VISUAL QUICKPRO GUIDE FileMaker Pro 7 Advanced FOR WINDOWS AND MACINTOSH [Electronic resources]

Restricting Access with Privilege Sets

Once you have created user accounts, the fun begins. You can create your own Privilege Sets and tailor them to each user or group of users. A user with one Privilege Set might be able to browse and edit data, another only browse but not edit, and a third might be empowered to edit layouts and scripts.

Before you begin, make sure that you are signed on to the database with Full Access privileges.

To create a Privilege Set

1 .

Choose File > Define > Accounts & Privileges.

2 .

Click the Privilege Sets tab. Click New.

3 .In the Edit Privilege Set dialog box, type a name for the new set (Figure 16.18).

4 .In the Data Access and Design section, click the Records drop-down list. Choose the access level to grant for this set (Figure 16.19).

5 .

Click the Layouts drop-down list and choose the desired access setting (Figure 16.20). Do the same for the Value Lists entry.

6 .

Click the Scripts drop-down list. Choose whether users with this Privilege Set will be able to modify scripts, just run them, or have no access to scripts at all (Figure 16.21).

7 .In the Extended Privileges section, check the entries to control how the users with this Privilege Set will be able to access the file. In this case, we have set it to only be accessible via the FileMaker network, but not through Instant Web Publishing, ODBC, or FileMaker Mobile (Figure 16.22).

8 .

In the Other Privileges section, choose whether a user will be able to print, export, override data validation, change extended privileges, or change their own password (Figure 16.23).

9 .If users are allowed to change their password, you can specify the minimum length for the password and whether it must be changed on a regular schedule (Figure 16.24).

10 .Click OK to save the new settings. This new Privilege Set can now be assigned to any user accounts (Figure 16.25).

In a multitable database, the settings in the Privilege Set you've just created apply to all tables. If you want to apply different settings to specific tables in the same database, you can use the Custom privileges option.

Custom privileges are exactly that, and are extremely detailed. There is no aspect of the user experience that you can't control. Initially, you might want to limit yourself to some of the straightforward yes/no options provided, as shown in the following example, where we customize by record.

To customize Privilege Sets

1 .Choose File > Define > Accounts & Privileges.

2 .

Click the Privilege Sets tab. Double-click the Privilege Set you want to modify.

3 .Click the Records drop-down list. Choose Custom privileges (Figure 16.26).

4 .In the Custom Record Privileges dialog box, click on a table to select it. In the Set Privileges section, select yes from the View drop-down list if you want a user to View records in the table.

If you select yes, the Edit option remains available. If you select no, the Edit option automatically becomes "no" and is locked (Figure 16.27).

5 .

If the option is still available, choose whether your user can Edit records from the Edit drop-down list.

6 .

Choose "yes" from the Create drop-down list to allow the user to create records, "no" to prevent them. In our example, we prevent users from viewing records but allow them to create. Using this combination makes it possible to input secure information through a Web layout.

7 .The default setting for the Delete drop-down list is "no." Choose yes to allow privileged users to delete records in that table (Figure 16.28).

8 .If you want to limit access to certain fields, (a credit card field, for example) click the Field Access drop-down list and select Limited.

9 .

When the Custom Field Privileges dialog box appears, click on a field name. In the "Privilege:" section, select the "modifiable" radio button to allow a user to change the field, "view only" to look but not touch, and "no access" to hide the data from view (Figure 16.29). Click OK four times to save the changes.