Richardsson said:
I have developed a database that will be used by a few people in the
same workplace and I would like to lock it so that no one can change
the design or how it works. What do I need to lock it down?
Save it as an mde file.
Saving your Access database as an MDE file prevents the following actions:
Viewing, modifying, or creating forms, reports, or modules in Design view.
Adding, deleting, or changing references to object libraries or databases.
Changing code - an MDE file contains no source code.
Importing or exporting forms, reports, or modules. However, tables, queries,
data access pages, and macros can be imported from or exported to non-MDE
databases.
Considerations if you need to modify the design of forms, reports, or
modules
Be sure to keep a copy of your original Access database. If you need to
modify the design of forms, reports, or modules in an MDE file, you must
modify the original Access database, and then resave it as an MDE file.
Saving an Access database containing tables as an MDE file creates
complications reconciling different versions of the data if you need to
modify the design of the forms, reports, or modules later. For this reason,
saving an Access database as an MDE file is most appropriate for the
front-end database of a front-end/back-end application.
Code no longer secured with user-level security
In previous versions of Access, user-level security could be used with VBA
modules. In Microsoft Access 2000 and later, all Visual Basic code for an
Access database (.mdb) file or an Access project (.adp) file, including
stand-alone modules and class modules (such as code behind forms and
reports) must be secured by setting a password, or by saving the database as
an MDE or ADE file, which removes the source code.
Consideration before saving your database as an MDE file
Some restrictions may prevent you from saving your Access database as an MDE
file:
You must have password access to the Visual Basic code.
If your database is replicated, you must first remove replication.
If your Access database references another Access database, or add-in, you
must save all Access databases or add-ins in the chain of references as MDE
files.
Additionally, if you define a database password or user-level security
before saving an Access database as an MDE file, those features will still
apply to an MDE file created from that database. If your Access database has
a database password or user-level security defined and you want to remove
these features, you must do so before saving it as an MDE file.
