This topic applies only to the IBM Business Automation Workflow Advanced configuration.

Authorization options for the query table API

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This topic only applies to BAW, and is located in the BAW repository. Last updated on 2025-03-13 12:15
When you run a query on a query table in Business Process Choreographer, authorization options can be passed as input parameters to the methods of the query table API.

Use an instance of the com.ibm.bpe.api.AuthorizationOptions class or the com.ibm.bpe.api.AdminAuthorizationOptions class if the Business Flow Manager EJB is used, or an instance of the com.ibm.task.api.AuthorizationOptions class or the com.ibm.task.api.AdminAuthorizationOptions class if the Human Task Manager EJB is used, to specify additional authorization options when the query is run.

If instance-based authorization is used, instances of the AuthorizationOptions class allow the specification of the type of work items used to identify eligible instances that are returned by the query.

An instance of the AuthorizationOptions class can be passed to the query table API if the query is run on a predefined query table that contains instance data. It can also be passed if the query is run on a composite query table with a primary query table that contains instance data and instance-based authorization is configured to be used. If the query is run on a predefined query table with template data or a composite query table with role-based authorization configured, an com.ibm.bpe.api.EngineNotAuthorizedException exception is thrown if the Business Flow Manager EJB is used or com.ibm.task.api.NotAuthorizedException is thrown if the Human Task Manager EJB is used. In all other cases, the authorization options passed to the query table API are ignored.

Composite query tables can restrict the types of work items that are considered when identifying objects (or entities) that are contained in it. For example, if the authorization options that are passed to the query table API are configured to use everybody work items, this is only taken into account if everybody work items are defined for use on the definition of the composite query table. As a simple rule, a work item type that is not specified to be considered on the query table definition cannot be overwritten to be considered by the query table API, but a work item type that is specified to be considered on the query table definition can be overwritten not to be used. Also, the authorization type of a composite or predefined query table cannot be overwritten by the query table API.

Depending on the type of query table that is queried, different authorization option defaults apply if the authorization object is not specified or if the related attributes (everybody, individual, group, or inherited) are set to null, which is the default.

The following table shows the authorization option defaults for the instance-based authorization for the query table type and work item type used.

Table 1. Query table API parameters: Authorization option defaults for the instance-based authorization
Query table type Everybody work item Individual work item Group work item Inherited work item
Predefined with instance data TRUE TRUE TRUE FALSE
Predefined with template data N/A N/A N/A N/A
Composite with a primary query table with instance data TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE
Composite with a primary query table with template data N/A N/A N/A N/A
Supplemental N/A N/A N/A N/A

N/A means that instance-based authorization is not used and, therefore, any setting on the authorization object with respect to work items is ignored.

If TRUE is specified, the resulting query will only consider the specific work item type if the query table is defined to use this type of work item. This is true for all predefined query tables with instance data, but might not be true for a composite query table. For the group work item, the latter must also be enabled on the human task container. An example of the inherited work item set to TRUE is that the administrator of a process instance may see participating human task instances that are created for that process instance.

Specify an instance of the AdminAuthorizationOptions class instead of an instance of the AuthorizationOptions class if:
  • A query is run on a query table with role-based authorization. Predefined query tables with template data require role-based authorization, and composite query tables with a primary query table with template data can be configured to require role-based authorization.
  • A query is run on a query table with instance data or on a composite query table with a primary query table that contains instance data. It should return the content of that query table, regardless of restrictions due to authorization for a particular user. This behavior is equivalent to using the queryAll method on the query API (as distinct from the query table API).
  • A query should be executed on behalf of another user.
The following table describes how the various behaviors are accomplished:
Table 2. Query table API parameters: AdminAuthorizationOptions
Situation Description
onBehalfUser set to null
  • If the query is run on a query table with role-based authorization, all contents of that query table are returned.
  • If the query is run on a query table which uses instance-based authorization, the particular objects contained in the query table are not checked for work items for a particular user. All objects that are contained in the query table are returned.
onBehalfUser set to a particular user The query is run with the authority of the specified user, and the objects in the query table are checked against the work items for this user, if instance-based authorization is used.

If you specify AdminAuthorizationOptions, the caller must be in the BPESystemAdministrator or BPESystemMonitor Java™ EE role if the Business Flow Manager EJB is used, or in the TaskSystemAdministrator or TaskSystemMonitor Java EE role if the Human Task Manager EJB is used.

If the predefined query table or primary query table in a composite query table is WORK_BASKET or WORK_BASKET_LDESC, the WorkBasketSystemAdministrator can also use the AdminAuthorizationOptions for the Human Task Manager EJB. Similarly, If the predefined query table or primary query table in a composite query table is BUSINESS_CATEGORY or BUSINESS_CATEGORY, the BusinessCategorySystemAdministrator can also use the AdminAuthorizationOptions for the Human Task Manager EJB.