Write-access Password

[Rebecca72252]

I have an Access database containing linked tables, forms, and reports, currently available to all employees in a company. Is there a way to allow everyone to view all parts of the database, but to restrict write-access to only a few people, maybe through a password? (By the way, I'm a relatively new Access user so please feel free to "overexplain" things.) Thanks!

 

[paulhorn]

Rebecca, As far as I am aware, this is not 'do-able', certainly not without using VB code - tho' I am open to being corrected on this.

You need to take a look at the user & group level access (under 'Tools' 'Security' on your toolbar). It is fairly involved, but you can use the security wizard to do most of the leg work for you. This way at least, you get to define users and/or user groups who can have a variety of access to your data (read only, edit, add, delete etc)

Take a look at the help screens for database security

HTH

 

[Andrew Fergus]

Hello Rebecca and welcome.

I have never used the security and permissions settings myself (nor VB) and if you can't get the security to work through the menus (as Paul mentioned they are fairly involved and, after a few minutes of mucking around with them, IMO they are not very intuitive) then there are a couple of work-arounds below.

If your database is a switchboard setup then you can have one switchboard in a new database for the average user (which allows them to run queries, view reports etc.) with tables that are linked back to the tables in the real database(s). From memory you can set the permissions on the linked tables (i.e. read, write, read & write) but the method for doing this through the menus is eluding me at the moment (someone here might be able to help) - I've done it before (i.e. setting linked tables to read only) but I can't remember how.

If your average users are forced through a series of forms for everything and they don't need to get into the data tables or query/report design, then you can hide the database window, force the user into the switchboard via an autoexec macro and set the permissions for various forms to be "read-only".

Meanwhile, the "power" users, or administrators, would have access to the "real" database with the live tables or a version of the database that doesn't have the read-only restrictions.

If you can't set up restrictions on the linked tables in the users version of the database, then an alternative work-around might be using a "snapshot" of the data - i.e. the users version of the database gets a copy of the tables from the live database each night. They can hack and bash the data in the tables all they like and you will be safe in the knowledge that everything will be put right overnight when you import / export the data from the live tables into the users tables each morning or night.

But, I'd still try going through the security menus first to see if your answer is in there.

HTH, Andrew.

 

[daisymsg]

Rebecca:

I have never like Access Security. When I need to restrict access, I normally do it via directory security. Or, another way I have done it is using the client-server architecture (see Tools, split database). Once the database is split, you can create one or more UI's to distribute to the appropriate user groups.

If you have concerns with who is making changes, create an audit table that is updated everytime a field is changed.