SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROL OF ACCESS TO RESOURCES

The invention provides a method, system, and computer program product for determining accessor entitlement to a resource in response to an accessor request for access to the resource. The invention associates a resource with an entitlement expression that includes a reference to at least one membership map having membership information regarding the accessor and associates with the accessor a unique identifier that acts as an index into each membership map. The entitlement expression is evaluated for the resource to determine the entitlement of the requesting accessor to the resource. The evaluation includes looking up the accessor's membership information in at least one membership map using the accessor's unique identifier. The invention may further include at least one accessor group having a name, zero or more accessors that are members of the group, and a membership map for determining whether a particular accessor is a member of the group. The entitlement expression then refers to at least one membership map by including at least one group name in the entitlement expression.