MDS Versioning, Permission and Security


Master Data Services (MDS) is a master data management platform that allows you to create a centralized hub for your master data. This single and centralized authoritative master data source provides consistent master data to all the business applications aligned to it. This article demonstrates how model versioning and security works in MDS.

Introduction

Master Data Services (MDS) is a master data management
platform, which allows you to create a centralized hub for your master data.
This single and centralized authoritative master data source provides
consistent master data to all the business applications aligned to it. In this
article I am going to demonstrate how model versioning works in MDS and then I
will be talking about how security works in MDS.

How versioning works in MDS…

Master Data Services (MDS) creates a default initial version
of your model data when you create a model for the first time. Then, as per
your need, you can create as many versions you want for your model, either in
sequential fashion (one version after another) or in simultaneous fashion
(multiple versions in parallel). This way you can ensure you have a dedicated/consistent
version of your master data for downstream consumption while at the same time having
another version for adding/deleting/modifying members or for testing your model
data, without compromising consistency in master data availability. A version
could be in either of these three status modes:

  • Open – A model version
    of “Open” status mode allows everyone with required access to add/delete/change
    the members, hierarchies of the model. You can also run the business rules
    validation process to validate the data that it contains.
  • Locked – A model version
    of “Locked” status mode allows only the model administrator to
    add/delete/change the members and hierarchies of the model and other users are
    allowed only read access to the locked version (even though they might be
    having update permission on the model). A version is switched to “Locked”
    status mode to run the business rule validation and fix any issues with the
    data and that’s the reason not all users, except model administrator, are
    allowed to do the changes just to avoid inadvertent modification. A locked
    version can be switched back to Open status mode if required (to allow other
    users to do changes other than model administrator) or can be switched forward
    to “Committed” status mode.
  • Committed – Once all the
    business rules validation has passed in “Locked” status mode, this model
    version can be transitioned to “Committed” status mode and then you can create
    subscription views against this version to let reporting and analytical
    applications consume master data from the model version. A committed version
    cannot be unlocked (this means no changes are allowed on the committed version)
    though you can create another copy of committed version in parallel to do
    changes to the members and hierarchies.

Go to the Master Data Manager UI, select the
appropriate model, and version and click on Version Management (depending on
your permission level this option might or might not be visible to you. For
more detail about security and permission refer to next section in this
article) option as shown below:

Version Management

Figure 1 – Version Management

On the “Manage Versions” screen, select the model and
you will see a list of all the versions of the selected model. Select the
version in the grid and the corresponding option is enabled in the tool-bar;
for example, if the version is in open status mode you will see “Lock selected
version” option or if the version is in a locked state you will see “Unlock
selected version”.

Manage Versions

Figure 2 – Manage Versions

To
validate a model’s version, click on the Validate Version menu bar then select
the appropriate model and its version and click on the “Validate version” icon
as shown below:

Validate Version 1

Figure 3 – Validate Version 1

Once
validation of the selected model and version has passed, you will see “Commit
version” options are enabled as shown below. Click on it to move your selected
model and version in committed status mode:

Validate Version 2

Figure 4 – Validate Version 2

Once
a version is committed it cannot be brought back in Locked/Open status mode. Although
you can create a copy of the committed version as shown below:

Copy version 1

Figure 5 – Copy version 1

Double click on the column of the grid if you want to
change the value for name, description columns etc.

 

Copy version 2

Figure 6 – Copy version 2

Arshad Ali
Arshad Ali
Arshad Ali works with Microsoft India R&D Pvt Ltd. He has 8+ years of experience, mostly on Microsoft Technologies. Most recently, as a SQL Developer and BI Developer he has been working on a Data Warehousing project. Arshad is an MCSD, MCITP: Business Intelligence, MCITP: Database Developer 2008 and MCITP: Database Administrator 2008 certified and has presented at several technical events including SQL-School. On an educational front, he has an MCA (Master in Computer Applications) and MBA-IT. Disclaimer : I work for Microsoft and help people and businesses make better use of technology to realize their full potential. The opinions mentioned herein are solely mine and do not reflect those of my current employer or previous employers.

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