Document access rights

Documents have the following security characteristics:

See also the Documents section of Help for Content Engine Administration. For security information about compound documents, see Compound document security. and About compound documents in Help for Content Engine Administration.

Access rights defined

Full Control Minor Versioning Major Versioning Modify Properties View Properties Publish View Content
All access rights listed in the columns to the right and:
  • Modify security
  • Change owner
  • Delete the document
  • Check out a document
  • Check in a minor version
  • Cancel a checkout
  • Change state (promote and demote)
  • Check out a document
  • Check in a major version
  • Cancel a checkout
  • Modify property values
  • View properties and security
  • Publish the document
  • View content

NOTE  The Unlink document access right is not included in any of Enterprise Manager's predefined levels. It can be assigned directly.

Initial security acquired from the document class

A document acquires its initial default security from its document class and, if the application's site preference allows it, the application user can modify the security. By default, the user who creates a document gets Full Control (also called Owner Control).

Modifying document class security has no effect on the security of existing documents.

Content element security

The document's content elements are not independently securable but can only be accessed through their document version. In effect, a document's content has the same security as the document. In Enterprise Manager, a document's security information appears on the Security page of its property sheet. In Workplace or Workplace XT, a user can display a document's Info page to view security information and to assign a security policy.

Browsing vs. searching

To navigate to a document by browsing, a user must have access to all folders and subfolders in the path to the document. By contrast, a search template checks only the document's security even if the search specifies a folder. This means that searches might allow a user to find documents that could not be found through browsing.