Understanding Model Rights in Novulo
Managing access rights in Novulo is key to ensuring that the right people can view, edit, and deploy models. This guide explains how model rights work for both component models and application models, who owns them, and how rights can be assigned in practice. It also provides examples of common pitfalls, best practices, and guidance for customers and implementation partners.
This Guide Provides
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An explanation of how model rights work in Novulo.
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Typical cases where model rights are required.
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Examples of common issues and how to resolve them.
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Best practices for assigning rights.
1. Introduction
In Novulo, rights management is an essential part of working with components and application models. To understand how models are composed, maintained, and deployed, it is important to understand how model rights work and how they are applied.
2. Model Rights Apply to Components and Applications
Model rights apply both to:
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Component models (developed as stand-alone building blocks).
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Application models (integrated models composed out of multiple components).
3. Ownership of Models
Every model has a single owner, which is always a legal entity (company).
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Component models → The developing company is the owner, unless specifically agreed otherwise. This could be Novulo, a Novulo content partner (independent software vendor), or a customer that develops their own components.
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Application models → The company using the application (the end user, i.e. the customer) is typically the owner.
4. When Are Rights Needed?
During implementation, upgrades, or bug fixes, you might need to create a new installation of the application. This involves working with component and application models, which requires rights at different levels.
How can I set up a new application?
5. Types of Rights
For both component models and application models, there are two levels of rights:
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Read
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Read + Write
6. Rights for Component Models
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Read → Needed by Novulo Architect users (developers, consultants) to view component and integrated models.
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Write → Needed to edit component models.
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Write → Also required to create new application model revisions, as these are composed out of component models.
To read or write component models, the developer must have rights. These rights can be applied:
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Individually (to a specific person).
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At company level (to all employees of a company).
Rights can also be time-limited (e.g. unlimited read access but temporary write access).
7. Rights for Composing and Deploying
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Composing a new model → The user working in Novulo Composer needs rights to the required components.
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Deploying an application model → The owner of the application model (customer) must have:
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Write rights to their application model.
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Read rights to all individual components that are included in the composition.
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8. Typical Rights Setup
Quick Reference Table
| Role | Application Model (Customer) | Components (Novulo, Partner, Customer) |
|---|---|---|
| Customer | Write | Read |
| Implementation Partner | Write | Read / Write (on own components) |
| Novulo | Temporary Write (support) | Read / Write (on Novulo components) |
ASCII Diagram
+-------------------+ +-------------------+
| Customer App | <--------> | Components |
| (Application Model)| | (Novulo, Partner, |
| | | Customer) |
+---------+---------+ +---------+---------+
^ ^
| |
Write rights Read/Write rights
| |
+-------+--------+ +-------+--------+
| Customer | | Implementation |
| | | Partner |
+----------------+ +----------------+
9. Typical Issues in Practice
Common situations where employees get stuck:
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A developer cannot find a model in the Composer → They are missing read access to the component.
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Deployment error: “The current composition of the cart is invalid because: [customer] is missing rights for the following models [M12345].” → The customer is missing read access to a specific component.
These problems are typically solved by granting the missing rights at either the individual or company level.
How to request component access
How to approve or revoke component access
10. Best Practices
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Assign 2–3 people in each organisation to handle rights requests. This avoids bottlenecks when someone is on holiday or unavailable.
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Grant read access widely, but be more restrictive with write access.
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Use time-limited write rights for temporary collaboration.
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Ensure both the customer and their implementation partner understand who owns which models, and who can grant rights.
11. Delegating Rights Management for Application Models
By default, the owner of the application model (the customer) is the one who can assign rights for write access to the integrated model. This setup makes sense when the customer wants to maintain full control over who integrates and updates their application.
However, in practice many customers work closely with an implementation partner. In these cases, it is often more practical for the customer to delegate this responsibility to the partner. When this is done, the partner gains the ability to decide which of their own employees should receive access to the project.
To enable this delegation:
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The customer (owner) and the implementation partner must jointly request this setup from their Novulo contact.
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Once granted, the partner can act on behalf of the customer for assigning rights to their employees.
This setup is common in implementation projects, as it avoids delays and ensures the partner can manage access for their own team efficiently.
Versioning & Updates
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Last Updated: 21 August 2025
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Purpose: This guide explains model rights in Novulo and best practices.
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Versioning Notes:
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Model rights policies may change.
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The Novulo software itself will also receive updates.
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Examples and workflows reflect current common scenarios but may be updated.
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21 Aug 2025: Added Chapter 11 on delegating rights management for application models.
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