# User Configuration

Cognex Designer provides the User Configuration tool to allow the user to build a core user management system for the applications.

User configuration allows the user to:

- Control access to the application based on either
  - Windows authentication
  - “Standard” - application authentication
  Note: See the Local Fallback topic for more information about supporting both options.
- Control access to components/functionality based on:
  - value in a security field(s)
- Read/use specific user profile information from Active Directory (AD)
- Create local profile fields with the ability to store/retrieve data