Claris Studio: Security

In this article, we consider the current state of security when using Claris Studio. We will look at the levels of access to Claris Studio, discuss Claris ID, and using Claris Studio features.

Updated 2 May 2023

Claris Studio Access

Claris Studio currently provides four levels of access:

  • Team Manager
  • Manager
  • Member
  • Anonymous
 
All except Anonymous require a Claris ID. 
 
There is one Team Manager for each Claris Studio instance. This is the Claris ID used to purchase the licensing (or to sign up for the freemium product when available). The Team Manager has master access over all other users. They can:
  • invite new users
  • switch the role of any user between Manager and Member
  • remove any user from the Team
  • use all Claris Studio features
 
A user assigned to a Manager role has the same access as a Team Manager except that they cannot change the role of the Team Manager or remove them from the Team. 
 
A Member has much more limited access. They can:
  • access the Hubs and Views assigned to them by a Manager
 
An Anonymous user can only access publicly shared Claris Studio Form Views, enter data and submit the form. 

Claris ID

The new Claris platform security currently revolves around a Claris ID. Anyone can get a free Claris ID. simply go to my.claris.com and provide the required details. 

 

After submitting the form, you will be sent an email with a verification code:

 

On verification, your Claris ID is created and you can sign in.

 

Sign in takes you to your Claris Customer Console. Initially, there is not a lot to access except your profile. This will be updated once you are part of a Claris Team.

Adding Team Users

As mentioned above, the Team Manager and all Managers can invite a new user to the Team. They simply provide an email address and name for the user. 

 

In the Users list in Claris Studio, the new user name will be greyed out and marked as (Pending). When a user invite is pending, the meatballs icon at the right allows managers to Edit User Details (full name), Resend Invitation or Remove From Team. When a user has joined, the icon has the option to Edit User Details or Remove From Team.

The user will receive an email (Invitation to join a Claris Studio team) from Claris advising them that they have been invited to join a Team. They can click the Join link and follow the instructions. If they already have a Claris ID, they can simply sign in; otherwise they can sign up for a new Claris ID as above. 

When the new user joins the team, they join with the role and any Hubs they were assigned when the invite was pending.

Using Claris Studio Features

Managers

As mentioned above, Managers have full access to all Claris Studio features:

  • Hubs – create/rename/delete Hubs, add/remove Views, add/rename/remove users*
  • Views – create/rename/delete Views, edit Views, add/delete columns/fields
  • Users – invite new users, remove users from team, switch user roles, edit user name
  • Resources – access to Downloads for Claris Pro and Claris Server, copy links for sharing
  • Claris Connect – access to manage workflows
  • Customer Console – direct link access
  • Help and Feedback
  • Team – switch between Teams if a member of multiple teams
  • Account – create Extended Claris Account (see below), Sign Out
 
* When managing Hub users, only Members can be added and removed because Managers have free access to all Hubs. A pending member can be added to a Hub so that when they join the Team they instantly have access to a set of Views.
 
In an update to Claris Studio, the Team and Account have been moved to the top right of the window. There has also been added a Developer Mode toggle switch for Managers. When Developer Mode is off, the links to Views, Users, Claris Connect and Customer Console are hidden; Views are accessed via Hubs and behave as for Members (for data entry but no editing). 

Members

Members have limited access in Claris Studio:
  • Hubs – access only Hubs they have been assigned by a Manager
  • Views – access to any Views in their assigned Hubs
  • Downloads – (updated) links to download latest versions of Claris Pro and Claris Go
  • Users – no access
  • Claris Connect – no access
  • Customer Console – no direct access (use my.claris.com or console.claris.com)
  • Help and Feedback
  • Team – switch between Teams if a member of multiple teams
  • Account – create Extended Claris Account, Sign Out
 
In an update to Claris Studio, the Team and Account have been moved to the top right of the window.
 
When a Member accesses a View (via a Hub), they have limited access to the data and fields of the underlying table in a Spreadsheet View. This means that they can:
  • edit row data, add new rows and delete rows
  • import CSV data and download as CSV
  • edit summary rows
 
A Member cannot create new Views. When in Spreadsheet View, they will not see Create Dashboard in the toolbar.

Managing Views

Any changes made to Views by Managers or Members will be saved for all other users. This includes Spreadsheet View actions such as:
  • applying Filters, Grouping and Sort
  • showing and hiding columns, reordering and resizing columns, changing Density
  • updating Summary cells
 
If one user updates a Spreadsheet View, it will be updated for all other users when they refresh their browser.
 
Although Members cannot edit Form, List-Detail and Dashboard Views, any changes to those views made by a Manager will be seen by any user.
 

Using Forms

The only Views with Public Sharing are Forms. If a View has Public Sharing Enabled, it can be accessed via a web link such as:

https://platform.claris.com/form/315/55?s=bXN0XzJJQzg2ZDVadzVSMXZndkhrTFRoOERYQ0lKUmVSem9NOjUyMzk4NTYz
NmFjOWUyYWI1MDVmZTcwOWQ1N2EyMDc0MjRlNTIxYjc2ZDUwZTlmNNTg5YWY=

When any user (regardless of if they are signed in with a Claris ID) accesses a Form using the public link, they are anonymous. They can complete and submit the form but there is no authentication required and there is no way to identify the user.
 
Whether a Form is shared or not, a Member can still open and complete the Form if it is included in a Hub they can access. In that case, if the table includes a User type field with the option of a default value of Current User, then the current user name will be captured in the field.
 
A Manager can access the Form to complete it through Hubs. If they access the View directly, they are in editing mode and cannot fill in the Form. This also applies for List-detail Views.

Extended Claris Account

When logged in to Claris Studio, any Manager or Member can create an extended Claris account. This will use the same Claris ID email and an additional password.
 
It is required to sign into certain Claris Server services such as Claris WebDirect, Claris Data API, and scheduled scripts. 

It is not obvious if a user has already created an extended Claris account password. If you try to create an extended account when one already exists, Claris Studio will display an error:

Couldn’t create an account. If you already have an account, you can change the password.

The Change Password link will allow you to change your password or go through the process for Forgot Password. 

Closing Thoughts

The current security levels in Claris Studio are not at all fined grained. For example:

  • no way to limit Manager access to certain Hubs or Views
  • no concept of user settings for View appearance
It is hoped that more extensive security settings will be provided in future releases. 

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