Access Graphs: Another View on Static Access Control for a Better Understanding and Use

Encapsulation and modularity are supported by various static access control mechanisms that manage implementation hiding and define interfaces adapted to different client profiles. Programming languages use a broad range of different mechanisms, that are sometimes confusing and hard to predict when cumulatively applied. Furthermore, understanding and reasoning about access control independently from the programming languages is quite difficult. We introduce a notation for static access control that we think is adapted for modeling, characterizing, evaluating, comparing and translating access control. Examples of practical applications of access graphs are given. This notation is supported by AGATE, a set of tools designed for access control handling.