Using password type "bullets" in text fields

[murray]

I have a field that holds a password for basic access control but would like it not to be seen by the casual observer when the layout on which it resides is open. Can an ordinary text field be made to display those bullets that are shown in regular password fields when characters are entered?

Cheers, Murray

[dbruggmann]

You can use a bullets font and format the field with it. If I remember correctly there's one even in the Sample Forum on this site (search for

[murray]

Thanks Detlev,

I'll look for that. I suppose I could also use Wingdings or similar.

Perhaps I need to sort out something more sophisticated.

Cheers, Murray

PS. Your help with my portal problem has let me get going on those files - thanks again.

[dbruggmann]

Hi Murray

No, I would not use Wingdings or similar, because they have a unique sign for every character

[murray]

Hi Detlev,

Thanks for your advice.

I found another thread which discusses this issue and I will have a go at that solution.

Cheers,

Murray

[BobWeaver]

One problem with using bullet fonts is that you have to make sure it is installed on everyone's computer. Another idea that I read somewhere is to use a font from the standard set (like Times etc.), and format it as 2 point, bold, outline, strikethrough, etc. It then becomes totally unreadable, but the user can still see how many characters have been typed.

[Vaughan]

Instead of bullets, why not format the text colour to be the same as the field colour so it's invisible?

Neither bullet fonts nor "invisible" text can stop users from copying the text from the field and pasting it into a text editor and seeing the data.

[Vaughan]

Another thought: the Show Custom Dialog scriptmaker step (FMP 6.0 or later) can display entry fields a bullets.

[murray]

Thanks for all your input,

I've gone with the idea that CobaltSky suggested in the link to another thread in my post above.

The calculation field masks the password field with whatever symbols you choose (I used "

[DanBrill]

I'm a fan of Vaughn's suggestion. I just changed my solution to work using the Custom Dialog step. The advantage is that its a true password field. Not only does it show up as bullets, but you can't copy and paste from the field. Any other solution would allow you to copy the contents to Word, for example, and change the font options -- removing strikeouts, bold, wingdings, whatever -- and reading it.

[murray]

I am also using the custom dialog in my script. Basically, the password has to be stored somewhere accessible so that it can be changed by the user, but not generally seen on the screen. With the solution above, it isn't revealed until the password itself is entered into the custom dialog box and deemed to match that in the hidden field. If the password is a match, the cursor goes into the password field (behind the mask), which is revealed and can be changed if necessary. By restricting access to the field using a password and custom dialog, unless the password is known or the cursor is already in the field, it can't be copied.

As the password must be stored somewhere so that the custom dialog script can match it, protecting the password field in this way seems a good solution to me.

Cheers, Murray