On 10/26/07, Mathias Bauer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Alan Boba wrote: > > > I cannot achieve the desired result of preventing the user from > modifying > > the document, the original file, that I might send them. Although it is > > possible to prevent editing by checking '[x] Open read only' the > document > > can be edited by right clicking and selecting edit. At that point any > > changes can be saved to the original file provided to the user. So I > don't > > think this achieves the result I believe is desired - providing a file > where > > the recipient cannot change the original file object without knowing the > > password. > > Please let me repeat it: it is impossible to prevent users from > modifying a document in an open file format. You can only prevent access > to it completely (encrypt the document), prevent changes from happening > unnoticed (signing the document) or convert it to PDF. > > Also Word can't do give you the security that your document isn't > changed. What Word does is that it prevents users from *inadvertently" > changing those parts of the document that shouldn't be changed. And that > is possible in OOo also, using "Tools-Options-Security".
I've read through the explanations and understand what you're saying. I guess for me that leaves the question of why not create a UI artifice of 'read only' that would be understood by the average user? It seems the effect could be achieved with signing but using different UI actions. I don't believe the average user understands that signing would enable them to detect if changes are made. However getting a Word document back that doesn't prompt for the 'read only' password when opened makes it immediately apparent that something has changed. I've discovered the Writer interface has a visible indicator whether or not a file is signed. It's in the message bar at the bottom of the application window. For an unsigned document it is just an empty gray box. And signed or unsigned it is tiny. Perhaps it could be made more prominent somehow and, for unsigned documents, rather than being empty an appropriate status message might be displayed. I'm persisting with the idea, though it's now clear the name 'read only' isn't appropriate, because of how I've seen the feature used with Word in the office environments I've been in. Also it seemed the poster who wanted to know how to do read only, and who got me started on this thread, was really desperate to understand how to make read only happen in Writer. I think at this point they believe they have no way of implementing 'read only' when in fact there is a more robust feature available, signing.
