Security Role Comparator

Compare one security role against multiple other roles in Dataverse—side by side, privilege by privilege, with combined permission analysis.

Table of Contents

• Security Role Comparator
  • UI Preview
  • Features
  • Installation
  • Development
  • Usage in ToolBox
  • Key Concepts
    • Side-by-Side Comparison
    • Combined Permission Analysis
    • Privilege Depth
  • Technical Stack
  • Troubleshooting
  • Contributing
  • License
  • Support

UI Preview

Features

• ✅ React 18 with TypeScript
• ✅ Vite for fast development and optimized builds
• ✅ Compare base role against up to 5 other roles simultaneously
• ✅ Category grouping (Tables, Miscellaneous, Privacy Related)
• ✅ Accurate privilege mapping from entity metadata
• ✅ Depth icons for visual permission levels
• ✅ Directional difference indicators (+ for more, - for less permissions)
• ✅ Combined Permission analysis (additive security model)
• ✅ Advanced filtering: Row filter, Group/Operation filters
• ✅ Search functionality (display name, schema name, operation)
• ✅ Remembered selections per environment
• ✅ Dark/light theme support
• ✅ Set as Base quick swap functionality

Installation

Install dependencies:

npm install

Development

Run development server:

npm run dev

Build for production:

npm run build

Preview production build:

npm run preview

Usage in ToolBox

1. Build the tool:

   npm run build

2. The built files will be in the dist/ directory:

   • index.html - Main entry point
   • index.js - Bundled application
   • index.css - Compiled styles

3. Install the tool in Power Platform ToolBox through the UI

4. Use Security Role Comparator:

   • Select a base role
   • Choose up to 5 comparison roles
   • Click Compare to analyze privileges
   • Use filters to focus on specific areas
   • View Combined Permission for additive analysis

Key Concepts

Side-by-Side Comparison

The tool displays privileges in a grid showing:

• Base role permissions in the first column
• Comparison roles in subsequent columns
• Color-coded difference indicators (green + for more, red - for less)
• Category grouping like the native Dataverse role editor

Select roles are remembered per environment for quick re-comparison.

Combined Permission Analysis

The Combined Permission view answers: "If a user had all selected roles, what could they do?"

This reflects Dataverse's additive security model where a user's effective permission is the broadest scope granted by any assigned role. The combined value uses:

None → User → Business Unit → Parent-Child Business Unit → Organization

Privilege Depth

Each privilege depth is represented with an icon:

| Icon | Level | Description | | --------------- | --------------- | --------------------- | | 🚫 Prohibited | None | Not granted | | 👤 Person | User | Own records only | | 👥 People | Business Unit | Business unit records | | 👨‍👩‍👧 People team | Parent-Child BU | Including child BUs | | 🏢 Organization | Organization | All records globally |

Technical Stack

• React 18 with TypeScript
• Vite for fast development and optimized production builds
• Fluent UI React Components for modern UI
• PPTB API for all Dataverse operations
• @pptb/types - PPTB type definitions

Troubleshooting

Roles Not Loading

Issue: Role lists appear empty

Solution:

• Verify you have appropriate Dataverse permissions
• Check connection context is correct
• Try refreshing the tool
• Ensure roles exist in the environment

Privilege Mapping Issues

Issue: Privileges don't appear or show incorrect categorization

Solution:

• Verify roles are loaded correctly
• Check Dataverse environment is accessible
• Try comparing with a different role
• Review console for error messages

Filter Not Working

Issue: Filters don't reduce results as expected

Solution:

• Verify filter criteria match privilege names
• Try clearing filters and applying one at a time
• Use the search feature for more precise filtering
• Check that roles have privileges to filter

Performance Issues

Issue: Tool is slow with many roles or privileges

Solution:

• Use filters to reduce displayed data
• Reduce number of comparison roles
• Clear browser cache and refresh
• Try comparing fewer roles at once

Best Practices

1. Test Assignments: Use Combined Permission to verify user access
2. Audit Permissions: Regularly compare roles to ensure consistency
3. Document Differences: Screenshot comparisons for compliance
4. Role Consolidation: Identify overlapping role permissions
5. Principle of Least Privilege: Use comparisons to minimize excess permissions

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! When contributing:

1. Maintain PPTB integration patterns
2. Keep webview bundle browser-only (no Node.js dependencies)
3. Test in Power Platform ToolBox
4. Update documentation as needed
5. Follow existing code style

License

This project is licensed under the GPL-2.0 License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions