Tutorial

Lesson 12
Protecting data in FileMaker Pro
Although your operating system includes file security features, you
should use FileMaker Pro accounts and privileges to protect your
data. In FileMaker Pro, you restrict which users can access a file when
you protect files by defining accounts and passwords. The account
name and password that users enter determine which privilege set is
used. These privilege sets limit what users can do in the file.
In this lesson you will learn:
1 How accounts, passwords, and privilege sets work together to
protect your data
1 How to create accounts, passwords, and privilege sets
Create an account and password
About accounts
Accounts authenticate users who attempt to open a protected file. An
account includes an account name and usually a password. Accounts
can be set up for individual users or you can create accounts that are
shared among groups of individuals, such as a “Marketing” account.
Shared accounts are useful when you want fewer accounts to
maintain and aren’t concerned with tracking individual access to a
database file. However, it’s safer to create many accounts than to
have multiple users share one account. Passwords are case-sensitive,
but account names are not.
When you create a database, two predefined accounts are created
(Admin and Guest) and three predefined privilege sets are available
(Full Access, Data Entry Only, and Read-Only Access).
The Admin account is not assigned a password and is assigned the
Full Access privilege set, which permits access to everything in the
file. The Guest account allows users to open a file without specifying
an account name, is not assigned a password, and is assigned
Read-Only privileges.
Passwords and access privileges for predefined accounts can be changed.
To create an account and password:
1. Open the Tutorial folder on your hard drive.
2. Open Sample Copy.fp7.
3. Choose File menu > Manage > Accounts & Privileges.
4. Click New in the Accounts tab.
5. For Account is authenticated via, Choose FileMaker.
6. For Account Name, type Le Nguyen.
7. For Password, type lnguyen.
Note For security reasons, password text never appears in
FileMaker
Pro. Always make a note of passwords you enter when
setting up accounts, then provide passwords to the appropriate
users. Store passwords in a safe place in case they’re forgotten and
so they can’t be stolen.
Predefined
accounts
Custom
Accounts