Password mask control type

[preston2]

Alpha 5 10.5 desktop

How in the heck to you set the field control to password?

It does not show up in the drop down so why is it even in the "Demonstration of different control Styles" if is not available in the drop down to select that style?

password.png

[Ted Giles]

Re: Password mask control type.

Don't think you can Preston. The Password example is just what the style looks like.
If you place a button on a Form and P/wd protect it, the ****** format is displayed.

Put a Dialog - Prompt for Password on the Field Events - I used OnArrive and you will be able to capture the entry as a variable and check it against a table of passwords before allowing data entry.

[preston2]

Re: Password mask control type.

Don't think you can Preston. The Password example is just what the style looks like.
If you place a button on a Form and P/wd protect it, the ****** format is displayed.

Put a Dialog - Prompt for Password on the Field Events - I used OnArrive and you will be able to capture the entry as a variable and check it against a table of passwords before allowing data entry.

What I am doing is setting up where they can setup user levels to access the app. I guess I could just create a font that would mask the actual passwords they enter. Until then I have found a font that will mask the passwords with little dots. I just find it stupid for Alpha to give a control style example and then have it not available at all.

Using the font method I will just have the installer put the font in their Windows/Fonts directory.

I am thinking I can setup a global variable that will store the logged in users access level and then can be read by the app for areas that are restricted.

Using a password font.
users.png

[Ted Giles]

Re: Password mask control type.

That's a different issue.
You need a dialog which works with the security aspects.

[Raymond Lyons]

Re: Password mask control type.

Preston,

I take it you are building your own security system. May I ask why you don't just use the security system that is part of Alpha Five? I have used it in the past and it worked fine for what you appear to be trying to do.

Raymond Lyons

[preston2]

Re: Password mask control type.

Preston,

I take it you are building your own security system. May I ask why you don't just use the security system that is part of Alpha Five? I have used it in the past and it worked fine for what you appear to be trying to do.

Raymond Lyons

Probably because with my limited newbie knowledge of Alpha and total CFS in the wiki, my only understanding of the Alpha security system is that I must pre-configure passwords and there is no user level associated with it. You either have the password to open a form or you do not and it would have to be a password I hard coded in.

I need them to be able to setup however many users they want and control what they can and cannot do with access levels of some sort. If the built in Alpha security can do that then I am totally clueless on how to set it up.

[Ted Giles]

Re: Password mask control type.

You can do all this Preston using the built in facilities. If you search on Security, I posted an example. You can restrict almost anything at User/Table/Form level and easily have update and view only options.
Also, if you search password change, I asked the very question you have asked and got a super piece of code which asks for a new password when you log in first time. It would be easy to add a 30 day change feature.
If you want an example send me a PM and I'll respond with a V10.5 suggestion for you to explore.

Edit. Apologies, I meant to say "Belay post #4. I read the response on my Ipod and forgot the magnifying glass. I now understand what you need to do.

[preston2]

Re: Password mask control type.

You can do all this Preston using the built in facilities. If you search on Security, I posted an example. You can restrict almost anything at User/Table/Form level and easily have update and view only options.
Also, if you search password change, I asked the very question you have asked and got a super piece of code which asks for a new password when you log in first time. It would be easy to add a 30 day change feature.
If you want an example send me a PM and I'll respond with a V10.5 suggestion for you to explore.

Edit. Apologies, I meant to say "Belay post #4. I read the response on my Ipod and forgot the magnifying glass. I now understand what you need to do.

I will send you a PM then. I searched for security with your user name as part of the search criteria but still did not see how the built in would work for what I need. I did see that big list aschone posted the link for. http://support.alphasoftware.com/alp..._Functions.htm

I think I will create a simple test app to play with this and see if I can figure anything out. I do not want to accidentally mess up my actual app that I have been working on for months.

[Raymond Lyons]

Re: Password mask control type.

As Ted said (and I implied), you can do what you want (and more) with the the A5 security system, though as a self described "newbie" it may be a bit of a task. The one I did was done many years ago but still works with v10.5. The one I did had some screwy aspects to it (e.g., a table with some extra data in it, including the users initials) such that the user setup had to be custom built with some UDF's of my own. Plus I wanted the boss to be able to see and do everything at a glance, so I did an xdialog for him (could now be improved, but that's always true!).

Anyway, below is a screen shot of my xdialog. Note that all the users in a group have a certain security level--can do some things, are stopped from doing others. The autoexec would define the needed global variables and get the current user name.

vg_u_name=User_name()
Logon_Group_String= User_Groups()

Then wherever one needs to restrict access I just did something like:

If Containsi(Logon_Group_String,"Underwriters")=.t. .or. Containsi(Logon_Group_String,"Funders")=.t.
   Bang
else
   msgbox("No_Bang!")
end if

You can also use passwords in various ways to compliment all this (note that Action Script created xdialogs have a password mask like what you were looking for). My system is probably a bit more complex than you would ever need (plus being a bit on the crude side!), so I would take advantage of Ted's offer to have him send his example to you for study.

Raymond Lyons

[preston2]

Re: Password mask control type.

Raymond,

Could I possible get an example of what you used to create that? Is so I may be able to study it and get the concept thru my thick skull.

Thanks.

[Raymond Lyons]

Re: Password mask control type.

Raymond,

Could I possible get an example of what you used to create that? Is so I may be able to study it and get the concept thru my thick skull.

Partly because you describe yourself as a "newbie" I am reluctant to give you the code behind the screen shot in my previous post. It is complex and obscure enough (500+ lines) that I think it would probably just confuse and discourage you. Plus I am quite sure you can do what you need to do with just a few of the standard A5 security functions. So I recommend that you study the Help File for security and then build a test database (not your real one at this point) with security turned on and play with it. Just remember, you can create as many Groups as you need, with each having a different level of access based being a member of a particular group. Then on buttons, forms, fields, scripts etc. you can restrict access to members of whichever groups you like. And don't forget, in many cases it is easier to just implement a password and control access that way.

And don't forget, Ted offered to share something with you--take him up on it.

Below is a screen shot of my local Help File on Desktop Security functions, all of which you should take a look at.

Raymond Lyons

[preston2]

Re: Password mask control type.

Partly because you describe yourself as a "newbie" I am reluctant to give you the code behind the screen shot in my previous post. It is complex and obscure enough (500+ lines) that I think it would probably just confuse and discourage you. Plus I am quite sure you can do what you need to do with just a few of the standard A5 security functions. So I recommend that you study the Help File for security and then build a test database (not your real one at this point) with security turned on and play with it. Just remember, you can create as many Groups as you need, with each having a different level of access based being a member of a particular group. Then on buttons, forms, fields, scripts etc. you can restrict access to members of whichever groups you like. And don't forget, in many cases it is easier to just implement a password and control access that way.

And don't forget, Ted offered to share something with you--take him up on it.

Below is a screen shot of my local Help File on Desktop Security functions, all of which you should take a look at.

Raymond Lyons

Well I can understand your reluctance as I am a newbie to Alpha. I used to write programs in Turbo Pascal years back. Does that count for anything?
If not I will just tackle it my way and do it without the built in Alpha security. I know I can do that.