US Patent 9467472 Controlling access to a software application

A method for controlling access to a software application includes generating a policy machine template based on at least one role and at least one permission for an operator, generating a policy machine based on the operator and at least one object associated with the operator, and maintaining at least one logical link between the policy machine template and the policy machine. The policy machine is an access control framework permitting directed acyclic graph relationships between objects, and the policy machine controls access to the software application.