Password-protected form fields in Access

[sterling]

Excuse my ignorance...<br>
<br>
How do I create a field on a form that requires a password for data entry?<br>
I don't want to apply a password to the entire database, as it has to be accessed by everyone, just particular fields...<br>
<br>
Any help would be much appreciated.<br>
<br>
Cheers,<br>
<br>
<br>
Sterling<br>
<br>

 

[DougP]

In the Text box field Properties in the &quot;Input Mask&quot; you can use the &quot;password&quot; Input Mask.<br>
It will make the box show xxxxx when keying in.<br>
<br>
If you want them to Input a password before opening the form then you could either make Users and Groups <br>
Or<br>
Create and Input box on the forms load event which asked for a password.<br>
Any way you go will require a bit of work.<br>
<br>

 

[elizabeth]

Are you familiar with Access's user-level security? Access can use the userid to determine read, write, etc. permissions. But this is at the form, table, query (etc.) level, not the field level. Sometimes it's possible to design your objects to take advantage of this. For example you could put the restricted fields on a subform, and only allow reading and/or data modifications for members of certain groups. I realize this isn't *exactly* what you're asking for. But I find it often works better for me to rethink a problem in a way that allows me to solve it with a commonly-used approach, rather than re-inventing the wheel. And this is the maintenance-friendly approach! Good luck.

 

[sterling]

Thanks for your quick responses.<br>
<br>
To Doug:<br>
<br>
Thanks, I'm going to try out the input mask idea...<br>
<br>
<br>
To Elizabeth:<br>
<br>
I was hoping not to have to use the 'user-level' security.<br>
<br>
I'm trying to create a field that allows one of our department managers to enter their 'signature' and date, to indicate that they have viewed (and reviewed) a record. This field needs to be visable to all staff, but only alterable (is this a word?...) by the managers.<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
<br>
Sterling

 

[elizabeth]

Are you distributing this as a shrink-wrapped solution or do the users have Access? Using the input mask approach, a non-manager with Access could go behind the form and enter the forbidden entry directly into the appropriate table. Your security is good while your users remain ignorant of this. <br>
<br>
Security is funny... When you implement any security system, some people infer that you don't trust them personally. Mostly people realize it's just a good way to do business and it's smart to protect people from making errors. But sometimes they feel you're saying, &quot;we think you have so little intellegence or integrity that we're locking you out of this data.&quot; If I have to risk offending someone, I at least want to be sure that something pretty bad will happen if security is not in place. And that means the security better be pretty reliable. My apologies for getting on the soapbox today!