Menu Authorization

The Menu Authorization utility gives you the flexibility to customize the menus used in your system. At the same time, you can maintain effective security control by limiting access to menus and menu options for individual users. Menu Authorization maintains all of the files needed for you to create, change, and delete menus dynamically. The utility also performs the following functions:

· Menu and Option definition. You determine which options are displayed on which menus, and you can control the exact text used to describe the option, where it is displayed, and the display attributes (such as color).

· Menu Display. Menus are displayed dynamically by this utility. You may enter commands and options on the command line, display a window with a command line from most screens with the F2 function key, and display your menu in various formats with the F15 and F19 function keys.

· Fast Path and Mnemonic Code Definition. From any menu in the system, you can type a code associated with an option to execute that option. Fast path is also used by some programs to call another program through the use of a command key (such as a maintenance program calling an inquiry program).

· Security Authorization. You define which users can access which options in the system.

· Initial Menu Assignment. You can define an initial menu that will be displayed when a user signs on to the system.

The MAC-PAC system is shipped with pre-defined menus and options for the modules. You may choose to use the menus as shipped, or you may add, change, or delete any of these menus and options in order to customize your menu system and limit access to options. You can also limit access to certain options through user authority assignments. If all you wish to do is create user authority assignments for the existing menus, see the Security Control section of this overview. See the figure below for an example of the Menu Authorization utility menu shipped with the system.

                             MENU AUTHORIZATION MENU                           

                                                                               

 Select one of the following:                                                  

                                                                               

   Menu/Options Definition                12. User Authority Inquiry           

      1. Menu Maintenance                 13. Menu Authorization Report        

      2. Menu Inquiry                                                          

      3. Option Maintenance             Fast Path Definition                   

      4. Option Inquiry                   14. Fast Path Generation             

      5. Menu/Options Maintenance         15. Fast Path Control Maintenance    

      6. Menu/Options Inquiry                                                   

                                        Other Options                          

   Menu Security Definition               83. Display Messages                 

      7. Menu Officer Maintenance         85. Work With Submitted Jobs         

      8. Menu Officer Inquiry             86. Menu Authorization Recovery      

      9. Initial Menu Assignment          89. Return                           

     10. Initial Menu Inquiry             90. Signoff                           

     11. User Authority Maintenance                                            

                                                                               

 Selection or command                                                          

 ===>                                                                          

 F3=Exit             F4=Prompt           F9=Retrieve

The Menu Authorization Menu.

The Menu Authorization utility is shipped with the software.

A menu consists of two basic components, a menu definition and option definitions, that are maintained separately on the Menu Master File and the Option Master File. A menu, as seen on the screen, is a combination of a menu name and a series of options that are linked together and maintained on the Menu/Option File. By linking together various menu and option definitions on the Menu/Option File, you may create many different menus for use in the system.

Note: The screen in Figure 1 contains a command line just above the row of command keys at the bottom of the screen. The command line is recognizable by the arrow prompt in the margin. Command lines are used to select options by typing the option number on the line. You may display a command line on most screens in the MAC-PAC system by pressing the F2 function key. Command lines are also used for entering mnemonic codes and fast path options.

Along with menus and options, the Menu Authorization utility allows you to define mnemonic codes for specific options in your system. Mnemonic codes are short words or phrases that are easily remembered and easily associated with a particular option. By entering these mnemonic codes on a command line, you can move through the system without entering the option number. Menu authorization also supports the use of fast path codes and command key fast paths that are discussed in more detail in the Fast Path And Mnemonic Codes section of this overview.

Three different levels of authority exist in the Menu Authorization utility: system security officer, menu security officers, and normal users. The system security officer is allowed to maintain authority to all menus and options in the system for both menu security officers and normal users. The system security officer is defined on Reference File category E16, System Security Officer. Primarily, the system security officer is responsible for maintaining authority for menu security officers while menu security officers may only maintain authority for normal users. Also, menu security officers may only maintain authority to menus and options for which they were already granted authority by the system security officer. Menu security officers are defined on Reference File category E15, Menu Security Officers.

Normal users are granted authority on the option level through the User Authority Maintenance Conversation by a security officer. A user may access only those options (either on menus or through fast path) to which the user is authorized on the Security Detail File. This multi-level division of control allows the system security officer to delegate security authorizations while retaining a necessary level of control in an easy to maintain, modularized fashion. See the figure below.

The Multi-Level Division of Control Offered by the Menu Authorization Module.

All users must also possess an initial menu assignment on the User/Menu Assignment File (MA150M). This menu is the first menu displayed when the user signs on to the system. If an initial menu is not defined for a user, the default menu on Reference File category E14 is displayed as the initial menu. Initial menus' assignments avoid the need for the user to travel through unneeded menus in order to reach his or her menu.

Menu

Menu Authorization

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