Assign User Security

The VA module allows administrators to set up different types of security for areas including data, forms, reports, attachment types, inquiries, and work centers.

You must assign security permissions for all users before giving them access to the system. It is recommended that you assign security to groups of users, then customize security settings for individual users if their group settings are too restrictive.
Important: Consider which individuals have access to the security forms. If you restrict access to specific forms, but do not also restrict access to the security forms, then any user can change the security setup for themselves.
Set up users with different types of security depending on their role and access needs:

  • Data: Use this security to prevent unauthorized users from viewing or posting information to system fields, or from accessing sensitive information through other sources.

  • Form: Use this security to prevent users from accessing forms or specific form tabs.

  • Report: Use this security to define which reports are available to users.

  • Attachment Type: Use this security to define what types of attachments users can access.

  • Inquiry: Use this security to define what queries users can access on the dashboard Work Center on the main menu.

  • Work Center: Use this security to define the Work Center templates that users can access.

  • Security Administration: Use this security to restrict users who have security form access to administering only some company / module combinations in VA Form Security and VA Report Security. This feature is optional and should be used only if you want some users to administer security for selected company / module combinations.

Create Security Groups
Security groups provide a way of administering permissions over a group of users rather than by individual user. When creating security groups, you assign a specific group type. Group types include the following:
  • 0 - Data
  • 1 - Program
  • 2 - Reports
  • 3 - Attachment Types
Because security groups are associated with a single group / security type, most users will belong to at least four security groups (one for each group type). For larger and more complex operations, users may belong to more groups.
  1. Create Security Groups on the VA Security Groups form.
  2. Add users to the security group using either the VA Security Groups or VA User Profile form.
Define Group Permissions
Once you create a group, you can set specific permissions for that group's ability to access the application or administer security. All users added to the group will have the same security settings. Set these group permissions using the security form that corresponds to the assigned group or security type.
Note: Before setting data security permissions in VA Data Security Access, use VA Data Security Setup to secure specific datatypes and tables.
  1. Use the appropriate security form to assign specific types of security permissions to different groups.

    Security forms include: VA Data Security Setup, VA Form Security, VA Report Security, VA Attachment Type Security, VA Inquiry Security, VA Work Center Security

    For more details about specific permissions and access provided by each security form, see the descriptions in the article Initialize Security Access Form.

Define User-Specific Permissions
While security groups specify generalized security permissions, some user accounts require specific permission settings that no one group provides. See User Permission Levels for more information.
Note: You can assign data-level security only to groups and not to individual users.
  1. Use VA Form Security to grant individual users access to security forms so they can administer security for other users.
  2. Use security forms to grant individual users permissions to access various areas of the application.

    Security forms include: VA Form Security, VA Report Security, VA Attachment Type Security, VA Inquiry Security, VA Work Center Security, VA Data Security Setup

    The user-level security settings in these forms interact with group-level security settings. For more information, see Interaction Between Group and User Level Security Settings.

  3. To restrict a specific user's ability to grant security permissions to only certain company / module combinations, Master Security Administrators can hide the unwanted modules from those users in VA Form Security.
  4. Grant a user full form, report, attachment type, inquiry, and work center security, as well as membership in payroll and datatype security groups, for all companies.
    1. In VA User Profile, select the user.
    2. On the Grant tab, select Grant Full Access.

    For more detailed information, see Grant Full Application Access and DBO Security Permissions.


  5. Grant full database ownership to a user.
    1. In VA User Profile, select the user.
    2. On the Grant tab, select Grant DBO.
      Note: This button is available only if you have elevated SQL permissions to grant database ownership (DBO) privileges.

    For more detailed information, see Grant Full Application Access and DBO Security Permissions.