Idents

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An ident in a Mimer SQL system is an authorized user of the system, or the collective identity of a group of users sharing common privileges.

There are four types of idents: USER, OS_USER, PROGRAM and GROUP idents.

USER Idents

USER idents are authorized to connect to a Mimer SQL database, by using the CONNECT statement in an application program or by entering the correct ident name and password in an interactive environment.

Any privileges a user ident holds may be exercised once the ident has logged on. USER idents are generally associated with specific physical individuals authorized to connect to the database.

OS_USER Idents

OS_USER is an ident type which allows the user currently logged in to the operating system to connect to a Mimer SQL database without providing a username or password.

If an OS_USER ident is defined with a password in Mimer SQL, the ident may connect to Mimer SQL in the same way as any other user ident (i.e. by providing a user name and password). An OS_USER ident is subject to the same access restrictions as any other USER ident.

PROGRAM Idents

PROGRAM idents may not initiate a connection to a Mimer SQL database, but may be entered from within an application program or interactive environment by using the ENTER statement.

A connection to the database should have been established before the ENTER statement is used. The ident using the ENTER statement must hold EXECUTE privilege on the PROGRAM ident.

Entering a PROGRAM ident is analogous to logging on as a USER ident, in that the PROGRAM ident gains access to the system and any privileges the ident holds become applicable.

PROGRAM idents are generally associated with specific functions within the system, not with physical individuals.

GROUP Idents

GROUP idents are collective identities for groups of USER or PROGRAM idents.

Any privileges granted to or revoked from a GROUP ident automatically apply to all members of the group.

Any ident can be a member of as many groups as required, and one group can include any number of members.

GROUP idents provide a facility for organizing the privilege structure in the database system. For examples showing the use of a GROUP ident, see the Mimer SQL User's Manual.

Idents - Access and Authority

USER, OS_USER and PROGRAM idents are authorized users of the system.

Every USER and PROGRAM ident has a unique ident name and a private password which must be correctly supplied to the CONNECT or ENTER statement in application programs.

An OS_USER may access the database without explicitly providing a username or password on condition that the username for the user currently logged in to the operating system correspond to the definition of an OS_USER in the Mimer SQL database.

When Mimer SQL is installed, the user ident SYSADM, used for database administration, is automatically created. The password for SYSADM is defined when the system is installed, see SDBGEN - Generating the System Databanks.

All idents in the system belong to a group which is specified by using the keyword PUBLIC in Mimer SQL statements. Privileges granted to PUBLIC are global to the system.

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