Implementing Security for Non-CA Products › FOCUS › The INSTDATA Field

The INSTDATA Field

Since the INSTDATA field can be used for multiple purposes by various users, a simple syntax scheme for INSTDATA must be used to distinguish different parameters. The syntax rules are:

• Parameter items can be simple attributes (one‑ through eight‑ character alphanumeric symbols) or keywords (one‑ through eight‑ character alphanumeric symbols followed by a value enclosed in parentheses).
• Parameter items must be separated by commas.
• Values enclosed in parentheses for keyword parameters can be any string of characters. If the character string contains any blanks or special characters, then the entire string must be delimited by single quotation marks.
• The FOCUS password‑ID is specified in the installation data field using FOCUS(xyz), where xyz is the user's password‑ID. The following TSS command function is used to add the FOCUS password‑ID:

  TSS ADDTO(user) INSTDATA(FOCUS(xyz))
  

The following examples indicate multi‑use INSTDATA fields.

'ATTRIB1,ATTRIB2,KEYWORD1 (VALUE1),FOCUS(MYPW)'
ATTRIB1,FOCUS("MYPW."), ATTRIB2,KEYWORD1(VALUE1,VALUE2)

In the first example, note the use of single quotation marks to delineate strings containing blanks or special characters.

In the second example, note the use of the FOCUS password‑ID ending in a period. Under normal circumstances, an inferred FOCUS password can be overridden by a user after FOCUS is invoked by entering one of the explicit password identification commands. This redefinition lasts for the duration of the FOCUS session, or until the user redefines another FOCUS password‑ID. In certain circumstances, this inferred password override is desirable; however, in most cases it is not. To prevent users from redefining a new FOCUS password‑ID after invoking FOCUS, simply end the password‑ID with a period. The period is stripped away before comparing the password with those defined in the FOCUS masterfile.

Note: The period has special significance only during initial inferred password processing.