Re: The Holy Grail of Web Access

Hm... re-reading, I see you were the one who started that thread!!

Was there some difficulty following those steps?

Bill

"Bill Marriott" <wjm@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:T8OdncAvxqwqscXeRVn-pw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Rick,
>
> Back in January there was a thread regarding a very similar situation.
> It's a very straightforward solution. The basic approach is:
>
> 1) set up a table with one record for each user.
> 2) establish a default username/password for everyone in that table
> 3) set up a privilege set which is intended for this class of user
> 3) add these accounts to the FileMaker access privs table
> 4) for the privilege set, specify records can only be viewed/edited when
> the logged in account = the account marked for that record
> 5) set up a startup script where users are taken directly to their record
> on login.
>
> I'm reprinting the post I made earlier for your convenience [read from
> bottom up]. You should be able to find the whole thread if you have a
> decent newserver, or search Google. If you have additional questions, just
> let me know here or in email.
>
> Bill
> wjm@xxxxxxx
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> Easy enough to remedy.
>
> A very simple procedure can create default accounts for all users:
>
> Fields
> =====
> OwnedBy (text) [could be called "username" but I wanted to be consistent
> with my last post]
> DefaultPassword (text)
>
> After you add the fields, Show All Records and....
>
> 1) click into OwnedBy and choose Records-->Replace field contents
> 2) specify, "Replace with calculated result:" and use the expression
>
> Filter (Lower (FirstName & LastName & Int (Random * 99));
> "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789")
>
> This will create a username similar to "rickaltman21". I use Filter() to
> make sure no weird characters get in there (like spaces or apostrophes in
> names like "O' Malley"). I use a random number just in case you have
> people
> with the same first and last names (and to make it slightly harder to
> guess
> someone's account name). Not a perfect algorithm, but it will do. You
> could
> also use "FULLNAME" instead of FirstName & LastName.
>
> 3) click into Password and choose Records-->Replace field contents
> 4) specify, "Replace with calculated result:" and use the expression
>
> Right ("00000" & Int(Random*99999),5)
>
> This creates a random five-digit numeric password.
>
> Now you've got a username and password set up for each user.
>
> Access Privileges
> =====
> Choose File-->Define-->Accounts & Privileges, then click the "Privilege
> Sets" tab. I suggest creating a new privilege set named, "Student" which
> has
> the ability to edit/view just the fields and layouts you want for this
> class
> of user. I won't go into too much detail here, but it's covered quite
> extensively in the online manual. (Press F1 at the Edit Privilege Set
> screen). You can do all kinds of nifty stuff here, even double-secure your
> database by making sure someone can only edit/view a record if username =
> Get (AccountName). If it freaks you out, don't create a privilege set and
> just use the [Data Entry Only] privilege set in the script below.
>
> Script: Batch Create Student Accounts
> =====
> Go to Record/Request/Page [First]
> Loop
> Add Account [Account Name: databaseName::OwnedBy; Password:
> databaseName::DefaultPassword; Privilege Set: "Student"]*
> Go to Record/Request/Page [Next; Exit after last]
> End Loop
>
> [* specify "[Data Entry Only]" as the privilege set here if you declined
> to
> create your own. Don't be tempted to require users to change their
> password
> on the next login; that option is not web compatible.]
>
> When you run this script, it will take less than 5 seconds to update your
> entire database with accounts.
>
> I suggest you then print out the username and passwords in a form
> appropriate to distribute to the database users and delete the
> DefaultPassword field because it's no longer needed. The passwords are
> stored safely by FileMaker. Alternately, you might wanna Export the two
> fields to a text file of some sort which you save in a safe spot in case
> you
> need it.
>
> Regarding your pie-in-the-sky hope... You have to create the accounts
> before
> someone logs in, otherwise there would be nothing to log into. The user
> would be a guest and therefore anonymous. You could not easily control
> which
> records they could access.
>
> If you instead want to have a registration system where a stranger creates
> a
> new account via a web page, that is a more complex solution but still
> possible using a variant of this technique.
>
> Bill
>
> "Rick Altman" <rick.a@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:2dqdncnGMIPe62PcRVn-vA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Bill, it's Item A on your list that troubles me:
>>
>> A) a FileMaker account already set up for each individual
>>
>>
>> There will be over 200 individuals and creating privileges for each of
>> them would be a significant task. My pie-in-the-sky hope here is that
>> their login could somehow be dynamic, and upon logging in, their name
>> were captured and then run through some sort of input string that created
>> access for them to records whose FULLNAME field matched their login.
>>
>> Am I dreaming here...?
>>
>>
>>
>>> "JohnSmith") as part of the [Data Entry Only] privilege set.
>>>
>>> B) a field, "OwnedBy," which is a text field containing the account name
>>> that record belongs to
>>>
>>> C) a layout, "Web Data Entry," which is showing OwnedBy and the other
>>> fields they need to work on
>>>
>>> You would add the following script:
>>> ------------------------------------------
>>> If [Get (AccountName) <> "Admin"]
>>> If [Left (Get ( ApplicationVersion);3) = "Web"]
>>> Show/Hide Status Area [Lock; Hide]
>>> Go to Layout ["Web Data Entry"]
>>> Enter Find Mode []
>>> Set Field [databaseName::OwnedBy; Get ( AccountName )]
>>> Perform Find []
>>> # Put the cursor into "firstField" so it's ready for input
>>> Go to Field [Select/perform; databaseName::firstField]
>>> End If
>>> End If
>>> ------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> This script only runs if the user is coming in from the web and is not
>>> the database administrator. It will hide the status area, switch to the
>>> data entry layout, search for the appropriate record in the database,
>>> and enter the record to accept data entry.
>>>
>>> Now, all you need to do is:
>>>
>>> 1) Set the file options so this script is run when you open the file,
>>> and it will always open up to the Web Data Entry layout and show only
>>> the record belonging to the person who logged in. [Unless they are the
>>> "Admin" account or log in using FileMaker Pro.] Additionally, the status
>>> area will be hidden so they cannot "Find All" or something crazy like
>>> that to see other records.
>>>
>>> 2) Add a button to the layout which "Commits Record/Request" to the Web
>>> Data Entry layout. You might instead link to a script which commits the
>>> record and logs them out of the database.
>>>
>>> Bill
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Rick Altman" <rick.a@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>> news:i8-dnRlREePK12TcRVn-qg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>> Dana, could you treat me like the idiot that I am about these matters
>>>> and step me through how I might do this?
>>>>
>>>> - I can indeed create a single layout and place all of the required
>>>> fields on it.
>>>>
>>>> - I would like for guests to log in with their first and last name and
>>>> be taken to their record.
>>>>
>>>> - I need for them to then begin to fill out the forms on that layout.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> How would I go about creating this? Many thanks...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Rick A.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Dana Reed" <reed@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>>> news:ct8pfs$lpf$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>> In FM7 IWP, you could just use native filemaker accounts and
>>>>> privileges along with the Get(AccountName) function to control user
>>>>> navigation. Just hide the status area from the user and create your
>>>>> own scripts to send users to the proper layout/record based on their
>>>>> username.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
> "Rick Altman" <rick.a@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:8dOdnZ1Iork5u8XeRVn-iQ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Many thanks, Bill, for the reply. I need to be pointed in the right
>> direction: how is this very straightforward to do with FM7? What are the
>> tasks/procedures that I need to perform?
>>
>>
>> Rick A.
>>
>>
>>
>> "Bill Marriott" <wjm@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:y7idnc74D5QwIMreRVn-jQ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> Yes, with minor variation.
>>>
>>> You would email them a link to a web page. They would enter an ID number
>>> and password. Then you could take them to a specific layout showing them
>>> their record, and only their record.
>>>
>>> Very straightforward to do with FileMaker 7/8. Probably possible with
>>> earlier versions, but the built-in web publishing and accounts handling
>>> is not as robust.
>>>
>>> Bill
>>
>>
>
>


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