read-only shapefiles?

[LigiaGafitescu]

Hello,

Is there a way to make an independent shapefile  read-only - so that people will be able to see it but not edit it?


I need to send this shapefile to my clients in order to help them create their own shapefiles which should overlap (their networks overlap my infrastructure), but I don't want my clients to modify my "basemap" shapefile. I do not want to lock my entire geodatabase, just this shape I' sending them.



Thank you for any solution,
Ligia Gafitescu

[TerrySilveus]

could you just mark the shapefile read only in the operating system?  It's not secure, but it will keep honest people honest - I.E. it won't accidentally get changed.  You mentioned that this is an independent shapefile, but then you state you don't want the entire geodatabase locked down, so I'm not sure if you are meaning this is a feature class file in your geodatabase or a truly independent shapefile... but if it is the .shp, .shx, and .dbf set of files then you should be able to use the operating system to mark them read only.