· The features of the A La Carte Menu and Security System.
· The authority required to perform basic ALC functions.
If you are already familiar with these topics, you may skip to chapter 4, Using ALC Menus.
The A La Carte Menu and Security System lets you manage access to all of your system objects and functions from a central place. You accomplish this by creating and maintaining ALC menus.
The menus you create with ALC provide users with a convenient way to navigate among the applications and functions that they are authorized to access, while also providing system administrators an effective, centralized method for managing overall AS/400 security.
ALC menus offer all the features you’d expect from a menu system, plus a whole lot more:
· Users accessing ALC menus only see the options they are authorized to access.
· Administrators can regulate access to menus and menu options at any of the following levels:
à User profile.
à Group profile, with support for multiple groups per user.
à *PUBLIC authority
à Authorization lists.
· ALC menus and menu options are true AS/400 objects, so authority to access them is enforced by the operating system. This makes ALC the most secure menu system available.
· ALC menus are simple to maintain. Any user with *CHANGE authority to a menu can use function keys to add, change, copy and delete menu options while viewing the menu itself. No need to learn a separate maintenance program.
· Menu options can be set to adopt the authority of another user profile. This powerful feature greatly simplifies AS/400 security administration, allowing you to exclude direct access to production objects, while providing users all the authority they need to perform authorized functions.
· Users can key menu options or system commands at the menu command line. Users with Limit capabilities specified in their user profile are not allowed to enter system commands.
· ALC menus look and work like OS/400 menus. You invoke ALC menus with the GO command. Menus can be nested indefinitely. F12 returns to the previous menu.
· Each ALC menu can have up to 999 menu options. If there are more options for the menu than can fit on one page of the display, a Position to field appears in the upper right, allowing you to quickly position to other pages of the menu. You can also use the roll/page keys to page back and forth through the available menu options.
· You can associate starting and ending options with any ALC menu. The starting option is executed when the menu is first displayed. The ending option is executed upon exiting the menu. These can be used to set up a unique run time environment for a menu.
· You can define up to 15 different function keys per menu to perform any desired task, such as presenting a list of the menus that the user is authorized to access, running a command or calling a program.
· ALC menus can be saved and restored, allowing you to easily distribute menus to other AS/400s individually.
· Create one, two and three column menus.
· Specify color and display attributes for each menu option.
· Hold and release menu options.
· Define global menu options that can be accessed from multiple menus.
· Change menus dynamically, even when they’re in use.
· Generate helpful reports showing:
à Menu option usage.
à The menus and options a given user is authorized to access.
à A detailed list of menu attributes and authorities.
· Interface to other system tools.
· Works with all OS/400 security levels.
· Specify menu level and option level help text for your menus using AS/400 panel groups.
ALC menus and menu options are system objects. The following table summarizes the authority required to perform basic functions:
|
Function |
Menu Authority |
Option Authority |
|
Display a menu |
*USE |
|
|
Run a menu option |
*USE |
*USE |
|
Change menu attributes |
*CHANGE |
|
|
Change authority for a menu |
*ALL |
|
|
Add, change, delete menu options |
*CHANGE |
|
|
Change authority for a menu options |
*CHANGE |
|
|
Copy a menu |
*CHANGE |
|
|
Copy a menu option |
*USE/*CHANGE 1 |
|
1. *Use authority is required to the source menu, and *CHANGE authority is required to the target menu.