Editing Table Data only Through Forms

[balaji]

Hi,

Is there any setting in a table I can turn on/off to make it completely read-only. The reason I am asking is that I want to make sure that all data in a table is entered/edited only through the appropriate form. If I can make the data in the table read-only, then the user would not be able to edit the table directly. In my form, during form-load, I can make the table read-write and then when the user exits the form, make the table read-only again. I hope this makes sense. If someone knows of a way to do this, I would appreciate it greatly.

Balaji Ramanathan

 

[neileg]

Your users don't need access to the tables at all. If you build your application properly, all they need to see are forms and reports. The read/write problem with tables then never arises.

 

[balaji]

Hi Neil,
I understand what you are saying and I would agree 100% with it except for one thing: you see, I was a little disingenuous when I said I didn't want the users to be able to edit the tables directly. I am actually the only user of this database! I tinker around with it a bit and I keep adding features to it/enhancing it constantly. So, hiding the database window is not really going to work! What I need is a way to make sure that I don't accidentally edit some data in a table directly without using the corresponding form.

In a regular database that doesn't have a nice front end like Access, editing the tables directly is not an option at all. But with freedom comes added responsibilities. Access gives me the freedom to edit tables directly using an excel-like interface and I want to make sure that freedom does not have me messing up the data in my database.

Balaji Ramanathan

 

[neileg]

How about hiding the tables?

I always make sure I take a copy of my database before I start tinkering.