Blocking field modification except by the system

[evancooney]

There is a "client belongs to rep" field in our client database that cannot be modifed except by the sales manager. However, when sales reps create new accounts / records, they need to add their rep name. How can I do this with a script?

Regards,

EMC

[danjacoby]

You could have a global "RepName" field, which each rep would have to fill in whenever they log in (in multi-user solutions, global fields are user-specific and clear when the user closes the file). Then set the field to auto-enter the RepName.

[RussBaker]

You can also have fields validated by a comparison between the creation date/time and the current Date/time, and also to see which access group the user is a member of.

In this way, you can allow a user to create a new record, and then have 10 or 15 minutes in which to enter data and also modify what they have entered. After that 10 or 15 minutes, only the sales manager (who belongs to a different group to the sales rep) would be able to modify the data in those fields.

[evancooney]

Russ,

Could you expand to specifics on this? If a group cannot modify a field, how could that ever be overidden?

Thanks,

Evan

[RussBaker]

You write the validation calculation to include a specific group(s) which have modification rights. I have attached a file which has 3 passwords:

developer - full file access

russ - administrator access

larry - user access

The calc for validating the Text Field is set to allow modification if the modification is attempted within 15 seconds of the record being created, OR if the user is a member of the "administrator" group.

This way, when a user (logon as larry) creates a record, they have 15 seconds to make changes and then the Text Field in that record locks. After that time has elapsed, only an "administrator" (logon as russ) can make changes. You can change the 15 seconds in the calculation. I normally allow the user 10 minutes = 600 seconds.

You can also use a similar calc and container fields to assign a different background colour to the field once it has locked.

You should delete all record in the attached file before having a play with it - because your time will be different from mine.

DateTimeUserValidation.fp5.zip

[Ugo DI LUCA]

Hi,

As Dan suggest, any creation of new records in a client database should be scripted using a set of global fields. I currently use this method also (including a checkdupe in the script step).