Authorising Changes

[Simmo2010]

Hi all,

New here and found the forum brilliant to use! However I am stuck on a design issue. My client wants to be able to authorise user changes to any tables. My plan was to simply put an authorised flag on each table and when the data is edited then that flag is removed. The administrator can then view all unauthorised records. However I cant seem to easily update that flag or I am not confident my idea is correct!

Has anyone done this kind of thing before or anyone with any ideas I would love to hear from !

Many Thanks

Simmo

 

[Banana]

I'm assuming you want the authorized data to NOT be affected until the administrator approves the changes. Therefore we can't use the same table tho hold both authorized and unauthorized data.

A quick and dirty way to do this would be to simply have two separate tables; one holding the updates made by users and other holding all 'authorized' data. You can then create a special form for the administrator to read the first table and click a button to approve the change to update those data to the authorized data.

Strictly speaking, this violates normalization, and depending on your data model, can cause more headaches (especially if you will be working on multiple tables at once). Another option is to use Audit Trail, which logs all changes your users may make and doesn't require you to deal with normalization problems of having to shuttle data between two tables, *but* you would be fixing data after-the-fact, which can be a bit more complicated. Search the forum for audit trail if this is more to your liking.

 

[pbaldy]

That was my first thought as well. You might also consider some sort of audit function, if the client just wants to be able to review changes made, rather than have to approve each one.

 

[Simmo2010]

Thanks guys the audit side sounds good as although the data volumes are tiny I dont really want compromise too much on design. Will have a look...

Many Thanks

Simmo