Patent ID: 7676498

Claim:
A computer implemented method for managing user roles, the computer implemented method comprising: extracting functions and user roles from an application to form extracted information, wherein specific functions are associated with each user role of the application; storing the extracted information in a role database; responsive to receiving a request to modify a selected user role from the user roles for an application, modifying a set of features associated with the selected user role to form a set of customized features, wherein the set of features is a set of graphical representations of the specific functions associated with the selected user role; storing, by a computer, the set of customized features for the selected user role in the role database to form a modified user role for the application, wherein user roles in the role database are shared by a plurality of users of the application; receiving a selection of a user role for the application through a user interface from a particular user in the plurality of users, wherein the selection of a user role forms the selected user role; determining whether a set of customized features for the selected user role is present in the role database; and responsive to the set of customized features for the selected user role being present in the role database, providing the set of customized features associated with the selected user role for use in the application by the particular user.