Setting permission on feature dataset with sdelayer don't work

Question

I want to set permissions on a feature dataset but this results in an error message: 
Error: Layer not found (-20).

This is may command:sdelayer -o grant -l FDS,SHAPE -U FDS_EDIT -A SELECT,UPDATE,INSERT,DELETE -i 5153 -s SERVER -u ADMIN -p xyz

Setting the permission with ArcCatalog works very well but i want to create a batch to rebuild all my permissions.

RussellBrennan · Answer

Hi Gismoe,

This python script should work to set the permissions appropriately. Just swap out the path to your server connection info, FDS name and username. 
# Purpose: Change user privileges on a dataset

# Create the Geoprocessor object
import arcgisscripting
gp = arcgisscripting.create(9.3)

try:
    # Set the name of the feature dataset, feature class, or table to change privileges on.
    objName = 'ADMIN.FDS'
    # Set the name of the user or role to grant privileges to.
    username= 'FC_EDIT'

# Process: Update user privileges
    gp.ChangePrivileges("Database Connections/Connection to Server.sde/" + objName, username, "GRANT", "GRANT")

except:
    # If an error occurred while running a tool, print the messages
    print gp.GetMessages()

Hope this helps,
Russell

VinceAngelo · Answer

'sdetable' only supports tables, not feature classes or feature datasets.  It just so happens
that feature classes are modeled as tables, so 'sdetable' can be used on feature class names,
but feature datasets are not modeled as tables, so you can't refer to them at all with 'sdetable'.
 
If you fail to grant the same permissions for all the tables comprising a feature dataset, ArcGIS
will only acknowledge the minimum permission held in common (logical AND), even if that means
no permission at all. All in all, you'd be better off using Python (if it has the requisite hooks at 
9.3.1, which it likely does; I just don't use ArcGIS all that much).
 
- V

gismoe · Answer

Thank you very much for your detailed answer.
If there is no difference i will use sdetable in future because it supports feature classes and feature datasets.