Leyne, Sean wrote:

> Our application allows a user to belong to multiple groups (roles) and
> thus they have access to all functions available to all the groups they
> belong to. Why does a user have to log out or perform some action to
> change the role? It seems a very unnecessary step.

The mechanism for changing roles here is irrelevant to my argument, the
point I was making is that sometimes you want to have the application
behave as if you only have one particular (or subset of possible)
role(s) to play.

Perhaps I am misunderstanding the capability of your system. Based on
what you describe, can I have the application and database act as if I
am only a "customer" even if I am allowed to be both "boss" and
"customer" without changing my group membership in order to do so?

I have repeated my boss/customer example here for clarity.
====
As a business owner (role="boss") who normally plays the role of "boss"
you would like to test the customer experience of
purchasing a product from one of your retail outlets. So you go
anonymously into the store and purchase a product, you play the role of
customer.

It is not useful in this interaction to also be treated as boss since
the result is different. You will likely get extra attention and may not
be asked to pay, not a very good test at all!
=====

The way I read your proposal, I would be treated as both boss and
customer during the above described purchase because I would have no way
of shedding my boss status (even temporarily) without quitting (i.e.
removing myself from the boss group).

Cheers
--
Adam Clarke