How to Setup a Multiuser Environment with Different Permissions

  • Thread starter Thread starter TC
  • Start date Start date
T

TC

Using OS permissions is really not the way to go.

Access "user level security" provides comprehensive options for restricting
user access to tables, queries, forms & reports. Using "Run With Owner
Permission (ROWP) queries", you can even establish security right down to
individual rows & columns. You can also prevent the users from being able to
access the tables directly - even though they can access them from forms.

Unfortunately, user level security is a fairly complex beast, with a
singificant learning curve, & full of traps for the unwary. Start by reading
the access security FAQ: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=207793 Then read
it anther *50 gazillion times*, draw some diagrams, & spend a few weeks
experimenting on throw-away databases!

HTH,
TC


Mike Thurgood said:
We need to grant read-only access to some users and write access to other
Click to expand...
users of the tables in a database. In addition, we need the read-only users
to be able to create their own queries and reports. We tried placing the
main database in a folder that had appropriate read-only/write permissions
using NTFS. A "front-end" database was then created with write permissions
in NTFS and having links to the main database, thus allowing the users to
create their own queries and reports while still maintaining the main
database tables as read-only.
We are experiencing the following problems:
1. If a user with read-only access is already in the database and views a
Click to expand...
table or query, and then a user with write access opens the main database,
it opens in a read-only state. If the user with write access opens the main
database before other users, then there are no problems.
2. The above problem can be resolved by giving read-only users write
Click to expand...
access to the main database folder and still maintaining the read-only
permissions on the .mdb file, but then if the main database is ever
compacted it loses its NTFS permissions and becomes writeable to all users
as KB295234 describes.
What to do? Are the security measures available in Access the best way to
Click to expand...
go in this situation?
 
We need to grant read-only access to some users and write access to other users of the tables in a database. In addition, we need the read-only users to be able to create their own queries and reports. We tried placing the main database in a folder that had appropriate read-only/write permissions using NTFS. A "front-end" database was then created with write permissions in NTFS and having links to the main database, thus allowing the users to create their own queries and reports while still maintaining the main database tables as read-only.

We are experiencing the following problems:
1. If a user with read-only access is already in the database and views a table or query, and then a user with write access opens the main database, it opens in a read-only state. If the user with write access opens the main database before other users, then there are no problems.
2. The above problem can be resolved by giving read-only users write access to the main database folder and still maintaining the read-only permissions on the .mdb file, but then if the main database is ever compacted it loses its NTFS permissions and becomes writeable to all users as KB295234 describes.

What to do? Are the security measures available in Access the best way to go in this situation?
 
Thanks for your help. Also, I've learned my lesson
posting my real e-mail address in a newsgroup -- Swen
virus messages are now hitting my inbox every couple of
minutes. Sigh...

Mike
 
Back
Top