Changing A Field To Read Only

You may wish to make a field, or a whole form, Read Only. This makes information available to your user, but you can be assured that it will not be changed by mistake. Read Only fields are greyed out and cannot be edited.

There are two ways to change a field or form to Read Only for specific user levels. One is through the Form Rights form and the other is through the Operator Level Rights form.

To demonstrate this, we will make the Client field in the Debtor form Read Only as shown below.

Client Field as Read Only

Please refer to Preparing To Make Changes To Access Rights before modifying access rights settings for any user group.

Set Access Rights Using Form Rights

1. Sign into Collect! in EXCLUSIVE mode at User Level 99.

2. Using one of the methods described in Access Rights Basics, open the Access Rights form for the correct form or field that you want to modify. For this example, we are using the Client field on the Debtor form.

You may see one or more user levels listed in the Form Rights subform already. These are user levels that the form or field properties already apply to. You can modify this list, delete entries, or add new ones.

3. Check the field labeled Name when the Access Rights form is displayed to make sure you are editing the correct form or field.

4. Click into the Form Rights subform. If there are no entries in it already, you will be prompted to create one. Choose YES to open the Form Rights form.

5. Select the down arrow next to the field labeled Level and select the user group that you want to grant Read Only access. For this example, we are selecting Senior Collector.

Or, to edit an entry that is already listed in the Forms Right List, select the entry and when the Form Rights form displays, make sure the Level field displays the user group that you want to grant Read Only access.

6. Select the down arrow next to the field labeled Rights and select Read Only to apply this setting to the field or form.


Form Rights set to Read Only

7. Leave the other settings as they are for now and press OK or F8 to save your changes and return to the Access Rights form. Now you will see this User Level displayed in the Form Rights subform.


User Level displayed with Read Only access

8. Press the NEW button again, or select from the Form Rights list, if you want to make this form or field Read Only for another User Level.

9. When you are finished, press OK or F8 to save your changes.

10. Select System from the top menu bar and then select Rights, Access Rights. Select the REBUILD button to update Collect! to recognize your changes.

11. Next, sign out of Collect! and then sign in as a user with the user level you applied Read Only to. Examine the form and/or fields that you made Read Only for this user level. Read Only areas are greyed out and are not editable.

Set Permissible Functions Using Operator Level Rights

1. Sign into Collect! in EXCLUSIVE mode at User Level 99.

2. Open the User Level form for that you want to modify. For this example, we are using Senior Collector.

You may see one or more operator levels listed in the Operator Level Rights subform already. These are forms and fields that have properties set specifically for this user level. You can modify this list, delete entries, or add new ones.

3. Check the fields labeled Code and Description when the User Level form is displayed to make sure you are editing the correct level.

4. Click into the Operator Level Rights subform. If there are no entries in it already, you will be prompted to create one. Choose YES to open the Operator Level Rights form. You can also open this form by selecting an existing entry in the list or by pressing F3.

5. Ensure that the form or field displayed in the field labeled Item is the item that you want to modify.

If you are creating a new entry, select the down arrow next to the field labeled Item to select the item from the list of all forms and fields.


Forms and Fields list

Be sure to scroll to the correct item in the list. We are using the Client name in the Debtor form. Notice that this is number 003029.


Debtor's Client field entry in Forms and Fields list

6. Select the down arrow next to the field labeled Permissible functions and select Read Only from the pick list that is displayed for you.


Operator Level Rights set to Read Only

7. Leave the other settings as they are for now and press OK or F8 to save your changes and return to the User Level form. Now you will see this item displayed in the Operator Level Rights subform.


User Level with Read Only access for Client Field

8. Press F3 again, or select from the Operator Level Rights list, if you want to make changes to another form or field for this User Level.

9. When you are finished, press OK or F8 to save your changes.

10. Select System from the top menu bar and then select Rights, Access Rights. Select the REBUILD button to update Collect! to recognize your changes.

11. Next, sign out of Collect! and then sign in as a user with the user level you applied Read Only to. Examine the form and/or fields that you made Read Only for this user level. Read Only areas are greyed out and are not editable.

Text Editor Access Rights

If you need to set access rights on a per field basis for Text Editor windows, you can enable a switch in the Screen and Messages form.

Select System from the top menu bar and then select Preferences from the drop-down choices. Select OPTIONS, SOUNDS AND COLORS to open the Screen and Messages form. Switch ON "Field level editor access."

With this switch enabled, you can set access rights for any field that uses the Text Editor to display data and the Text Editor will take on the same access level that you set for the field. So if you make a field Read Only, then the file that you attach to that field will open in Read Only mode in the Text Editor.

This enables you to set access rights individually for Notes, Contact Data and Attachment, Attachment File and any other fields that use Collect!'s Text Editor to display contents.

See Also

- How To Set Field Or Form Properties