Utilities Support for New Security Models

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Some utilities included with Pervasive.SQL have been modified so that they can assist you in migrating to the new security features.

Defining Btrieve Databases and Security Policies

In the graphical user interfaces (GUIs) that support creation and maintenance of databases, a new Security Policy combination box has been added to allow you to specify the Btrieve security model the database engine should enforce for each database.

In addition, the Data File Locations text box now supports an additional purpose. For each folder pathname listed in the text box, the database engine assumes that the contents of the folder are associated with the given named database. Any user attempting to open or create a file in one of the specified directories will be authenticated against the specified database.

Create Database Wizard

The Create Database Wizard itself is not updated for this release. However, it is important to understand how to define security when creating new databases. You need to click Advanced settings in order to specify the Mixed or Database security models using the Maintain Named Databases dialog.

Maintain Named Databases Dialog

As mentioned earlier, this dialog controls both the security policy for your databases as well as the set of locations that define your Btrieve database.

Linux dbmaint Utility

The dbmaint utility in Linux allows you to define the security policy with the new -s switch. See Pervasive.SQL User's Guide for more information about dbmaint utility.

 
Figure 1-1 Maintain Named Databases Dialog - Added Security Selection

To display this dialog, right-click on the Configuration node in PCC and select Maintain Named Databases.

Defining Permissions for Databases

When setting up users and user permissions for Btrieve databases for the first time, or when extending your previous SQL security model, you use the improved Users and Groups security dialog box.

This dialog box is available through PCC when you click the Permissions tab on a user or group as shown in the following figure:

 
Figure 1-2 Users Permissions Dialog

See Users and Groups Permissions Dialogs for information on using this new utility functionality.

Using the Btrieve Login API and Specifying Credentials

The following utilities have been updated to use the Login API, or to pass user name and password when they did not possess this ability previously.

Function Executor

Function Executor now allows you to perform Btrieve Login operation using a graphical interface. You can also perform the login operation using the operations list.

BUTIL

The Btrieve Maintenance command-line utility (BUTIL) now allows you to specify user name, password, and database for the purpose of logging into a database.

You can also specify credentials using these Linux utilities:

• dsnadd
• dbmaint
• odbctest

Other Utility Changes

Besides utility changes that are designed to support the new security features, there are other utility improvements for this release. For example:

• Redesigned Rebuild utility in Windows
• Command-line Rebuild utilities for all platforms
• New "In Memory"option for PSA View Module

See Utility Updates for Security to read about these other changes.