Protect "signature" cell

Good morning, Excel gurus!

I have a spreadsheet where I have protected the workbook and worksheet
except for the input fields.

I have one cell that I would like to use as a "approved by" cell. I would
like all users to enter the data in the other "unprotected" cells. But this
one cell I would like password protect. Can I use a different password than
the worksheet pswd? If not, that's OK - just asking.

So, what I would like is when you tab to that cell, you get a password
prompt? Only the CFO (and me) will know the password - so when his initials
are in the box, we know he "approved" the file.

Bonus question, after he "initials" the cell, can I lock the entire sheet?

This is a cheap version of a "digital signature" :-)

Thanks a bunch!

Considering how easily Excel passwords can be broken, you might consider
something like this:

Create a network folder for approved files. Engage network security that
only allows approvers to write to that folder. That way, any file in that
folder had to be put there by an approver (or a network adminstrator, of
course).

Does that help?

***********
Regards,
Ron

XL2002, WinXP-Pro


"DTTODGG" wrote:

> Good morning, Excel gurus!
>
> I have a spreadsheet where I have protected the workbook and worksheet
> except for the input fields.
>
> I have one cell that I would like to use as a "approved by" cell. I would
> like all users to enter the data in the other "unprotected" cells. But this
> one cell I would like password protect. Can I use a different password than
> the worksheet pswd? If not, that's OK - just asking.
>
> So, what I would like is when you tab to that cell, you get a password
> prompt? Only the CFO (and me) will know the password - so when his initials
> are in the box, we know he "approved" the file.
>
> Bonus question, after he "initials" the cell, can I lock the entire sheet?
>
> This is a cheap version of a "digital signature" :-)
>
> Thanks a bunch!

Since initials are easy to imitate, you could look at using the
environ("username") command in VBA. This will limit certain actions based on
who is logged into the computer itself.

"DTTODGG" wrote:

> Good morning, Excel gurus!
>
> I have a spreadsheet where I have protected the workbook and worksheet
> except for the input fields.
>
> I have one cell that I would like to use as a "approved by" cell. I would
> like all users to enter the data in the other "unprotected" cells. But this
> one cell I would like password protect. Can I use a different password than
> the worksheet pswd? If not, that's OK - just asking.
>
> So, what I would like is when you tab to that cell, you get a password
> prompt? Only the CFO (and me) will know the password - so when his initials
> are in the box, we know he "approved" the file.
>
> Bonus question, after he "initials" the cell, can I lock the entire sheet?
>
> This is a cheap version of a "digital signature" :-)
>
> Thanks a bunch!

This sounds interesting and worth investigating.
I'm still learning VBA, could you give an example? Or where to find more info?
Thanks in advance.

"JNW" wrote:

> Since initials are easy to imitate, you could look at using the
> environ("username") command in VBA. This will limit certain actions based on
> who is logged into the computer itself.
>
> "DTTODGG" wrote:
>
> > Good morning, Excel gurus!
> >
> > I have a spreadsheet where I have protected the workbook and worksheet
> > except for the input fields.
> >
> > I have one cell that I would like to use as a "approved by" cell. I would
> > like all users to enter the data in the other "unprotected" cells. But this
> > one cell I would like password protect. Can I use a different password than
> > the worksheet pswd? If not, that's OK - just asking.
> >
> > So, what I would like is when you tab to that cell, you get a password
> > prompt? Only the CFO (and me) will know the password - so when his initials
> > are in the box, we know he "approved" the file.
> >
> > Bonus question, after he "initials" the cell, can I lock the entire sheet?
> >
> > This is a cheap version of a "digital signature" :-)
> >
> > Thanks a bunch!

Thanks Ron, this might work.

So, anyone can "fill out the form" and email it to the CFO.
He would "initial" (which anyone could do), but he approves the form.
Then the CFO has to remember to Save it into the "network" folder that is
secure, only a limited group can put it in the folder, but many can look at
it.
Is that correct?

It's not nearly as much fun as learning more excel, but sounds very
practical :-)

Thanks again.

"Ron Coderre" wrote:

> Considering how easily Excel passwords can be broken, you might consider
> something like this:
>
> Create a network folder for approved files. Engage network security that
> only allows approvers to write to that folder. That way, any file in that
> folder had to be put there by an approver (or a network adminstrator, of
> course).
>
> Does that help?
>
> ***********
> Regards,
> Ron
>
> XL2002, WinXP-Pro
>
>
> "DTTODGG" wrote:
>
> > Good morning, Excel gurus!
> >
> > I have a spreadsheet where I have protected the workbook and worksheet
> > except for the input fields.
> >
> > I have one cell that I would like to use as a "approved by" cell. I would
> > like all users to enter the data in the other "unprotected" cells. But this
> > one cell I would like password protect. Can I use a different password than
> > the worksheet pswd? If not, that's OK - just asking.
> >
> > So, what I would like is when you tab to that cell, you get a password
> > prompt? Only the CFO (and me) will know the password - so when his initials
> > are in the box, we know he "approved" the file.
> >
> > Bonus question, after he "initials" the cell, can I lock the entire sheet?
> >
> > This is a cheap version of a "digital signature" :-)
> >
> > Thanks a bunch!

With the network permission settings you have many options.

Here are a few:
Some users have full read/write/update permissions
Some users can see the folder files, but can't open them
Some users can open folder files, but can't change or delete them.

Since you're eager to automate at least some of the process, you could
attach code to an Approve button, that automatically saves the file to the
secure folder.

Does that help?

***********
Regards,
Ron

XL2002, WinXP-Pro


"DTTODGG" wrote:

> Thanks Ron, this might work.
>
> So, anyone can "fill out the form" and email it to the CFO.
> He would "initial" (which anyone could do), but he approves the form.
> Then the CFO has to remember to Save it into the "network" folder that is
> secure, only a limited group can put it in the folder, but many can look at
> it.
> Is that correct?
>
> It's not nearly as much fun as learning more excel, but sounds very
> practical :-)
>
> Thanks again.
>
> "Ron Coderre" wrote:
>
> > Considering how easily Excel passwords can be broken, you might consider
> > something like this:
> >
> > Create a network folder for approved files. Engage network security that
> > only allows approvers to write to that folder. That way, any file in that
> > folder had to be put there by an approver (or a network adminstrator, of
> > course).
> >
> > Does that help?
> >
> > ***********
> > Regards,
> > Ron
> >
> > XL2002, WinXP-Pro
> >
> >
> > "DTTODGG" wrote:
> >
> > > Good morning, Excel gurus!
> > >
> > > I have a spreadsheet where I have protected the workbook and worksheet
> > > except for the input fields.
> > >
> > > I have one cell that I would like to use as a "approved by" cell. I would
> > > like all users to enter the data in the other "unprotected" cells. But this
> > > one cell I would like password protect. Can I use a different password than
> > > the worksheet pswd? If not, that's OK - just asking.
> > >
> > > So, what I would like is when you tab to that cell, you get a password
> > > prompt? Only the CFO (and me) will know the password - so when his initials
> > > are in the box, we know he "approved" the file.
> > >
> > > Bonus question, after he "initials" the cell, can I lock the entire sheet?
> > >
> > > This is a cheap version of a "digital signature" :-)
> > >
> > > Thanks a bunch!

I would like to pick up on the original question. The folder suggestion would work with 1 approver, but is not quite perfect for a chain of approvers. For my case, I would need up to 8 cells, all protected by a different password for different people that need to approve.
I know that excel passwords don't do much for real protection, but that wouldn't matter that much. We need a simple form of protection. The idea is to do the effort to protect a bit, but not endlesly. It's a relatively small company, ppl trust eachother, abuse would stand out quickly. So I would realy like to know how to protect several cells with different passwords or any other form of individual, unique approval before forwarding to the next in the chain.

Many thanks in advance