8.1.2.1. User Substitution

The system administrator can give a user an ability to substitute another user. The substituting user will have the same session, but a different set of roles, constraints and attributes, assigned from the substituted user.

Tip

It is recommended to use the UserSession.getCurrentOrSubstitutedUser() method for retrieving the current user in the application code, which returns the substituted user, if there is an active substitution. The platform audit mechanisms (the createdBy and updatedBy attributes, change log and entity snapshots) always register the real logged-in user.

If the user has substituted users, a drop-down list will be shown in the application upper right corner instead of the plain text with the current user name:

user subst select

If another user is selected in this list, all opened screens will be closed and the substitution will be made active. The UserSession.getUser() method will still return the user that has logged in, however, the UserSession.getSubstitutedUser() method will return the substituted user. If there is no substitution, the UserSession.getSubstitutedUser() method will return null.

Substituted users can be managed through the Substituted Users table in the user edit screen. The user substitution screen is described below:

user subst edit

  • User – the edited user. This user will substitute another user.

  • Substituted user – the substituted user.

  • Start date, End date – optional substitution period. User substitution will be unavailable outside of this period. If no period is specified, substitution will be available until this table entry is removed.