Hierarchy Member Permissions (Master Data Services)
Applies to: 
SQL Server - Windows only
Azure SQL Managed Instance
Hierarchy member permissions are optional and should be used only when you want a user to have limited access to specific members. If you do not assign permissions on the Hierarchy Members tab, then the user's permissions are based solely on the permissions assigned on the Models tab.
Hierarchy member permissions are assigned in the Master Data Manager user interface (UI), in the User and Group Permissions functional area on the Hierarchy Members tab. These permissions determine which members a user can access in the Explorer functional area of the UI.
On the Hierarchy Members tab, each hierarchy is represented as a tree structure. When you assign permission to a node in the tree, all children inherit that permission unless permission is explicitly assigned at a lower level.
Note
When you assign permission to a node in a hierarchy, all members in other nodes at the same level or higher are implicitly denied.
In Explorer, the member permissions are applied everywhere the member is displayed. For example, a member with Read permission can read any entities, hierarchies, and collections to which it belongs.
Hierarchy member permissions apply to the model version you assign them to, and to any future copies of the version. They do not apply to versions earlier than the one you assign them to.
| Permission | Description |
|---|---|
| Read | The members are displayed. Note: If you assign only Read permission to Root, the members under Root are read-only; however, in explicit hierarchies and collections, the user can move members to Root and can add new members to Root. |
| Create | Create permission is not available in hierarchy member permission. |
| Update | The members are displayed and the user can change them. The user can also move the members in any explicit hierarchies or collections the members belong to. |
| Delete | The members are displayed, and the user can delete them. |
| Deny | The members are not displayed. |
On the Hierarchy Members tab, the permissions you assign do not take effect immediately. The frequency that the permissions are applied depends on the Member security processing interval setting in the System Settings table in the Master Data Services database. You can apply member permissions immediately by following the steps in Immediately Apply Member Permissions (Master Data Services).
Note
You cannot assign hierarchy member permissions to recursive hierarchies, derived hierarchies with explicit caps, and derived hierarchies with hidden levels.
Possible Overlapping Permissions
When assigning permission to members, you may have to resolve overlapping permissions.
When a member belongs to multiple hierarchies
Two or more hierarchies can contain the same member.
If one hierarchy node is assigned Update permission and another is assigned Read, then the members in the node are Read.
If one hierarchy node is assigned Update and Create permissions and another is assigned Update and Delete permissions, then the members in the node can be updated.
If one hierarchy node is assigned any combination of Create/Read/Update/Delete permissions and another node is assigned Deny permissions, access to the members in the node is denied.
External Resources
Blog post, Security Improvements, on msdn.com.
See Also
Assign Hierarchy Member Permissions (Master Data Services)
How Permissions Are Determined (Master Data Services)
Members (Master Data Services)
Hierarchies (Master Data Services)
Immediately Apply Member Permissions (Master Data Services)