Setting Up Change Control

This section provides an overview of Change Control security and discusses how to:

  • Appoint a Change Control administrator.

  • Enable or disable Change Control.

Using the Security component, you can assign users one of three Change Control access levels, depending on how much authority you want them to have. This table describes the available access levels:

Change Control Access Level

Description

Restricted access

Restricts users from locking or unlocking definitions. When Change Control locking is enabled, users with restricted access can open PeopleSoft Application Designer development definitions in read-only mode only. Users are also unable to view or update definition histories.

Developer access

Allows users to lock any unlocked definitions and to unlock any definitions that they have locked. They can then manipulate definitions as they are allowed to in their security profile. Users can also view and enter definition history comments.

Supervisor access

Allows users to unlock any locked definitions, regardless of who locked them. They can also access the Change Control Administrator dialog box, in which you lock and unlock all definitions at one time and enable and disable Change Control locking and history.

If Change Control locking is disabled, these access levels have no security value. If history is disabled, users with developer and supervisor access can still view the History dialog box, but users with restricted access cannot.

Remember that Change Control is based on user ID. If developers all share the same user ID, then Change Control offers no advantage in control because each developer can modify definitions that are locked by others.

Appoint Change Control administrators by giving certain users supervisor-level access to Change Control. When users have this access level, they can enable and disable Change Control.

See Setting PeopleTools Permissions.

To enable or disable Change Control:

  1. In PeopleSoft Application Designer, select Tools > Change Control > Administrator.

    The Change Control Administrator dialog box appears.

  2. Specify the System Wide Options and access control:

    Field or Control

    Definition
    Use change control locking

    Select to require that PeopleSoft Application Designer definitions be locked before they can be modified.

    Use change control history

    Select to enable PeopleSoft Application Designer developers to insert comments about open definitions.

    If both Use change control locking and Use change control history check boxes are selected, developers are prompted for comments when locking and unlocking definitions.

    Note: Because these are system-wide settings, if you change them all users must log off and on again for the changes to take effect.
    Lock all definitions

    Select or deselect to lock or unlock all definitions in the database. Usually, you lock all definitions only before a major upgrade, because it permanently removes all individual developer locks.