Database Reference
In-Depth Information
UP TO SPEED: ANY NEW ANYTHING
The list in each Custom Privileges window has an unusual last item: [Any New Field], [Any New
Layout], [Any New Table], [Any New Value List], and [Any New Script]. These privileges refer to
any of those elements you create after the privilege set is created, and they all start out turned to “no
access.” That's right—any new layout, value list, or script you create is automatically unavailable to
users with accounts tied to these privilege sets.
Administering security is an ongoing process, and this setting means that you can add a new feature
that works perfectly well for you, but not for users whose custom privilege settings haven't been
opened up for those new elements. So each time you add an element to your database, remember to
select the appropriate custom options for the new element in every privilege set in your database.
Yep, it's time-consuming, and you may be tempted to crank those [Any new] privileges up, thinking
it'll save work. Often, though, those settings give users
too
many privileges, and it'll come back to
bite you later.
Also, there's a downside to using the Select All button to make changes in the custom privileges
windows—that button selects the [Any New…] item as well as the “real” items in the list. So if you
use the Select All button, you may also need to manually deselect the [Any New] item before you
make changes.
Would you ever want to turn these options on intentionally? Maybe. It's fairly common to let users
create new value lists, but you have to give them editing privileges on some layouts to apply their
new list to a field. You might also create a privilege set for users who are allowed to create report
layouts. In that case, you'll need to turn on the “Allow creation of new layouts” option at the top of
the Custom Layout Privileges window, along with letting those users modify any new layouts,
which includes your new layouts. You'll also have to make sure that they have access to all menu
commands, so they can enter layout mode and create new layouts.
But take care when considering whether to give users privileges to create and edit scripts, which is
safe only when people know what they're doing. Remember, you can let users create and edit new
elements but still keep them from editing
your
elements by setting their custom privileges to “view
only.”
When you're done looking, click OK to close this dialog box. Because you just made a set of
complex choices, FileMaker sums up everything you just did by displaying “Custom priv-
ileges” in the Records pop-up menu in the “Data Access and Design” section of the Edit
Privilege Set dialog box. To review or edit the record-level or field-level access you've set,
in the Records pop-up menu, click “Custom privileges” again.
Layout privileges
. If you've been following along in this section, you've given project man-
agers access to data that lets them do their jobs. But if you stop now, then they still can't get
very far. They don't have access to any
layouts
yet, and without layouts, a FileMaker data-
