Hey all,

New to the forums and relatively new to FMP. I'm looking for a sample database for record locking. Basically, I have a billing sheet DB that I want users to click on a button to submit their daily billing sheet. After submitting, I want editing of this record to be locked for the user but to be turned on/off by an administrator. I haven't created a multi-user solution before so any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

The way I handle this is to have a number field called "lock_status". There is either a 1 or a 0 (or nothing) in it. Then I have a container calculation field that goes like this:

= If (lock_status = 1, resources::locked_icon, resources::unlocked_icon)

Note: I use a relationship called "resources" that helps me keep track of graphics or whatnot in a seperate database. You could use global container fields in the database in question to get the same result.

Basically if the lock_status field has a 1 in it, the icon shows a locked lock (in red.) If it doesn't, it shows an unlocked lock (in green.) I set the lock_status field with a script that toggles the value of 1 in the field or not. This is all worthless until you define all the fields you want to keep locked down with the "Validate by calculation" part. For a field to pay attention to the lock status, use this:

= lock_status = 1

FileMaker 6 has a feature where you can lock records at the record level for individual passwords (as opposed to the per-field method described above.) This may be what you want, as you would not have to specify each and every field to validate by calculation.

Woops, forgot the attachment. This is what it looks like on the layout. I have a script attached to the container calculation field. Basically click the lock to lock it, click again to unlock it. The images are overlapped just to show both of them.