other views and you can implement those as required.

Constraint Templates

How do you use the constraint template?

Use the constraint template to formulate a logical statement.

Catalog Administrators can use this template to determine how to build views. Just fill in the blanks.

Note

Note that the first blank – Show Only or Hide– represents the choice to start by showing your user an empty catalog and then adding content (Show Only) or start by showing your user all of the content and removing some (Hide.)

Example Constraints

"Ajay, now that you have insight on Catalog Views, let's look at examples to help you understand them better."

Example Constraints

Catalog Example 1

Users of the IT Manager group can view only items from the IT Products catalog. (This is an example where we only want a group to see a single catalog.

Catalog View - Example 2

The only users who can view items from Akamai Technologies Inc are employees who belong to the Purchasing Manager groups. (In this example, we will be hiding items from everybody but a particular group.)

Showing Items from a Catalog

ExerciseStart Exercise

Showing Items from a Supplier

ExerciseStart Exercise

Hiding Items from a Supplier

ExerciseStart Exercise

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