5.4.4 Conflict

Systems with a large number of policies usually suffer from having conflicts between different policies. In this context two things are important: detecting a conflict and resolving it. Sometimes additional information is necessary to detect a conflict. Metapolicies can state constraints over policies in order to specify either acceptable [LuSl 97d,LuSl 97a,LuSl 97b] or unacceptable cases for the application of policies. A strategy for resolving such conflicts can be implemented through metapolicies, with the advantage that the resolution is no longer tied to one specific approach. The resolution strategy for each policy, and respectively for each conflict, can be chosen independently. It is very important that conflicts are handled in one place and in an orderly way. This is an imminent requirement for management.