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Protecting databases
F
ILEMAKER PRO HELP 450
Notes
• FileMaker Pro no longer supports the fmiwp extended privilege. However, opening
database files created in FileMaker
Pro 12 or earlier that use the fmiwp extended privilege
does not remove the extended privilege from the privilege sets it is assigned to.
• Shared accounts are a security risk. For better security, use individual accounts instead of
shared accounts. If you intend to use shared accounts anyway, make sure you limit the
access capabilities of the privilege sets that shared accounts use. Change the password
occasionally, particularly when certain users no longer require access.
About the Admin and Guest accounts
Each database file initially contains two accounts: Admin and Guest.
Admin account
The Admin account is assigned the Full Access privilege set, which permits access to everything in
a file. The Admin account is not assigned a password. In files for which privileges are not set up, the
file options are set up to automatically log in to the file using the Admin account.
The Admin account is fully editable. You can rename it, assign it a password, make the account
inactive, or even delete the Admin account. See
Editing existing accounts.
Warning Don’t forget the account name and password that is assigned to the Full Access privilege
set. If necessary, write it down and store it in a secure place. If you lose or forget this account name
and password, you may not be able to access or change the file.
Guest account
You can permit users to open a file as a guest, which means they do not have to specify any account
information. The Guest account determines the privileges for users who open a file as a guest. By
default, the Guest account is assigned the Read-Only Access privilege set, but you can assign any
privilege set you want to the Guest account.
Initially, the Guest account is inactive, which disables the guest option in the password dialog box
and prohibits users from opening files as a guest. You can enable the Guest account to permit guest
access. For more information about opening files as a guest, see
Opening files protected with
passwords.
The Guest account is not fully editable. You cannot delete the Guest account, change the Guest
account name, or assign it a password. See
Editing existing accounts.
Using the predefined privilege sets
Every new FileMaker Pro database contains three predefined privilege sets. They are:
• Full Access: permits accessing and changing everything in the file
• Data Entry Only: permits viewing and entering of data only
• Read-Only Access: permits viewing but not changing data
Note The Read-Only Access privilege set permits write access to all global fields. To create a
privilege set in which global fields and all record data are view-only, you can duplicate the Read-
Only Access privilege set and change Records from Custom privileges to View only in all
tables.