User manual

Chapter 6 | Protecting databases 129
The privileges that you set up apply to a single file only and all database tables within that file. If
your database solution consists of multiple files that you want to protect, you may want to combine
all of these files into one multi-table file. Then you can define privileges in only a single file to
manage access to the entire database solution. If you don’t want to combine the files into one file,
then you should define privileges in each file that contains items you want to protect.
Important If you create a relationship in one file that references a table in another file, you cannot
manage access privileges for the related table in the first file. The privileges defined in the other
file control access to that table.
Accounts, privilege sets, and extended privileges
This section describes FileMaker Pro accounts, privilege sets, and extended privileges.
For more information on sharing data, see chapter 5, “Sharing and exchanging data.”
Accounts
Accounts authenticate users who are attempting to open a protected file. Each account specifies
an account name and usually a password. Any user that cannot specify valid account information
won’t be able to open a protected file.
Each database file contains two predefined accounts: Admin and Guest. For more information,
see
“About the predefined accounts” on page 130.
You may want to create an account for every individual who accesses a file, or you may want to
create a small number of accounts that are shared among many individuals, such as a “Marketing”
account and a “Sales” account.
1 Create accounts for individuals when it is necessary to verify the identities of particular users
and you want to manage access at an individual level.
1 Create shared accounts when you want fewer accounts to maintain and you are less concerned
about managing individual access to the database file.
If you host files on FileMaker Server, you can create External Server accounts that obtain
authentication information from an authentication server such as an Apple OpenDirectory or
Windows Domain. For more information, see
“Creating accounts that authenticate via an
external server” on page 137.
Privilege sets
A privilege set specifies a level of access to a database file. Each database file contains three
predefined privilege sets for common types of access levels: Full Access, Data Entry Only, and
Read-Only Access. When you create a privilege set, there are many options available that you
can use to limit database access, such as which layouts are viewable, which menus are available,
and whether printing is permitted. Privilege sets can also restrict access to records or fields from
particular tables within a file. Each account is assigned a privilege set, which determines the level
of access when someone opens a file using that account.
You can create as many privilege sets as you need to define the types of access you want to permit
to a file. For more information about privilege sets, see
“About the predefined privilege sets” on
page 131.