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Managing Assignments

Assignments connect objects to owners, determining which printers, settings, and permissions each user receives. Creating, modifying, and deleting assignments is your primary workflow in ScrewDrivers Administration—you'll select owners in the Assignments pane, drag objects from the Objects pane, and manage the resulting relationships through simple operations. This reference details assignment procedures, from creating direct assignments to denying inherited ones and understanding how blocking affects inheritance.

Overview​

An assignment links a specific object (printer, session setting, or permission) to a specific owner (user, group, computer, or OU). When you create an assignment, it's automatically saved to the ScrewDrivers database—no manual save action is required. Assignments can be direct (explicitly created by dragging an object to an owner) or inherited (received automatically through the ownership hierarchy).

The system distinguishes between different assignment states: allowed assignments grant access, denied assignments explicitly prevent access even when inheritance would otherwise provide it, and blocked assignments stop inheritance without actively denying. Understanding these states helps you design efficient assignment strategies that work with the inheritance model rather than fighting against it.

Creating Direct Assignments​

Direct assignments form the foundation of your printer and settings distribution. You'll create them by dragging objects from the Objects pane to owners in the Assignments pane, establishing an explicit connection that either stays at that owner level or inherits down to child owners depending on your configuration.

Assignment Procedure​

To make a direct assignment:

  1. Select the target owner in the Assignments pane (navigate to the appropriate tab first: Active Directory, Network, or Local Users and Groups)
  2. In the Objects pane, select the object or object group you want to assign
  3. Drag the selected object(s) to the owner in the Assignments pane

The assignment saves automatically when you complete the drag operation. You can select multiple objects using Ctrl-click to assign several objects simultaneously, but you can't mix object groups with their nested objects in the same multi-select operation.

Object Group Assignments​

When you assign an entire object group by dragging the top-level group folder, all objects within that group get assigned to the owner in a single operation. This streamlines bulk assignments and ensures consistency across related objects.

If you need to assign only specific objects from within a group, expand the group folder and select individual objects instead of the group itself. This selective assignment gives you fine-grained control when group-level assignment would be too broad.

Note: You can't directly assign Print Server objects themselves—only the printers nested within them. Print Server objects don't support grouping.

Deleting Direct Assignments​

You can delete direct assignments when an owner no longer needs access to a specific object. Inherited assignments can't be deleted at the child level—you must modify the assignment at the parent owner where it was originally created.

Single Assignment Deletion​

To delete a direct assignment:

  1. Select the owner in the Assignments pane
  2. Expand the owner entry to view assigned objects
  3. Right-click the object to remove
  4. Select "Delete Assignment" from the context menu

The assignment deletes immediately without confirmation. For deleting multiple direct assignments simultaneously, use the View All Assignments feature described in Managing Owners, which shows all assignments for an owner and lets you select and delete multiple items at once.

Denying Assignments​

When an owner has inherited an unwanted assignment that you can't delete (because it comes from a parent owner), you must deny the assignment instead. A denied assignment explicitly prevents access even though inheritance would normally provide it.

Denial propagates through inheritance just like allowed assignments—if you deny an assignment to a parent owner, all child owners also receive the denied status. This inheritance behavior is important to understand: a Deny at any level in the inheritance path always overrides any Allow at the same or lower levels.

Denying Inherited Assignments​

To deny an assignment:

  1. Select the owner who should not receive the assignment
  2. Expand the owner entry to view inherited objects
  3. Right-click the unwanted object
  4. Select "Deny Assignment"

The object displays a Denied icon, and users under this owner won't receive the object even though parent owners have it assigned. The denial applies to all child owners beneath the one where you set the deny.

Important: Because denied assignments always override allowed assignments, ensure you set the denial at the appropriate level in the ownership tree. Denying too high in the hierarchy affects more owners than intended; denying too low might not prevent access for all the users you meant to restrict.

Permitting Previously Denied Assignments​

You can override a denied status to restore an assignment at any time. Permitting an assignment removes the deny flag, allowing normal inheritance logic to apply again. This doesn't create a new direct assignment—it simply removes the explicit denial and lets the inheritance model determine whether the owner receives the object.

To permit a denied assignment:

  1. Locate the owner with the denied assignment
  2. Right-click the denied object
  3. Select "Permit Assignment"

The Denied icon disappears and inheritance resumes normal operation for this object and owner combination.

Blocking Assignments​

Blocking differs from denying—it stops inheritance flow without explicitly preventing access. When you block an assignment for an owner, that owner won't receive the assignment through inheritance, but the block doesn't actively deny access the way a denial does. This distinction matters when you have multiple inheritance paths or need to remove one inherited source while keeping others active.

Use blocking when you want to prevent inheritance from a specific parent without affecting the owner's ability to receive the same object through other means (different inheritance paths, direct assignment, etc.). Blocks give you surgical control over inheritance flow without the absolute restrictions of denial.

Assignment Types and Scenarios​

Different assignment scenarios require different approaches:

Single Default Printer: Each owner can have only one default printer. When you assign multiple printers to an owner, you must explicitly designate which one serves as the default. See Print Server Printers and Direct Printing references for default printer procedures.

Multiple Printer Assignment: Owners can receive multiple non-default printers through various direct and inherited assignments. These accumulate according to inheritance rules, with denials removing specific printers from the set.

Session Settings: Session settings require single results—only one set of session printer settings applies to each owner. If multiple settings inherit to the same owner, resolution rules determine which one takes effect based on specificity and hierarchy position.

Permissions: Administration permissions accumulate—an administrator can have multiple permission grants from different sources, and they receive the sum of all allowed permissions minus any denied.

Assignment Best Practices​

Effective assignment strategies improve deployment efficiency and reduce troubleshooting complexity:

  • Assign at the highest appropriate level: Configure once at OU or group level instead of individual users when possible
  • Use groups strategically: Leverage AD group membership for assignment targeting rather than creating custom network owners
  • Document denials: Make notes explaining why specific denials exist, as they can be confusing months later
  • Test inheritance paths: Use Logon Impersonation before deploying complex assignment scenarios
  • Prefer blocking over denying: When you need to stop inheritance without preventing access, block instead of deny
  • Clean up obsolete assignments: Regularly review and remove assignments that are no longer needed