User manual

9-6 FileMaker Pro User’s Guide
Passwords and groups: a comparison
Passwords and groups are related. Passwords limit what users can do
and groups limit the layouts and fields they can see. You specify
access privileges for both passwords and groups.
1 For passwords, specify access privileges that limit a user’s
activities with the entire file (all the records, fields, layouts, etc.). For
example, one password might let users create and edit records, but
another might only let them browse records.
1 For groups, specify privileges that limit access to specific layouts
and fields. For example, you can give the Sales group access to one
set of layouts and fields and the Marketing group access to a different
set. This keeps each group’s information private within the same
database.
1 Group access privileges may take precedence over password
access privileges. For example, if a password allows users to edit all
fields in all records, but a group only gives those users read-only
access to fields, they cannot edit the data in the fields, regardless of
the password privileges. However, a group cannot provide additional
access over passwords. For example, if a password only permits
users to browse records, the group cannot provide full access to a
field or layout.