Re: [Gnumed-devel] GNUmed client > 0.2.8.1 menu alteration proposals

[James Busser]

On 4-Jan-08, at 4:00 AM, Karsten Hilbert wrote:

> By design all options that get set explicitely are
> constrained to "this" user and workplace. It is just that an
> administrator can set user/workplace independant values
> which will get looked up and then used as the default value
> should no user/workplace specific default exist.

A related question, apart from how we group menu options, is how to  
manage the availability of features depending on the user. For  
example, doctors would be allowed to do and access things that  
receptionists may not. And maybe it is desirable that not every  
doctor be able to do all things administrative. What are the best (or  
even manageable) choices among

- configuring the presence or absence of menu options, by user

- keeping the menu options constant across users, but just enabling  
or disabling (dimming) menu items according to user

- keeping the same menu items available to all users, communicating  
anything that is disallowed to the user e.g. with a beep and a notice  
in the status line like
        "Feature restricted ...  insufficient privileges"

... likewise the question would arise for plug-ins, whether to  
control whether certain users can add them to their plug-in lists and  
how these can or cannot be used once the user is back in the client

Naturally some menu items or plug-ins will permit some users partial  
views or partial write-access, those would be controlled  
programmatically inside the menu item or plug-in