Access 2007 Protecting Integrity of DB

[athyeh]

Hello,



I am on the verge of being ready to distribute a DB that I have been creating. 50+ users will be receiving a Front-End file, and they are of varying tech-savy levels. I have read many articles on user-level securities and as far as protecting the integrity of the database (forms, data, queries, reports, the database entire) I have not found much.

I need to find a way to distribute the front-end so that all the user is able to do is input data through the form (unable to access tables, other forms, reports,) etc.

How can I accomplish this with Access 2007?

Thank you for your replies.

[Dal Jeanis]

If you can assume that your users aren't trying to do anything bad, then you can distribute a compiled version of the frontend.

What you CAN - and should - do is to use the Make ACCDE option to "compile" the .accdb database into a .accde version. This compiles and hides all the VBA code, and turns off most of the design tools (e.g. you can't open a Form in design view). You can still design or change Queries, but not forms or reports. It's possible (using third-party tools you can find on the web) to convert a .accde back to a .accdb but it's not something most endusers will be able to do.

I'd suggest keeping your own master copy of the frontend as a .accdb file, well backed up both onsite and offsite; make .accde files for your users, both for security and because they're usually a bit smaller and a bit faster. When they need a new feature, create and test it in your master copy and then make and distribute a new .accde. It's totally up to you (and your IT department if you have one) whether to buy each user a retail Access license and install the full program, or install just the runtime.

from http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/o...a-f6ab1e90fc00

You could also create a runtime version of the frontend instead, or simulate it by renaming the frontend to .accdr.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ac...010218864.aspx

This discussion even suggests using both of the above by compiling to an accde and then renaming it to accdr.

Of course, all of that may depend on how you plan on deploying the frontend and whether you plan to use an autoupdater to push out any future releases of the frontend.

[athyeh]

Let's assume that all people are mischevious and will do bad things if given the opportunity.

In this case: Are you saying that compiling the front-end is not a 'safe' option?

The second article mentions that Access 2007 users need to have read/write permissions, where/how can I set those permissions?