Assign elevation to a FE before distribution!!

[thekruser]

What I have:
tblPersonal
-Employee# (PK)
-SectionID (FK)

tblSections
-SectionID (PK)
-Name



What I am trying to do:
I am trying to create a .accde for distribution to the managers of the different sections within my organization (e.g., Accounts Payable, Safety, Payroll, etc.). This .accde will provide the target manager a snapshot of the information I track on his/her employees.

The problem:
The Safety manager should not be able to see any information on the employees in the Accounts Payable section. Currently, this is not the case. Everyone can see the information on everyone in the database.

I am still early in the implementation phase and am publishing a FE update almost every day. It is not feasible for me to tailor each and every report/form with a delaminating factor. Hundreds of forms/reports. If I had to manually change each one before, distribution would take days.

My idea:
I would like to have all forms and reports contain a reference to a separate table what would contain the SectionID. This reference would serve as a filter for that specific form/report.

The idea is, create an .accde from the admin FE, open said .accde, change the value of SectionID in the standalone table and resave. Do this for each SectionID and I am done.

Please help me accomplish this...or something similar. If my way of thinking is incorrect, PLEASE tell me. If there is an easier way, I am open to anything. Just need the end-state achieved.

Thank you in advance for your time and help. Have a nice day!!

[HiTechCoach]

Seems like a lot of extra work than probably needed.

What is a user get a copy of another user's front end? Then they can view data that they should not see.

I would make it so that you only have a single front end used by all users. Use some method to authenticate the user to know what they can view.

I would avoid hard coding it into each individual front end.


Some options:

1) If have a domain where the users log on to authenticate (Active Directory):

Create a table in the back end that holds a list of user names. I would use a related table to hold all the SectionID keys that a user can view.


When the Front end loads, get the current logged on user name and look up to see what SectionID(s) then can view.

A simple way to use this method is to store the SectionID in a local table and update all the queries, etc to use this table as a filter

Note: There is a Windows API call that can be used to get the current logged on user.


2) If do NOT have a domain where the users log on to authenticate (Active Directory):

Create a table in the back end that holds a list of user names. I would use a related table to hold all the SectionID keys that a user can view. Add a passord to the user table and create a log in form to authenticate the user.


3) Use the workstation name to authenticate. This could be used if do NOT have a domain where the users log on to authenticate (Active Directory) or computer are not shared:

Create a table in the back end that holds a list of computer names. I would use a related table to hold all the SectionID keys that a user can view.


Instead of a user table, have a computer table. Just link #1 above but use the computer name.

Note: There is a Windows API call that can be used to get the computer name


4) save a INI file on each computer that has a list of the SectionID(s) they can view. This file will not get replace when the front end is updated.


Hopefully this gives you some ideas.

also see:
Auto FE Updater

[thekruser]

My domain does utilize Active Directory, and I would absolutely love to incorporate it; however, I have no idea how to do it.

[thekruser]

Ok...I have the Windows API saved as a module. Now the issue is: I have no idea what to do with it.

[NTC]

HTC's advice is correct. Fundamentally you are building your own User Level Security. Only you can decide but generically the records in tables must have a field for the User Level (or type or department or whatever you decide).

When people open the FE the start screen should have a login. You need a table of all users with an assigned User Level (or type or department or whatever you decide). Keep that start screen open and that user level value always in a textbox (it can be made not visible).....

then when they go to look at data - use queries that call data using that user level value as criteria. thus only records conforming to their user level value are returned by the query which is the record source for every form/report they look at...

hope this helps.