How Function Security Works
Developers Register Functions
- Developers can require parts of their Oracle Forms code to look up a unique function name, and then take some action based on whether the function is available in the current responsibility.
- Developers register functions. They can also register parameters that pass values to a function. For example, a form may support data entry only when a function parameter is passed to it.
Warning: In general, System Administrators should not modify parameters passed to functions that are predefined as part of the Oracle Applications products. The few cases where function parameters may be modified by a System Administrator are documented in the relevant technical reference manual or product update notes.
- Typically, developers define a menu including all the functions available in an application (i.e., all the forms and their securable subfunctions). For some applications, developers may define additional menus that restrict the application's functionality by omitting specific forms and subfunctions.
- When developers define menus of functions, they typically group the subfunctions of a form on a subfunction menu they associate with the form.
System Administrators Exclude Functions
- Each Oracle Applications product is delivered with one or more predefined menu hierarchies. System Administrators can assign a predefined menu hierarchy to a responsibility. To tailor a responsibility, System Administrators exclude functions or menus of functions from that responsibility using exclusion rules.
- If a System Administrators cannot create the desired menu by applying exclusion rules to a predefined menu, they can define a new menu hierarchy. In this case, we recommend that they construct their menu hierarchy using forms and their associated menus of subfunctions. In other words, System Administrators should leave the developer-defined associations between forms and their menus in tact.
Available Functions Depend on the Current Responsibility
- When a user first selects or changes their responsibility, a list of functions obtained from the responsibility's menu structure is cached in memory.
- Functions a System Administrator has excluded from the current responsibility are marked as unavailable.
- Form functions in the function hierarchy (i.e., menu hierarchy) are displayed in the Navigate window. Available subfunctions are accessed by working with the application's forms.
Visibility of Excluded Functions
Some subfunctions are associa ted with a graphical element, for example, a button, and their exclusion may result in:
- the dimming of the button
- the absence of the button.
Other subfunctions may not correspond to a graphical element, and their exclusion may not be obvious to an end user.
See Also
Overview of Function Security
Forms and Subfunctions
Overview of Oracle Applications Security
Form Functions
