The Crypto Rule dialog box exists to construct new Crypto rules. Crypto rules are designed to read the data in a column and replace each item with its encrypted version.

Crypto rules can also decrypt the previously encrypted data so that the original information is restored. Crypto rules are the only type of Masking Rule in which it is possible to recover previously masked data via the application of a rule.

General information on Masking Rules can be found in the About Data Masker Rules help file. Detailed information on Crypto rules (what they are, how and when they can be used) can be found in the About Crypto Rules help file.

The Data Masker New Crypto Rule Dialog Box

Crypto rules do use options. Options are associated with the rule when it is created and can be adjusted at any time using the Options panel on the Set Rules tab.

The available options for Crypto rules are discussed in detail in the following help files.

Crypto Options

These options configure the rule for encryption or decryption, choose the encryption key and the field padding character.

How to Create a New Crypto Rule

The panel on the top left hand side of the dialog box lists all of the tables in the schemas that the Data Masker application currently knows about. If the required table is not present in the list then the schema information will probably need to be refreshed again. Use the "Refresh Schema Information from DB" button on the Misc Setup tab to reload this information.

Note:A right mouse button click on any table name will cause a small menu to appear offering the option to see the columns, foreign keys and indexes for a particular table.

To use the New Crypto Rule dialog box, select the table which contains the column on which you wish to perform the crypto operation. Once a table has been selected, the columns for that table will appear in the top right hand Table Columns list view. Choose the column to be inserted and the information will be summarized (as shown in the image above) in the bottom right hand panel area.

Beside the Column Name field is an icon containing a large letter I. A green icon indicates that the column present is used in an index, a red icon indicates that the column is not used in an index. Crypto rules on columns used in a Unique or Primary Key or in a Foreign Key will require that the constraint to be dropped before the Crypto rule can be executed.

Rule options can be configured using the panel on the bottom left hand side of the dialog box. Detailed information on these options can be found on the About Crypto Rules and the About Rule Options help pages.

To save the Crypto rule click on the Save Crypto Rule button with the mouse.

At this point the construction of the rule is complete. A new rule can be added by selecting a new table (or column). Ppressing the Done button will close the New Crypto Rule dialog box.