Lesson 4 of 18
Allow, Hold or Deny
Step 4 in the guided paper walkthrough.
By the end of this lesson
Apply the policy in the correct order.
Read the rule before the action
Allow requires established authority and satisfied prerequisites. A prerequisite is a condition that must be true before permission applies. Hold applies when a relevant condition is missing, unresolved or unmet and no express prohibition governs the action. Deny applies when the rule expressly prohibits it. A prohibition takes precedence.
A worked decision
A rule permits reading formulas in an authorized workbook without changing values or refreshing external links. The facts establish read-only handling but do not establish authorization for this workbook. Under the reviewed reading, that missing condition requires Hold. Read-only handling alone does not establish permission.
Use the activity below to establish the missing prerequisite. Hold becomes Allow when authority and prerequisites are both established. Then add an express prohibition: the decision becomes Deny.
Go deeper: a simplified decision tree
First ask whether an express prohibition applies. If yes, Deny. Otherwise ask whether authority and every required condition are established. If yes, Allow; otherwise Hold. The browser example receives booleans already established by the reader. It does not interpret natural-language policy or verify outside facts.
Browser teaching tool
Try the policy rule
Set prerequisites to Yes and watch Hold become Allow. Then set express prohibition to Yes and observe Deny.
This simplified rule uses established evidence states. It does not interpret policy text or authorize an action.
Check your understanding · optional
Authority and prerequisites are established, but an express prohibition applies. Which decision follows?
Take this forward
Next, see how the experiment turned written situations into a reviewed case bank.
Paper and reference material
Original paper: §III.A · page 2 (new tab)
Source pages: 2
The teaching explanation and interactive examples are companion additions. Recorded study values and frozen references remain unchanged.