Format for security label values

Sometimes the values in a security label are represented in the form of a character string, for example when using the built-in function SECLABEL.

When the values in a security label are represented as a string, they are in the following format:
  • The values of the components are listed from left to right in the same order that the components are listed in the CREATE SECURITY POLICY statement for the security policy
  • An element is represented by the name of that element
  • Elements for different components are separated by a colon (:)
  • If more than one element are given for the same component the elements are enclosed in parentheses (()) and are separated by a comma (,)
  • Empty values are represented by a set of empty parentheses (())
Example: A security label is part of a security policy that has these three components in this order: Level, Department, and Projects. The security label has these values:
Table 1. Example values for a security label
Component Values
Level Secret
Department Empty value
Projects
  • Epsilon 37
  • Megaphone
  • Cloverleaf
This security label values look like this as a string: 
'Secret:():(Epsilon 37,Megaphone,Cloverleaf)'