Data and Analytics Management17% of the exam

How sharing controls report and dashboard data

Separates the three layers that decide what someone sees in analytics: folder access decides who can open, save or manage a report; record sharing decides which rows appear; field permissions decide which columns show values. Covers running users for dashboards and subscriptions.

Official exam objective
Describe the impact of the sharing model on reports (visibility, understand folder structure, sharing fields).

~8 min read · 8 practice questions ·

What the exam expects

  • Explain why two users running the same report see different rows, naming the org-wide default, role hierarchy, sharing rules and manual shares as the causes.
  • Choose Viewer, Editor or Manager folder access for a requirement, and design a folder and subfolder structure that matches who should see which reports.
  • Diagnose a blank column (field permissions) versus missing rows (record access or the Show Me scope filter).
  • Predict what dashboard viewers and subscription recipients see based on the running user, and when that exposes more data than they normally have.
  • Fix a visibility gap with the narrowest tool, such as a sharing rule to a public group rather than View All Data.

Key facts

Report record access
Detail
Never wider than the running user's own access
Org-wide default
Detail
Baseline access; lock to most restrictive
Role hierarchy
Detail
Users above can view and report on records below
Sharing rules
Detail
Only grant more access; never stricter than the default
Field permissions
Detail
Hide fields in reports, list views and search
Viewer folder access
Detail
View reports only
Editor folder access
Detail
View and save reports in the folder
Manager folder access
Detail
Editor plus share, rename and delete the folder
Folder shares in the UI
Detail
Up to 25 users, groups, roles or territories
Folder shared with a role
Detail
Not visible to superior roles automatically
Subfolder depth
Detail
Up to 3 levels
Dashboard running user
Detail
Me, another person, or the viewer
Sources for this section (6)
  • Which three record-level mechanisms can make two users see different rows in the same report?
  • What can an Editor do in a report folder that a Viewer can't, and what is reserved for a Manager?
  • Why can't you limit one subfolder to a single team, and what do you do instead?
  • When a column shows values for some users and is empty for others who see the same rows, what do you check?
  • What do recipients see when a report subscription runs as another person?

The questions are free to read. Answers with their sources and self-grading are included with the pack.

Keep reading with the Platform Administrator pack

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  • All 28 lessons of the Platform Administrator guide, with reading progress
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