One of FileMaker Pro's strengths is its ability to let multiple users access the same database file over a network. But with that ability comes risks: How do you know the people who are accessing a database are the people who are allowed to access it?

That's where FileMaker Pro's security features can help. By properly setting up accounts and privilege sets, you can specify who can open a database file and what fields and layouts that person can see and change. You can also limit activities -- for example, prevent certain users from editing, adding, or deleting records. You can even take advantage of record-level security to prevent certain users from accessing specific records in the database file.

Here's what you need to know to properly set up FileMaker Pro 8's security features for your database files.

Accounts & privileges basics

The Accounts & Privileges feature of FileMaker Pro 8 has three separate parts:

• An account is a username and password combination that lets a user access a file with a defined privilege set. You can create an account for each database user or group of users, depending on your security needs. FileMaker Pro automatically creates two accounts for each database: Admin, which has full access to the database and is enabled by default, and Guest, which has read-only access to the database and is disabled by default. You can add more accounts as needed to set up your security system.
• A privilege set is a collection of permissions that control what a user can access in a file. For example, a privilege set might allow access to specific layouts, records, or scripts while disallowing access to others. A privilege set also determines what a user can do with the data. For example, it might allow printing but not editing of records. FileMaker Pro automatically creates three privilege sets for each FileMaker Pro database: Full Access, which provides complete access to the database and is assigned to the Admin account; Data Entry Only, which allows viewing and editing access to the database but no design access; and Read-Only Access, which allows viewing access to the database but no editing or design access. You can use these privilege sets as defined, modify them, or create others.
• Extended privileges are additional permissions for sharing information via network, Web, or other means. You can apply these permissions as part of a privilege set.