hello

i am looking to create a multi-user timesheet database

i am relatively new to filemaker, so hoping someone can help me or point me in the right direction

here is a brief description of what i would like to do:
- control access via a name/pass
- users would enter time against a single/multiple project(s)
- this would be done manually (ie. no need for a "timer")
- use the exist filemaker security to tie the user to their timesheets
- only allow each user to view only their own timesheets
- have a superUser/admin who can view everyone's timesheets & run reports

is this doable?

is there an off-the-shelf solution or a template that i can use/purchase/refer to

any help or insight greatly appreciated

thanks

Yes; fundamentally, this is very doable. Depending on how many users you will have and how many computers will need to access the solution, you may need to have the solution hosted on a Filemaker server. Did you have a budget for this project?

GisMo

 

thanks for the reply

approx 30-50 users, so will deinately be using filemaker server

access more than likely via web/filemaker go

could all access/secuity be handled by the built-in security tools, or would there need to be some other mechanism for controlling access to the data

thanks again

nedKelly

Yes. FileMaker can implement all of the security and access controls that you would likely need. 

including the ability to limit access to just the records that a user has entered, is it possible to do that so that the data is not available, or will it be showing up with the standard "<no access>"?

also possible to have a superUser have access to all records for all users, to modify as required, run reports etc

Yes, of course. Each record that is associated with a specific user has a user ID foreign key field. The interface you design must be highly controlled. No toolbar access and only use custom menus to limit control. All searches are scripted in a way that the current user's user ID is injected into each search which will yield only records related to that user.  You as the developer need to always have control of the found sets for the users  

It's nothing too complicated, but something you need to always keep in mind when your building the solution. 

GisMo

thanks for the additional info, certainly sounds like it is doable

a couple of further thoughts/questions

i assume that as each specific user has a user ID foreign key, that doing administrative things like enabling/disabling an account, or even if a user changes their name (married/divorced), that it shouldn't be a problem within the standard filemaker security system?

 

Correct. You would need a table called User. That's where the primary key userID would be. Any information related to that user would also live in that table(name, enabled/disabled, etc..). you would need to link the filemaker user-login to that table row. Maybe via username/email address. Something Unique.

GisMo

awesome stuff, thanks for all your help/guidance