Authorization areas can protect sub trees of your solution structure. An administrator can assign an authorization area to a structure element. Then only users that have an authorization for authorization object Solution Documentation (SM_SDOC) with this authorization area name in the field Authorization Area (SMUDAREA) for this authorization area are allowed to perform activities for this structure element and its subelements.

Authorization areas are defined solution-specific. An authorization area has a 30 character long technical name and a description. The default authorization area does not need to be defined. The Solution Documentation root element and all elements without assignment have the implicit authorization area assignment Default by definition.

When no authorization areas have been assigned to the elements of a solution yet, every element has authorization area Default. The assignment of a structure element to an authorization area is valid for all branches of a solution in which the assigned elements exists. The authorization area explicitly assigned to a structure element is valid for the whole subtree rooted by the element excluding all nested subtrees rooted by elements with own authorization area assignments. Non-structure elements always inherit the authorization area from their structure parents. The authorization area determination is branch-specific as the inheritance hierarchy is branch specific: if an element is moved, it may inherit a new authorization area from the new parent, so in this case the authorization area of an element may differ in different branches.