This page is for administrators who need to configure direct access to the PhixFlow database.
It is possible for database users who have sufficient permission to access the PhixFlow database tables directly. This can be useful if they want to use database queries to generate reports. However this is insecure, as it allows the database user to see all PhixFlow data. To restrict access to specific data, you can configure a role to access database views.
Before you start, we recommend you have a list of any the streams that are already onfigured to create a database view. Is there an easy way to find this e.g. in the database?
In the PhixFlow Database
1. Create a role in the PhixFlow database.
create role myrole;
2. Grant this role to any database users that require access to the database views.
--MariaDB grant 'myrole' to 'myuser'@'%'; --Oracle grant myrole to myuser; --SQL Server alter role myrole add member myuser;
For a MariaDB database: set the Grant option for the PhixFlow database user.
In the PhixFlow Application
3. Set up the specific streams that need to be available to generate database views. In the stream properties → Advanced → Database View, enter a string in the formatv_xxxx. When the stream is published to the database, PhixFlow creates a view for the stream data.
If you have already created database views, they will only become available to database users after you republish the stream data.
4. In the System Configuration→ Advanced → Database View Role, enter the name of this database role.
This option refers to a role in the PhixFlow database not in the PhixFlow application.
Test the configuration
After configuring Database View Role, you must test that it is correctly configured by triggering PhixFlow to publish a database view.
6. Find For a stream with stream properties → Advanced → Database View set, untick the Enabled box and save the stream.
7. Tick the Enabled box again and resave the stream. This forces PhixFlow to publish the stream data and to create the database view.
If the configuration is incorrect, publishing a stream with a database view will fail. Check the console for error messages.
Anything specific they can look for if it goes wrong?
When the configuration is correct, publishing will complete successfully.
Republish existing database views
8. To republish existing database views, you can either follow steps 6 and 7 to trigger republishing. Alternatively, you can open any stream view for the stream.
Remember that the 
Administration → Other Options → Publish Streams option only publishes changed stream data. You need to use the disable/enable method or opening a stream view to "touch" the data, so that PhixFlow knows to republish it.
Managing the Database Role
When the Database View Role is set, database views are available to database users with this role. This is equivalent to running:
grant select on v_myview to myrole;
When new database views are created, they are automatically made available to the database users.
Once the database role is created, making changes to the System Configuration→ Advanced → Database View Role name does not update existing views or remove them from the previous role.