Perhaps an XML file might do this trick?

[Stephajn Craig]

I've got an application that many supervisors are going to use. However,
each one needs to see a different part of the information. Some supervisors
will all have the same view of the information with the same fields showing.
Others have variations on those fields to see.

The idea is that when an error is made in a certain business process, a log
entry of it would be made. The department responsible would have its
supervisor notified by e-mail. So, in our database, we have a list of all
the departments, but no easy association from the Department to its
supervisor. (Perhaps that's something I'll need to work on)

Anyways, what I want to do is to store an XML file of the department ID's
and the ID of the supervisor to send an e-mail to. Not only that, but I'd
like to use an XML file to control which fields a person needs to see. But
I'm no XML guru by any means. With only 2.5 days to do this, I'm open to
suggestions on how to best implement these requirements.

 

[Stephajn Craig]

This is a start....

The information I'm "protecting" and at the same time showing is coming out
of a database. The output is a datagrid bound to a datatable. The thought
occurs to me to pass the datatable through an XML transformation (perhaps
using an XSD file?) for whatever user is currently looking at it. And, to
use another XML file for determining the type of transformation to take
place. This way, no changes would have to be made to the underlying code of
the application, but rather to an XML file.

But while I may have a bit of theoretical design in mind,
1. I don't know if it's correct.
2. I don't have any idea how to implement this theory if I AM right.


--
Stephajn Craig

I'm just learning XML myself. Concerning the information you're trying to
protect, is it an XML file too? If so, you can use namespace prefixes
throughout that XML document. Each prefix would represent the kind of role
a person requires to view that particular information. From there, you can
use whatever method you'd like (such as XML transforms?) to get only those
fields a particular person is allowed to view. I know this might be vague,
but maybe someone can elaborate further.
Marty