PROTECT

Topic group Related topics

Creates and maintains DBF table security.

Syntax

PROTECT

Description

This command is issued within dBASE Plus by the database administrator, who is responsible for data security. PROTECT works in a single user or multiuser environment.

PROTECT is optional. Once you create table security, you may force all users to login when dBASE Plus or your PLUS.exe is started, or require login only when attempting to open an encrypted table.

This command displays a multi-page dialog. This dialog is the same dialog that is displayed when choosing dBASE Plus table security in the File | Database Administration dialog box. The first time you use PROTECT, the system prompts you to enter and confirm an administrator password.

Warning!

Remembering the administrator password is essential. You can access the security system only if you can supply the password. Once established, the security system can be changed only if you enter the administrator password when you call PROTECT. Keep a hard copy of the database administrator password in a secured area. There is no way to retrieve a password from the system.

Once you enter the administrator password, you may setup and modify DBF table security.

The DBSYSTEM.DB file

PROTECT builds and maintains a password system file called DBSYSTEM.DB, which contains a record for each user who accesses a PROTECTed system. Each record, called a user profile, contains the user's log-in name, account name, password, group name, and access level. When a user attempts to start dBASE Plus (if dBASE Plus is configured to require a log-in to start the program), or attempts to access an encrypted table (if dBASE Plus is configured to require a log-in when an encrypted table is accessed), dBASE Plus looks for a DBSYSTEM.DB file. You can specify a location for this file in the [CommandSettings] section of PLUS.ini:

DBSYSTEM=C:\Program Files\dBASE\Plus\BIN

If there is no DBSYSTEM entry in PLUS.ini, dBASE Plus looks for the file in the same directory in which PLUS.exe is located. If it finds the file, it initiates the log-in process. If it does not find the file, there is no log-in process.

DBSYSTEM.DB is maintained as an encrypted file. Keep a record of the information contained in DBSYSTEM.DB, as well as a current backup copy of the file. If the DBSYSTEM.DB file is deleted or damaged and no backup is available, the database administrator will need to reinitialize PROTECT using the same administrator password and group names as before, or the data will be unrecoverable.