Security And User Levels

As users sign into your database, Collect! manages security very effectively using a system of user levels and access rights. You may have as many as 99 user levels, if necessary, with different levels of access to forms and fields in Collect!.

Use one common user level for all your junior collectors and a more powerful user level for the collection manager. If you are the only user, assign yourself the most open user level.

When each operator is created in Collect!, using the Operator form, assign a unique alphanumeric operator ID code up to 7 characters long. You must also enter an alphanumeric Password up to 21 characters. You may change these settings at any time and they will take effect immediately. You also have the ability to set up automation for controlling password requirements.

Only users with valid IDs and Passwords can sign into Collect!. This takes care of the first part of security, who signs in. Collect! checks for a valid ID and Password. If found, then Collect! determines the user level that is assigned to this operator, and loads the appropriate security and access rights settings. This allows the operator to see only what you have set them up to see and use. The user's access rights to forms and fields are stored in the user level you assigned when you set up the operator. Also, the user level can hold customized field label titles, hide a field, change the field color, and attach a pick list or control file, among other things.

User Level Samples

Collect! ships with many sample User Levels, created with input from our users. You can easily control access to many areas and functions in Collect! simply by selecting the appropriate User Level for the Operator you are setting up.

User Level 10 has access to everything in the system, whereas User Level 98 is a Guest level with very restricted access. The User Levels in between offer varying amounts of access. User Level 99 is "beyond the access rights" operations and has full access to everything. This is a Technical Access level for troubleshooting and for setting access rights for other levels.

We recommend that you try signing into Collect! with each one of the sample Operators in the Demodb database while making note of the User Level you are exploring. Take note of all the areas this user can see and edit. You may find that our predefined User Levels fit your needs with little or no modification.

You must sign out of Collect! completely, returning to the Desktop, whenever you change to a different User Level, or some of the rights from the previous level that you were signed in as may still be in effect.

User Levels can be modified as needed. You can copy and paste a level and then give your copy a unique Code. Then you can experiment with modifying the access rights, assign the User Level to an Operator, sign in as that operator and test your changes.

Whenever you are working with User Levels and Access Rights, you should be signed in as User Level 99 in EXCLUSIVE mode. After you make your changes, select System, Rights, Access Rights and select the REBUILD button to update the access rights meta table.

Account Access Security

We have discussed restricting access to forms and fields based on User Levels. Account Access Control is a different security system which offers the ability to restrict access to accounts based on operator and account access settings. So besides controlling access to forms and fields as described above, you can also apply security in another way and restrict access based on accounts or operators. Please refer to Help topic, Account Access Control, for details about this method.

See Also

- Security And Aliases Topics
- Account Access Control
- Copy Operator Configuration