We all make choices and influence organization decisions based on what we know of smart development/security practices and whats works best for the user.

The balance between right and good is usually critical to project success.

Given two development choices; make 2 separate layouts one for edit and one for view OR restrict edit via security and only use one layout.

What choice do you make?

Why?

What most influenced your choice?

 

make 2 separate layouts one for edit and one for view OR restrict edit via security and only use one layout.

​I don't know that the two are mutually exclusive.

I do know that if the restrictions on editing are dictated by the business rules, then you MUST use security and/or validation to enforce them. That's not a matter of "choices". In such case, you may choose to also implement some layout-level restrictions, in order to provide better user experience (e.g. preventing validation errors popping up).

OTOH, if the only reason for the restriction is functional, such as preventing accidental editing, then you can use only layout measures to implement it (by using two layouts, or one layout with tab panels, or ... ).

Edited June 8, 201510 yr by comment

Like comment said there are so many factors mostly business rules that the person directing the development request may not even be able to articulate, that are broader in terms of security and restrictions...

I just listened to a podcast and they have to capture every search request made against the database and log that action and of course only present the results that their security level dictates. And if they are searching for items that are out of their realm a report is sent generated for their supervisor to review and take needed training actions to prevent future fishing expeditions of the users.

Once a request is found then based on permissions some fields may or may not be editable - using FileMaker security schema vs relying only on layout level controls.

We make decisions on information presented or known at the time and that is weighed against experience and some due diligence in researching given industry standards and a guideline or goals are outlined and presented as option for the client to choose - based on time, and budget.