Expert Access™ 2007 Programming

Chapter 13. Personalization and Security

Very few topics can stimulate discussion like security. Whether you're working with security for the first time or the hundredth time, the questions and discussions are likely to be the same — who has access, who does not have access, who can do what? When it comes to security, understanding the types of questions to ask is just as important as the security itself.

Security needs can vary from one application to the next and, in fact, some applications don't require any security at all. Sometimes security is added to an application after it has been developed. This can result in difficult changes and decisions, occasionally at the architectural level. For this reason, we recommend determining your security needs up front wherever possible. We find that designing with security in mind from the beginning makes the development process much, much simpler.

In this chapter we discuss:

• New security features available in Access 2007

• Adding personalization to your applications using Windows

• Password-protecting objects such as forms

• Restricting the number of login attempts

• Using the Windows API to lock the computer and receive notifications when the computer is locked or unlocked

• Using the Windows logon name to simulate record-level security

• Some best practices related to security for your applications

What Is Security?

This may seem like a pretty basic question, but what is security? The truth is that security can mean different things to different people. In ...