In Part 1, we talked about use of system.xml files, permissions and the various hide/show options for controlling what individual users and groups see both in Cognos Connection and in QueryVisions’ Web parts.
In Part 2, we look at controlling access to Portal Tabs, including Public Folders and the users My Folders.
Controlling what Portal Tabs users can see – which includes Public Folders, My Folders and Portal Pages – is dependent on system.xml settings, permissions and administrator actions in the Cognos Connection Administration->Security UI.
Directory Administrators within Cognos Connection can add or remove portal tabs for a user through the Administration->Security interface by clicking on the set properties icon or More… (as shown below) for a user, then selecting “Set Portal Tabs”.
This can also be done for the default profile and published for new users (those who have not yet signed in).
Unless read permissions for a user have been removed (by an Adminstrator) from the users account object for the user, they can add those portal tabs back using the portal tab options icon:
This portal tab option/control can be hidden from one or more users in the system.xml file using the option <CC_VIEW_TABS_OPTIONS/>.
By default, Cognos Connection shows all tabs referenced in the user account preferences regardless of the user’s access permissions for the associated pages. The tabs that a user cannot access are flagged, and a message is displayed when the tab is clicked.
Inaccessible tabs (Portal pages where the user does not have permission) can be hidden using the hideInaccessibleTabs parameter –in the system.xml file.
QueryVision’s Navigation Web Part will honour the Portal Tab settings in the current users Account object, and not show Public Folders or My Folders if the Portal Page settings in the Account object do not include them.
Unlike Cognos Connection, the QueryVision Navigation Web Part does not give users the ability to add Public Folders or My Folders, if they have been removed from their Personal Settings.
The Navigation Web Part provides the option to show or hide Public Folders and/or My Folders. This “overrides” the Cognos Connection settings in the sense that a QueryVision Web Part administrator can hide Public Folders or My Folders in spite of the fact that Cognos Connection settings allow the user to see either or both Public Folders or My Folders. But it cannot show Public Folders or My Folders if they are denied by Cognos Connection permissions or the various hide/show mechanisms described here.
As an alternative, the QueryVision Navagation Web Part can specify a custom folder to show in place of Public Folders and/or My Folders.
Having described how you can change the Portal Tabs initially available to users or to permanently remove their ability to access to Public Folders or My Folders – why would you want to do this?
There are two basic scenarios:
- Hide My Folders – you don’t want users creating either new Reports or other Cognos objects, or their own Report Views or equivalents.
- Hide Public Folders – you want to use a Portal Page as the starting point for users vs. Pubic Folders. That Portal Page typically would include a top level dashboard/multi-aspect report, plus a specific folder (a child/descendent of Public Folders) which constrains what content (sub-folders, reports and other Cognos content) they have access to.