AX : XDS Extensible Data Security frame work

In this Blog post we will learn about Extensible Data Security frame work and how to implement security using XDS in ax 2012

What is XDS :

Extensible Data Security (XDS) is a framework in MicrosoftDynamics AX that allows developers and system administrators to deny access to subsets of data and only share a subset of data with appropriate users. XDS replaces the Record level security framework in previous MicrosoftDynamics.

XDS Artifacts

•       Query

•       Primary Table

•       Constrained Table

•       Policy

•       Context

Primary table: This is the main table in the query on which the policy is imposed. In our case, cust table is the primary table where we have to define the said range.

Constraint table: These tables have foreign key relation on the primary table and their contents will be secured based on range defined in primary table.  In our case, it will be Sales table where the customer display will be limited to the values defined in primary table.

•       Policy query: Every XDS policy has a query where the constraints (ranges) are defined. You can nest multiple data sources in the query.

Policy Context: Context type in the policy. It can be one of the following – Role Property/ Role Name/Context string.

Context String: You specify a value here and this will be matched with the Context string property defined for a role.

Role Name: This specifies the role for which the policy is applied.

Role property: This is used in combination with ContextString to specify multiple roles context.

Scenario:

Lets take a scenario in which we need to restrict user that it can only view the specific customer group sales Order. Let say cust group 20.

To implement the scenario follow the following steps

Step 1 : Create Query:

First thing first, Create AOT Query  with CustTable as a datasource of our Query as Shown in Figure (a)

 Figure (a)

Step 2 : Create Role

Create Role from AOT > Security > Roles, Specify the Label and description of created Role as shown in below image

Step 3 :  Create Policy

Now create policy and specify all the relevant properties as shown in figure (c). note:  do not leave any essential property blank here as these are very crucial in implementing XDS

Essential Properties of Policy are:

i)                    Primary Table  : in Our scenario its custTable

ii)                   Constrained Table : Select it as Yes or Leave it No according to your Requirement

iii)                 Context Type : select RoleName here

iv)                 RoleName : Select Role created in Step 2

Step 4 : Assign XDS Role to User

Assign XDS Role Created in step 2 to any user in which you need to test XDS. Refer to the below image 

Step 5 : Execution

When Login through a user which we have assigned our created XDS Role you will get the only customer record having custgroup = 20 as shown in below image