Case Level Permissions

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Each QPR ProcessAnalyzer model has a Configuration field containing model related settings in a JSON format. Those settings are documented in this page. When the model JSON configuration is changed, the model is dropped from the memory.

Model Datasources

Settings

The DataSource section is used to define where the QPR ProcessAnalyzer model data is loaded. See below examples, how to construct the full JSON.

Property Description
Cases
Property Description
DataSourceType Datasource type to use, when fetching the Cases data. Currently the only supported value is odbc.
OdbcConnectionString ODBC connection string to use to fetch the Cases data. Connection strings can be found in https://www.connectionstrings.com.
OdbcQuery ODBC query to use to fetch the Cases data. Query syntax depends on the source system where the data is fetched.
Columns Column name mappings for QPR ProcessAnalyzer data model. Only supported mapping is CaseId defining the case id (case name). Example: 
{ 
  "CaseId": "SalesOrderHeaderId"
}

All unmapped columns are taken to the model as case attributes. If the fetched data doesn't contain a mapped column, the model loading fails and an error message is given.

Events
Property Description
DataSourceType Datasource type to use, when fetching the Events data. Currently the only supported value is odbc.
OdbcConnectionString ODBC connection string to use to fetch the Events data. Connection strings can be found in https://www.connectionstrings.com.
OdbcQuery ODBC query to use to fetch the Events data. Query syntax depends on the source system where the data is fetched.
Columns

Column name mappings for QPR ProcessAnalyzer data model. Supported mappings for Events are CaseId, EventType and Timestamp. Example: 

{ 
  "CaseId": "SalesOrderHeaderId",
  "EventType": "EventType",
  "Timestamp": "CreatedDate"
}

All unmapped columns are taken to the model as event attributes. If the fetched data doesn't contain a mapped column, the model loading fails and an error message is given.

Example: Loading QPR ProcessAnalyzer models from ODBC datasources

ODBC Driver Installation

Microsoft Access Database Engine 2016 Redistributable is software package that contains ODBC drivers for

  • Microsoft SQL Server
  • Microsoft Access (*.mdb and *.accdb) files
  • Microsoft Excel (*.xls, *.xlsx, and *.xlsb) files
  • CSV text files

The package needs to be installed in the same computer where the QPR ProcessAnalyzer Server is running. Installation instructions:

  1. Go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=54920 and click Download.
  2. Select whether to use the 32bit or 64bit (x64) version (usually it's the 64bit version).
  3. Double-click the executable file on your hard disk to start the setup program.
  4. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation.

Read data from CSV file

In this example, data is loaded from CSV files located in the file system using Microsoft Access Text Driver (*.txt, *.csv) driver. Loaded files are C:\ProcessMiningData\ModelCaseAttributes.csv and C:\ProcessMiningData\ModelEventData.csv. 

{
  "DataSource": {
    "Cases": {    
      "DataSourceType": "odbc",
      "OdbcConnectionString": "Driver={Microsoft Access Text Driver (*.txt, *.csv)};DefaultDir=C:\\ProcessMiningData\\;Extensions=asc,csv,tab,txt",
      "OdbcQuery": "SELECT * FROM [ModelCaseAttributes.csv]",
      "Columns": { 
        "CaseId": "Name"
      }
    },
    "Events": {
      "DataSourceType": "odbc",
      "OdbcConnectionString": "Driver={Microsoft Access Text Driver (*.txt, *.csv)};DefaultDir=C:\\ProcessMiningData\\;Extensions=asc,csv,tab,txt",
      "OdbcQuery": "SELECT * FROM [ModelEventData.csv]",
      "Columns": { 
        "CaseId": "Case",
        "EventType": "Event Type",
        "Timestamp": "Start Time"
      }
    }
  }
}

When reading from CSV files, you may need to set the CSV file format for the ODBC driver using the Schema.ini file (more information: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/odbc/microsoft/schema-ini-file-text-file-driver?view=sql-server-2017).

Read data from Excel file

In this example, data is loaded from a Excel file that is accessible in the file system. In this example, the loaded file is C:\ProcessMiningData\ModelData.xlsx and cases are in sheet MyCases and events in sheet MyEvents. 

{
  "DataSource": {
    "Cases": {
      "DataSourceType": "odbc",
      "OdbcConnectionString": "Driver={Microsoft Excel Driver (*.xls, *.xlsx, *.xlsm, *.xlsb)};DBQ=C:\\ProcessMiningData\\ModelData.xlsx",
      "OdbcQuery": "SELECT * FROM [MyCases$]",
      "Columns": {
        "CaseId": "Case ID"
      }
    },
    "Events": {
      "DataSourceType": "odbc",
      "OdbcConnectionString": "Driver={Microsoft Excel Driver (*.xls, *.xlsx, *.xlsm, *.xlsb)};DBQ=C:\\ProcessMiningData\\ModelData.xlsx",
      "OdbcQuery": "SELECT * FROM [MyEvents$]",
      "Columns": {
        "CaseId": "Case ID",
        "EventType": "Activity",
        "Timestamp": "Start Time"
      }
    }
  }
}

Read data from SQL Server table

In this example, data is loaded from an SQL Server table. In this example, the SQL Server hostname is MySQLServer and database name is MyDatabase. 

{
  "DataSource": {
    "Cases": {
    "DataSourceType": "odbc",
    "OdbcConnectionString": "Driver={SQL Server};Server=MySQLServer;DataBase=MyDatabase;Trusted_Connection=True;",
    "OdbcQuery": "SELECT CASENAME, COST, COUNTRY, PRODUCT FROM CASES_TABLE",
    "Columns": { 
      "CaseId": "CASENAME"
    }
    },
    "Events": {
      "DataSourceType": "odbc",
      "OdbcConnectionString": "Driver={SQL Server};Server=MySQLServer;DataBase=MyDatabase;Trusted_Connection=True;",
      "OdbcQuery": "SELECT CASENAME, CREATED_DATE, CREATED_BY FROM EVENT_TABLE",
      "Columns": { 
        "CaseId": "CASENAME",
        "Timestamp": "CREATED_DATE",
        "EventType": "CREATED_BY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Troubleshooting

Most common reason for error 'System.Data.Odbc.OdbcException (0x80131937): ERROR [IM002] [Microsoft][ODBC Driver Manager] Data source name not found and no default driver specified' is driver is missing or driver name is not exactly correct.

  • Check ODBC drivers is installed. 64-bit machine: C:\Windows\System32\odbcad32.exe
  • Check connection string. Example 32-bit driver name 'Driver={Microsoft Text Driver (*.txt; *.csv)}' and 64-bit driver name 'Driver={Microsoft Access Text Driver (*.txt, *.csv)}'.

Example error when specified directory is missing: 'ERROR [HY024] [Microsoft][ODBC Text Driver] '(unknown)' is not a valid path. Make sure that the path name is spelled correctly and that you are connected to the server on which the file resides.'

Example error when CSV file is missing: 'System.Data.Odbc.OdbcException (0x80131937): ERROR [42S02] [Microsoft][ODBC Text Driver] The Microsoft Access database engine could not find the object 'CaseAttributes.csv'. Make sure the object exists and that you spell its name and the path name correctly. If 'CaseAttributes.csv' is not a local object, check your network connection or contact the server administrator.'


Error codes for troubleshooting are accessible from ODBC Error Codes.

If the error message mention about Case or Event attributes named as F<column number> (e.g. F10), the data might be inconsistent, as there might be different amount of columns in different rows.

Application pool crash

Model Automatic Loading on Server Startup

QPR ProcessAnalyzer models can be set to be loaded automatically, when QPR ProcessAnalyzer starts. The setting is useful, when the model loading takes long time, so it's done automatically beforehand. In the model JSON settings, when the LoadOnStartup property is set to true, the model is loaded automatically during QPR ProcessAnalyzer server startup. The JSON configuration (that only contains that setting) is as follows: 

{
  "LoadOnStartup": true
}

Note that this setting to work, IIS configurations related to QPR ProcessAnalyzer Server installation needs to be in place.

Case Permissions

Settings

The Permissions section specifies data security restrictions for objects within the QPR ProcessAnalyzer model (i.e. limit visibility). If the Permissions section hasn't been defined, all the model data is visible to all users having GenericRead permission for the project in which the model resides (more information about roles and permissions). Permissions defined in this section, are only available when using the In-Memory core.

Property Description
Initialization Expression language expression used to make an initial calculation for all the other expressions within this same permissions context. This expression can be used to improve performance when part of the Case or EventLogKey expressions are common and thus they don't need to be calculated again for every Case separately. See the examples below of using the Initialization expression.
Case Expression language expression determining which users can see each Cases. The expression is evaluated within the context of each Case. If the evaluation results true, the Case is visible for the user. Otherwise the Case, its Events and case and event attributes are not visible. This setting implements case level security restrictions.
EventLogKey Expression language expression used to uniquely identify all the unique event logs created by case permission filters. If a cached EventLog with the same key is already in the system, that EventLog is used instead of creating a new. The new EventLog is created by applying the Case expression to filter the Cases users have rights to.

Example usecase for case permissions

Case permissions can be implemented with the principle illustrated in the following image. Users belong to groups in the user management, and cases have certain case attribute values which is part of the process mining data. Additionally, the llinkage between case attribute values (of a certain case attribute) is needs to be defined when this security feature is configured.

CasePermissions.png

There are groups G1, G2 and G3. Case permissions have been set as follows:

  • group G1 can only see cases where (case attribute) Region is Dallas
  • group G2 can only see cases where Region is Austin
  • group G3 can only see cases where Region is either Austin or New York

QPR ProcessAnalyzer model contains the following cases:

Case name Region (case attribute) Groups can see
A Dallas G1
B Dallas G1
C Austin G2, G3
D New York G3
E New York G3
F New York G3

Thus, when viewing analyses, a user see that the model contains the following cases:

  • If the user belongs to group G1 only, the user can see cases A and B (2 cases)
  • If the user belongs to group G2 only, the user can see case C (1 case)
  • If the user belongs to group G3 only, the user can see cases C, D, E and F (4 cases)
  • If the user belongs to groups G1 and G2 only, the user can see cases A, B and C (3 cases)

There is no way for a user to be aware of the existence of cases that the user doesn't have rights to.

Configuration examples for case permissions

In this example, visibility of cases is limited in a way that only those users can see the cases belonging to a user group which name is same as the Region (case attribute). 

{
  "Permissions": {
    "Initialization": "Let(\"groupNames\", OrderByValue(CurrentUser.GroupNames))", 
    "Case": "Region.In(groupNames)",
    "EventLogKey": "StringJoin(\"_\", groupNames)"
  }
}

In this example, cases are only visible for users whose user name is same as the Account Manager (case attribute). 

{
  "Permissions": {
    "Initialization": "Let(\"userName\", CurrentUser.Name)", 
    "Case": "(Attribute(\"Account Manager\") == userName)",
    "EventLogKey": "CurrentUser.Id"
  }
}

In this example, cases having "Region" case attribute of "Dallas" will only be visible for users belonging to user group "GroupA" (and "New York" for group "GroupB"). 

{
  "Permissions": {
    "Initialization": "Let(\"groupNames\", CurrentUser.GroupNames)", 
    "Case": "(Region == \"Dallas\" && \"GroupA\".In(groupNames)) || (Region == \"New York\" && \"GroupB\".In(groupNames))",
    "EventLogKey": "If(\"GroupA\".In(groupNames), \"_A\", \"_\") + If(\"GroupB\".In(groupNames), \"_B\", \"_\")"
  }
}
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