iBase cases

Cases can be created in either iBase or iBase Designer. Cases can be accessed by people who are assigned to the case.

Before a user can open a case-controlled database, you as a system administrator must assign them to one or more cases. When a user opens a case-controlled database, they then select:

Either, a single case to obtain read/write access to the case, if the case is not closed and that they belong to a user group that grants add, modify, and delete permissions. (Some analysts only ever require read-only access to the data.)
Or, all their cases (by turning on Multi-Case Analysis) to obtain read-only access to all the cases assigned to them.

Regardless of the type of access, a user who selects all their cases, when they open a database, only ever has read-only access to their cases.

When no cases are defined, only administrators with the Database Administrator and Security Administrator roles can open the database in iBase; for example, to create a new case. To add data to the new case, they must select the case by selecting File > Change Case.

Note: To obtain information on the cases in a database, run a Security Design report.

Creating new cases

Cases can be created and updated by any administrator with both Security Administrator and Database Administrator roles.

To create a new case:
- In iBase Designer: Select New > Case from or in the Database Explorer, right-click on Cases, and select New.
- In iBase: If required, select a single case on opening the database and select New > Case. Creating a case does not select it. To change to the new case: select File > Change Case. The name of the current case is shown in the title bar of the application window.
Enter the details of the case.
Assign users to the case.

Giving and revoking access to cases

You authorize users to work on a case when you create or edit it. You can either assign users one at a time or you can assign all the users who are members of a Data Access Control group.

Note: The Users page lists the users who are assigned individually to the case. If a user has access to a case because they belong to a group that is assigned to that case, then they are not listed on the Users page of the Case.

You do not need to assign system administrators to cases. Administrators (with both the Database Administration and Security Administration roles) always have access to all cases.

New or amended access to a case only takes effect the next time a user opens the database.

When you revoke access to a case, note:

If a user has access to a case because they belong to a group that is assigned to a case, then you can only revoke access by removing the user from the group.
If alerting is in use, then the user is removed from any alert definitions that they own. These alert definitions remain active for other users. A system administrator can delete the alert definitions if required.

Listing existing cases

You can view a list of all the cases in the database in two places:

In iBase Designer: Click Cases in the left pane of the Database Explorer to list the cases in the right pane.
In iBase: Log on with an account with both the Security Administrator and Database Administrator roles and select a database to open.

To obtain information on who is assigned to which case, run a Security Design report, select Security > Security Design Report.

Modifying cases

In both iBase Designer and iBase, you can modify the description of a case, change who has access to it, and open or close it (see the following sections). You can only change the name of the case in iBase Designer. When you change the name, all the records belonging to the case are updated as well.

In iBase, for users with current sessions, the changes take effect next time they open the database.

To modify a case:

In iBase Designer, right-click on the case in the Database Explorer, and select Edit.
In iBase, select from the Edit menu, select Case. You can only modify the case that you selected when you opened the database.

Viewing case statistics

You can view statistics by case or by database. To view statistics:

In iBase Designer, select File > Database Statistics.
In iBase, select File > Properties Database Statistics.

In iBase Designer, record statistics are displayed by case (both open and closed) for the whole database. For example, click the Entity Types by Case tab to see the number of entity records by type for each case. The number of entity records for the database is displayed on the Entity Types page.

In iBase, Database Statistics display only the statistics for the cases that are accessible to the user. For example:

A user who selects a single case sees statistics for that single case.
A user who works with all their cases sees statistics for entities in all their cases on the Entity Types page, and a breakdown by case on the Entity Types by Case page.
A system administrator always sees statistics for all the cases in the database, even if they select a single case when opening the database.

You can also print the database statistics with a breakdown by case if required.

Closing and reopening cases

In both iBase Designer and iBase, you can close cases. When you close a case, the closure date is recorded. The closure date is taken from the date set on the user's machine. If required, you can reopen cases, and the closure date is retained until you close it again.

A closed case is read-only and no one can edit the records that belong to the case. However, any user who is assigned to the case can select it when they open the database. When more than one case is selected, operations such as finding and querying includes results from both closed and open cases.

To review the complete history of a case, use the audit log.

To close or reopen one or more cases:

In iBase Designer: in the right pane of the Database Explorer, right-click on a case, and from the menu, select Edit.
In iBase: log on as an administrator with the Security Administrator and Database Administrator roles, select the case that you want to close or reopen, and select Edit > Case .

You can then change the status of the case on the General page.

Deleting cases

When you delete a case in iBase Designer, you delete all the records that belong to that case, all the entries in the audit log for those records, and all alert definitions.

Before you delete a case:

Archive the records in the case. Either by backing up the database, or alternatively, exporting all records to text files.
Archive the audit log for the case, making sure that you have archives that cover the period of the case.

To delete a case in iBase Designer:

In the Database Explorer, right-click on the case, and select Delete.