Access rights in multi-user mode

You can use privileges to control access rights. The person who has created the model, or anyone from the same organization, can control access rights to the model using privileges. In practice, the privileges of the model are controlled via the privileges.inp file.

By modifying the privileges.inp file, you can control:

access to modify user-defined attributes.
access to modify object properties. This is done by locking and unlocking objects.
access to modify numbering settings.
access to remove users on multi-user server.
access to save standard files.

You can prevent your model and drawings being accidentally modified by using the Locked user-defined attribute (UDA) or drawing locks, or locks in Phase manager. Using the Locked UDA and privileges together you can even restrict some users or organizations from modifying your model.

For example, you can limit access to the model so that a checker can only change status attributes. Or you could prevent certain users from changing the user-defined attributes used for approval or manufacturing and erection status.

The privileges.inp file is also used in Tekla Model Sharing to control which users are allowed to modify the user-defined attributes or numbering settings of a shared model and save standard files.

Change access rights in the privileges.inp file

How the privileges work:

The privileges.inp file serves as a user interface for updating the privileges in a model.
The privileges are loaded from the privileges.inp file and stored in the model.
The privileges are loaded from the privileges.inp file only if the current user is allowed to do so.
If there is no privileges.inp file or if it cannot be loaded, then the privileges that are already stored in the model (if any) are used.
If you do not set any privileges, all users have full rights.
Tekla Structures checks the privilege defaults in the privileges.inp file when you create a model, and each time you open a model.
Tekla Structures searches for the file first in the current model folder, then in the folder defined for the advanced option XS_INP.

Note:

Only the person who created the model, or anyone from the same organization, can modify the privileges of the model via the privileges.inp file.

To change the access rights:

Close the model.
Open the privileges.inp file, located in ..\ProgramData\Trimble\Tekla Structures\<version>\environments\common\inp folder, in any text editor.
Change the desired settings and save the file.
Re-open the model.

Example

Below is an example of the privileges.inp file. The slash (/) or backslash (\) separates the user name from the organization (<organization>/<user>). If no user name is entered, it means anyone in the company. Each row contains three columns, separated by tabs.

If you want to give the privileges only to one user or only to some users, you first have to exclude everyone and then include the users who you want to give the privileges.

Note that the organization and the user names are case sensitive. For example, COMPANYA is not the same as companyA.

Options in the privileges.inp file

The following commands are available in the privileges.inp file:

access to modify any user-defined attribute (UDA) - attribute:UDA_NAME
access to modify object properties - attribute:OBJECT_LOCKED
access to modify numbering settings - action:PartnumbersOptions
access to perform numbering - action:PerformNumbering
access to remove users in multi-user model - action:AllowMultiuserKick
access to save standard files - action:SaveStandard
access to add watermarks to printed drawings - action:DrawingWatermark

When you want to give the right only to one user or some users, you have to first exclude everyone and then include the users.


Column	Option	Description
protected user-defined attribute	`attribute:` name	Affects the protected user-defined attribute "name". Check the exact spelling of the name in the objects.inp.
OR
action	`action:` name	Affects the action "name". The available actions: `PartnumbersOptions`: Controls access to numbering settings. Limitation: only full/none `PerformNumbering`: Controls access to performing numbering. `AllowMultiuserKick`: Controls access to removing users from a multi-user model. Limitation: only full/none `SaveStandard`: Controls access to saving standard files. Limitations: only standard `DrawingWatermark`: Controls access to adding watermarks for printed drawings.
user	`everyone`	All users
	domain/	Affects all users within the network domain "domain".
	domain/nn	Affects the user "nn" in the network domain "domain".
	nn	Affects the user "nn".
rights	`full`	User can change the user-defined attribute.
	`view`	User can view the user-defined attribute, but not change it. This option appears dimmed to the user.
	`none`	The user-defined attribute is hidden from the user.

User-defined attribute Locked

To protect objects from being accidentally modified, you can use the Locked user-defined attribute (UDA).

You can use it for

parts (separately for beams, columns, etc.)
bolts
welds
specific drawing types
project properties
phase properties

The Locked user-defined attribute (UDA) has three values, Yes, No and Organization. When set to Yes, the object is locked and you cannot modify its properties. You can only change the object’s user-defined attributes that do not affect numbering. If you try to modify a locked object, Tekla Structures displays the following warning message:

"There are locked objects, see report. The operation could not be performed."

The OBJECT_LOCKED attribute in the objects.inp file defines whether the Locked user-defined attribute (UDA) is visible in the Tekla Structures user interface.

Note:

Make sure that numbering is up-to-date before you lock objects.

Control access to lock and unlock objects in a multi-user model

Use the OBJECT_LOCKED attribute in the privileges.inp file to set users' access to the user-defined attribute (UDA) Locked and thus prevent users from locking and unlocking objects.

Example

Only users man and man2 have full rights to lock and unlock objects. The attribute is hidden from everybody else:

Note:

To protect other user-defined attributes, you need to list them in the privileges.inp file.

Control access to numbering in a multi-user model

Use the PartnumbersOptions in the privileges.inp file to restrict users' access to the numbering properties and thus prevent unauthorized users from modifying the numbering settings.

Note:

Users can still run numbering even if they have no privilege to modify the numbering settings.

If a user who has no privilege to modify properties in the Numbering Setup dialog box tries to access the dialog box, Tekla Structures displays a warning message which states that the user does not have the required privilege.

Example

Only admin can modify the properties in the Numbering Setup dialog box:

Control access to save standard files in a multi-user model

Use the SaveStandard action in the privileges.inp file to control users' access to save standard files.

Example

Only admin has rights to save standard files in network domain ORGANIZATION:

Control access to remove users from a multi-user model

Use the AllowMultiuserKick action in the privileges.inp to restrict permissions to remove users from a multi-user model.

You can define that undesired active multi-users can be removed from the user list in the Active multi-users dialog box. This is useful, for example, if an application error has occurred on the user’s computer, and the locks on locked objects need to be cleared by removing the user.

Define the AllowMultiuserKick action in the privileges.inp file and give full permissions to the user who you want to be able to remove other users from the model.

Example

Only user jsmith has full permissions to remove users:

To remove a user:

On the File menu, click Sharing > Active multi-users.
Right-click a user who you want to remove and select Clear locks.
Click Refresh to remove the user.

All the locks that the user has on objects and the user are removed.