Power Apps Role-based Security

[tagustin2020]

@RandyHayes 

Hello Randy,

I hope you are doing well. I've been going round and round trying to get role-based security into my Onboarding app with no success. I was wondering if you could help me out.

Problem Statement:

We have 4 different levels of security we need to achieve:

1. App Admins can see all Onboarding employees.
2. Managers can only see their direct reports.
3. Mid-Managers can see both their direct reports, plus any employees that report to managers that they manage.
4. Managers who do not have anyone actively onboarding should not see anyone in the list.

Currently, everyone can see everything.

I have 3 SharePoint lists. The one seen here that holds employee names, a feeder list called CSO Managers that helps populate cascading dropdowns within the new hire entry form and a third list called Manager Roles that consists of two columns (User - Person) and Role (Choice of Admin, Manager or MidManager).

Here is my AppOnStart formula:

Set(
        varUser,
        User()
    );
With(
    {
        wUserRecord: LookUp(
            'Manager Roles',
            User.Email = varUser.Email
        )
    },
    Set(
        varDirectory,
        wUserRecord.User
    );
    Set(
        varRole,
        wUserRecord.Role.Value
    )
);
If(
    IsBlank(varRole),
     With(
        {
            wUserRecord: Patch(
                'Manager Roles',
                Defaults('Manager Roles'),
                {
                    User: {
                        '@odata.type': "#Microsoft.Azure.Connectors.SharePoint.SPListExpandedUser",
                        Claims: "i:0#.f|membership|" & varUser.Email,
                        Department: "",
                        DisplayName: varUser.FullName,
                        Email: varUser.Email,
                        JobTitle: "",
                        Picture: ""
                    }
                }
            )
        },
        Set(
            varDirectory,
            wUserRecord.User
        );
        Set(varRole, wUserRecord.Role.Value))

Here is my Gallery Items formula. I assume this is a good candidate for a With function, but I'm not expert enough yet on how to do that. The With formula in the OnStart of the app is borrowed from a blog post by Matthew Devaney.

Designing A Role-Based User Interface In Power Apps - Matthew Devaney

Sort(
    If(
        varRole = "Manager",
        Filter(
            'CSO Staff List',
            Phase = "Onboarding",
            txtSearchBoxOn.Text in 'Preferred Name',
            Lower('Manager Email' = varDirectory.Email)
        ),
        If(
            varRole = "MidManager",
            Filter(
                'CSO Staff List',
                Phase = "Onboarding",
                txtSearchBoxOn.Text in 'Preferred Name',
                Lower('Managers Manager Email' = varDirectory.Email)
            ),
            If(
                varRole = "Admin",
                Filter(
                    'CSO Staff List',
                    Phase = "Onboarding",
                    txtSearchBoxOn.Text in 'Preferred Name',
                    Lower(varUser.Email = varDirectory.Email)
                ),
                Filter(
                    'CSO Staff List',
                    Phase = "Onboarding",
                    txtSearchBoxOn.Text in 'Preferred Name',
                    Lower(varUser.Email = 'Email Address')
                )
            )
        )
    ),
    'Preferred Name',
    Ascending
)

More details can be found in the attached Word doc in case they help. I feel like I am so close, but just can't seem to get it over the fence. I'd be grateful to have your advice on the matter.

Thank you,

Teresa

[rashantha]

I would take a look at this video. It helped me a lot and is rather easy to implement and manage.

(428) Power Apps Role Based Security Groups - YouTube

[tagustin2020]

@rashantha 

Thank you for the video Rashantha. I am already familiar with it. Watched it several times. It doesn't seem to be helping me with the multi-tiered need I have at the moment which is why I'm reaching out to Randy.

Have a great day!

Teresa

[RandyHayes]

@tagustin2020 

Hi Teresa.  
Sorry for the delay!!

I started to review and had one initial question...your OnStart formula does not seem complete.  It is missing something.  Is what you provided just a snippet of the OnStart, or is something missing?

Let me know on that.  The Items property of your gallery needs a lot of changes, I am correcting them but wanted to get the scoop on the OnStart formula.

[tagustin2020]

@RandyHayes 

Hi Randy,

I was trying to just pull out the pieces that pertained to this particular issue, but here is the full OnStart formula in case there is something that I missed. I really appreciate you taking a look.

Concurrent(
    Set(
        varRefID,
        IfError(
            Value(Param("ID")),
            0
        )
    );
    Set(
        varRecord,
        LookUp(
            'CSO Staff List',
            ID = varRefID
        )
    ),
    Set(
        varUser,
        User()
    ),
    Set(
        isAdmin,
        CountRows('People App Admins') > 0
    ),
    Set(
        varColors,
        {
            TealDark: RGBA(
                0,
                98,
                129,
                1
            ),
            TealBright: RGBA(
                28,
                181,
                216,
                1
            ),
            TealLight: RGBA(
                204,
                231,
                246,
                1
            ),
            GrayCharcoal: RGBA(
                62,
                67,
                74,
                1
            ),
            GrayMedium: RGBA(
                215,
                215,
                215,
                1
            ),
            GrayLight: RGBA(
                245,
                245,
                245,
                1
            ),
            GrayHover: RGBA(
                205,
                209,
                213,
                1
            )
        }
    ),
    ClearCollect(
        StatusColors,
        {
            Status: "Not started",
            Fill: RGBA(
                215,
                215,
                215,
                1
            ),
            Color: RGBA(
                255,
                255,
                255,
                1
            )
        },
        {
            Status: "In progress",
            Fill: RGBA(
                28,
                181,
                216,
                1
            ),
            Color: RGBA(
                255,
                255,
                255,
                1
            )
        },
        {
            Status: "Complete",
            Fill: RGBA(
                115,
                191,
                68,
                1
            ),
            Color: RGBA(
                255,
                255,
                255,
                1
            )
        }
    ),
    Set(
        varStatus,
        [
            "Active",
            "On Leave",
            "Term",
            "Onboarding",
            "Offboarding",
            "Transitioning"
        ]
    ),
    Set(
        varSortColumn,
        "PreferredName"
    ),
    Set(
        varSortDirection,
        Ascending
    ),
    Set(
        varPlaySpinner,
        false
    ),
    Set(
        varClearFilters,
        true
    ),
    Set(
        varCurrentDate,
        Date(
            Year(Today()),
            Month(Today()),
            1
        )
    )
);
With(
    {
        wUserRecord: LookUp(
            'Manager Roles',
            User.Email = varUser.Email
        )
    },
    Set(
        varDirectory,
        wUserRecord.User
    );
    Set(
        varRole,
        wUserRecord.Role.Value
    )
);
If(
    IsBlank(varRole),
     With(
        {
            wUserRecord: Patch(
                'Manager Roles',
                Defaults('Manager Roles'),
                {
                    User: {
                        '@odata.type': "#Microsoft.Azure.Connectors.SharePoint.SPListExpandedUser",
                        Claims: "i:0#.f|membership|" & varUser.Email,
                        Department: "",
                        DisplayName: varUser.FullName,
                        Email: varUser.Email,
                        JobTitle: "",
                        Picture: ""
                    }
                }
            )
        },
        Set(
            varDirectory,
            wUserRecord.User
        );
        Set(
            varRole,
            wUserRecord.Role.Value
        )
    )
)

[RandyHayes]

@tagustin2020 

No worries...it was the last closing paren that was throwing me - it was missing in the original post.

A couple things on the OnStart.

1) The Concurrent is not of any value in your formula.  Concurrent is only helpful when you are performing multiple datasource operations.

2) You don't need the overhead of a collection for the StatusColors - a simple variable will do.

3) Slightly concerned over your logic for the user record for the roles, but it should be sufficient for the purpose of the problem you are having.

4) The odata.type on SharePoint records is no longer needed (it's not been for over 3 years now)...you can ignore using it.

The revised OnStart would be (white space removed for brevity on the post):

Set(varRefID, IfError(Value(Param("ID")), 0));
Set(varRecord, LookUp('CSO Staff List', ID = varRefID));
Set(varUser, User());
Set(isAdmin, CountRows('People App Admins') > 0);
Set(varColors, {TealDark: RGBA(0, 98, 29, 1)  
	    TealBright: RGBA(28, 181, 216, 1), 
	    TealLight: RGBA(204, 231, 246, 1), 
	    GrayCharcoal: RGBA(62, 67, 74, 1), 
	    GrayMedium: RGBA(215, 215, 215, 1),
	    GrayLight: RGBA(245, 245, 245, 1),
	    GrayHover: RGBA(205, 209, 213, 1)
	   }
);
Set(StatusColors,
    Table({Status: "Not started", Fill: RGBA(215, 215, 215, 1), Color: RGBA(255, 255, 255, 1)},
          {Status: "In progress", Fill: RGBA(28, 181, 216, 1), Color: RGBA(255, 255, 255, 1)},
          {Status: "Complete", Fill: RGBA(115, 191, 68, 1), Color: RGBA(255, 255, 255, 1)}
    )
);
Set(varStatus, ["Active", "On Leave", "Term", "Onboarding", "Offboarding", "Transitioning"]);
Set(varSortColumn, "PreferredName");
Set(varSortDirection, Ascending);
Set(varPlaySpinner, false);
Set(varClearFilters, true);
Set(varCurrentDate, Date(Year(Today()), Month(Today()), 1));

With({wUserRecord: LookUp('Manager Roles', User.Email = varUser.Email)},
    Set(varDirectory, wUserRecord.User);
    Set(varRole, wUserRecord.Role.Value)
);
If(IsBlank(varRole),
     With({wUserRecord: Patch('Manager Roles', Defaults('Manager Roles'), 
                            {User: {Claims: "i:0#.f|membership|" & Lower(varUser.Email),
                                    Department: "",
                                    DisplayName: varUser.FullName,
                                    Email: varUser.Email,
                                    JobTitle: "",
                                    Picture: ""
                                   }
                            }
                        )
        },
        Set(varDirectory, wUserRecord.User);
        Set(varRole, wUserRecord.Role.Value)
    )
)

I left the variables as-is, but in general, you want to try to reduce the amount of variables used when possible.

Next, your Gallery Items property should be more like this:

Sort(
    Filter('CSO Staff List',
        Phase = "Onboarding",
        txtSearchBoxOn.Text in 'Preferred Name',
        (varRole = "Admin") ||
        (varRole = "Manager" && Lower('Manager Email') = varDirectory.Email) ||
        (varRole = "MidManager" && 
            (Lower('Managers Manager Email') = varDirectory.Email ||
             Lower('Manager Email') = varDirectory.Email
            )
        ) ||
        Lower('Email Address') = varUser.Email
    ),
    'Preferred Name'
)   

First - Always try to avoid using If statements in your formulas for tables.  First, you end up being redundant in your formula, and second, it is harder to maintain the redundancy, and finally, it can often lead to issues in the app formula evaluation.

Now...the above formula will likely not provide what you want exactly because I have some additional questions:

1) When you state "Managers can only see their direct reports" - Would that indicate that the Manager Email column would contain the email of the manager?

2) You next state "Mid-Managers can see both their direct reports, plus any employees that report to managers that they manage" - This is where I got confused on things.  If I was a user that was MidManager - does this mean that my email would be in Managers Manager Email?  Also, you mention direct reports, so does that mean my email might also be in the Manager Email?

3) And finally, in your original logic (not mentioned in the text of your post), you have a condition to check the 'Email Address' against the current user.  Is this to imply that there is a 5th point to your 4 levels which would be: All users should see their own information

Let me know if we are getting there.

[tagustin2020]

@RandyHayes 

Hello Randy,

Thank you for the advice. I adjusted the OnStart formula to match your revision and tried the new Items formula. Per your prediction, it isn't working yet, no results are returned. 

My responses to your questions:

Now...the above formula will likely not provide what you want exactly because I have some additional questions:

1) When you state "Managers can only see their direct reports" - Would that indicate that the Manager Email column would contain the email of the manager?

Yes, the Manager Email column contains the email of the manager, but it is complicated. When I initially posted this question, I forgot that if the person is an upper-level manager (e.g. a Director, GM or VP) they should not only be able to see their own direct reports, but every name in the list regardless of whether their name appears in the Manager Email or Managers Manager Email column. To achieve this, I created a SharePoint list called 'Manager Roles' and put upper-level managers in the "Admin" group along with members of the Onboarding Team.

In the example below. Both Tom and James should only be able to see Alyssa, Jeremy and Cyrus. Jacob and Frances should only see Kalana.  If James or Frances, who are mid-level managers, enter a new hire name, their names will appear in the Manager Email column and the manager above them will appear in the Managers Manger Email. Lindsay and Jon are upper-level managers who need to be able to see, not only Andy, but all names in the list. Lindsay and Jon are "Admins" in the 'Manager Roles' SharePoint list.

2) You next state "Mid-Managers can see both their direct reports, plus any employees that report to managers that they manage" - This is where I got confused on things.  If I was a user that was MidManager - does this mean that my email would be in Managers Manager Email?  Also, you mention direct reports, so does that mean my email might also be in the Manager Email? Per the explanation above, yes. It is a pretty liquid situation...I think the primary value of having these 2 columns in the CSO Staff list is that they provide a sense of org structure whereas the 'Manager Roles' SharePoint list does not. It simply states which group they have been added to.

3) And finally, in your original logic (not mentioned in the text of your post), you have a condition to check the 'Email Address' against the current user.  Is this to imply that there is a 5th point to your 4 levels which would be: All users should see their own information.

Only managers and member of the Onboarding team have access to this app. Since the roles are so fluid, I'm not sure how best to apply the logic, but as previously mentioned if they are an "Admin" in the 'Manager Roles' SharePoint list, they should be able to see all names in the CSO Staff List regardless of whether their name appears in the Manager, MidManager column or doesn't happen to be in either of those columns when it comes to viewing onboarding employees.

Here is a snapshot of the 'Manager Roles' SharePoint list. The User column is a Person Type column and Role is a Choice type column with the 3 different roles you see listed below.

I spent a lot of time on this response in an effort to be as clear as possible on a situation which is pretty complicated. You're a master at simplification so maybe it won't seem quite as complicated to you. I hope these notes help, but if they don't, let me know what additional questions I should try to clarify. Thanks Randy!

Kind regards,

Teresa