Project configuration protection

[Anonymous User]

Please can you include the ability to protect the configuration of an ArcGIS map project so that the project can be shared without needing to publish it as a web map.

So my requirement is to create a map and add layers from an enterprise geodatabase, set which layers are selectable and editable, use data design/fields to set visible and read only fields.

So far so good we can achieve everything up to this point.

Now the enhancement request part, once configured as per the above description I need to lock the configuration so that I can give the project to other users but not allow them to change anything in the configuration such as adjusting which fields are read only.

I know I can achieve this by publishing the project as a web map that a user can download into pro but this is at a performance cost our workflow would be more efficient with the users working directly from the database.

Think of it like setting up an excel spreadsheet clicking on protect sheet, set the desired user controls and setting a password.

[JonahLay]

Hi Shaun,

Thanks for posting your idea. Would working with read-only projects (see this: https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/projects/open-a-project.htm) meet your needs? This would allow users to work in your projects without allowing them to save their updates, which would prevent them from overwriting your configurations.

Best,

Jonah

[Anonymous User]

Hi Jonah

Thanks for the response, I don't think that would help because a user would still be able to change what fields they can edit and save the project as a different filename. I am looking to prevent users from changing which fields they can edit, the data is part of an integration with an external system which has rules as to what data should be editable, if a user were to decide to make a restricted field writable this would cause integration errors so I need the functionality to secure the config.

[KoryKramer]

@Anonymous User where is the data you're referring to? i.e. is it a file geodatabase on a file share?

Fields can be set as Read-only through the Fields view https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/data/geodatabases/overview/an-overview-of-fields.htm but granted, a user could go in and uncheck that, thus making the field editable. Ultimately, you need to lock the field(s) at the database level. So you could make the file gdb (if that is what you're working with, or whatever Windows folder your data is in) read only so users couldn't edit. 

In terms of this idea, now that there seems to be more clarity around what is being requested, and it isn't about locking down the project, rather the data, it seems like a duplicate of  Read Only attribute inside Geodatabase - Esri Community  Please read that and let me know if you agree. If so, we could merge this - and you can add your kudos to that one.

Cheers

[Anonymous User]

@KoryKramer 

As I said the data is from a enterprise geodatabase in our case SQL Server, I do not want to set this as read only because I want the users to be able to update and create records, I just want to restrict which fields are editable. I know this is set in the fields view, I described doing so in my explanation, what I want is the ability to lock what I have set in the fields view so that a user cannot change it.

No I do not agree that my request is a duplicate of the one you have suggested, I do not see this Control being on the data side, a user has access to write to a table or not its not granular to column level hence why the need to set the control in pro.