Creating, Modifying and Copying Roles 

Creating a New Role

To create a new role proceed as follows:

  1. In the edit area, select the object you want to create (in this case Role) and choose Create.
  2. Give the object a title and a technical name. You can also enter a description if you like. The technical name should be given the same prefix as you gave to your own objects. You define the prefix when you configure the PCD. Read also Maintaining Parameters for the PCD.
  3. Choose next.
  4. Enter the original language for the role. Read also Translation of Roles, Worksets and External Services.
  5. Choose next.
  6. Check your entries and choose finish.

    7. Your role is created and is displayed in the edit area. At the right you see the properties of the role (such as title and original language).

  7. Create your role by:
        1. Creating new folders in the role (using New Folder) and defining a title under Properties.
        2. Defining the entry points for top-level navigation. The entry points are defined for folders on the first level of a role. Read the detailed information under Defining Top-Level Navigation and Entry Points.
        3. Defining the priority for the entry points. Read also Checking the Order of the Entry Points.
        4. Adding worksets
        5. Adding pages
        6. Adding master iViews
        7. Adding external services

    Read also What should you look out for during role maintenance? and Adding Content Objects to Roles.

  8. Save your role.

You now see the new role object in the window of the view area.

The role does not appear in the view area until it has been saved.

If you created a role and do not want any one else to use or change it, you can define a warning for this role. In this case select Role is generated in the role properties. If you set this flag and another Role Editor user tries to change your role, a warning is displayed when the role is loaded into the edit area.

The roles and worksets delivered by SAP Portals also contain this warning to prevent them from being overwritten.

Modifying an Existing Role Centrally

You can also move an existing role to the edit area for modification.

Do not carry out this procedure for roles that belong to the SAP Portals' namespace.

To change roles centrally, proceed as follows:

  1. Select a role in the role catalog in the view area and click on the object.
  2. Choose Edit (this changes the original).
  3. The object to be edited is moved from the view area to the edit area of the Role Editor. You can edit the object by adding new entries or removing existing ones.

    4. Note that you only see the changes to the edited object in the view area when the role has been saved.

  4. Save your role.

If a warning is displayed when you move a role to the edit area for modification, the person who created this role has protected it against changes. In this case you should not edit the role.

Modifying Roles Delivered by SAP Portals

As the above section explains, you should never modify roles delivered by SAP Portals (for example, Portal administrator/Knowledge Management administrator roles).

If you make a central modification to these roles and then update the roles in the Portal, all the changes you have made are lost.

Instead, proceed as follows:

  1. Create you own role in your own namespace.
  2. Link the roles delivered by SAP Portals (for example, com.sapportals.km.km_admin) into your own role. You can now modify content delivered by SAP Portals within your own roles (for example, by adding an iView).

If you make changes in this way (that is, changing roles in the SAP Portals' namespace only within your own roles), this does not cause any modification to the com.sapportals.km.km_admin role originally delivered by SAP Portals. You are simply making a local change that only has an effect within your own role. The com.sapportals.km.km_admin role is not affected.

When SAP Portals delivers an update of the com.sapportals.km.km_admin role and you implement the update in the Portal, the following things happen:

Copying a Role

You can copy an existing role and then edit the copied version. Proceed as follows:

  1. Select a role in the role catalog in the view area and click on the object.
  2. Choose Create Copy (this creates a copy of the original role).

    3. You now see the copied role with the suffix "CP" after the name in the role catalog below the original role.

  3. Move the copied object to the edit area with Edit.
  4. Edit the copied role by:
  1. Save your role. The role appears in the view area under its new name in the role catalog.