How to open a secured Microsoft Access database in Visual C++ (270663)

MORE INFORMATION

Access databases may be secured by putting a password on the database itself, or by giving permissions to a specified user. When the security is applied at the user level, the application must be given the location of a workgroup information file. This file is named System.mdw by default, but you may give it a different name if you like. If you're using DAO, you must be sure to explicitly open a workspace using a valid user name and password before you open the database.

Using Database Passwords with the MFC DAO Classes

With a database that has a database password, the password is stored in the database (.mdb) file itself, not in a separate file.

The following code shows how to use MFC DAO to open a database that has a database password:

//myDB is a valid CDaoDatabase object.
myDB.Open("F:\\jet4.mdb",FALSE,FALSE,_T(";PWD=Test"));
				

Using Database Passwords with the MFC ODBC Classes

The following example shows how to use MFC ODBC to open a database that has a database password. This code is from a CRecordset-derived class that was generated with the MFC AppWizard.

CString CSecuredRSSet::GetDefaultConnect()
{
    return _T("ODBC;DSN=Secure;PWD=Lamont");
}
				

Using User-Level Passwords with the MFC DAO Classes

The process is more complex if you are using the MFC DAO classes, and are connecting to a database that has user-level security. First, you need to set the SystemDB property of the DBEngine object to point to the appropriate workgroup information file. This must be done before any DAO objects have been initialized; otherwise, the setting has no effect. The code below is in the InitInstance function of a DAO MFC AppWizard application. Note that extra code is shown before and after the DAO code in order to illustrate where the DAO code would go in a typical InitInstance implementation:

NOTE: Visual C++ .NET does not have DAO MFC AppWizard. For more information, see MFC Technical Note 54 (TN054) in the MSDN library.

// Parse command line for standard shell commands, DDE, file open.
CCommandLineInfo cmdInfo;
ParseCommandLine(cmdInfo);
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 
// Inserted code does 2 things: Sets the version of DAO to use, and      // 
// sets the System.mdw file to the one that we want.                     // 
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 

// Use DAO 3.6.
AfxGetModuleState()->m_dwVersion = 0x0601;

//Set the system DB to the one we want.
//May need to call AfxDaoTerm if DAO is already running
//	AfxDaoTerm(); 
CString strSystemMDB = "f:\\secured.mdw";
COleVariant varSystemDB( strSystemMDB, VT_BSTRT );

// Initialize DAO for MFC.
AfxDaoInit( );
DAODBEngine* pDBEngine = AfxDaoGetEngine( );
ASSERT( pDBEngine != NULL );

// Call put_SystemDB method to set the 
// system database for DAO engine.
DAO_CHECK( pDBEngine->put_SystemDB( varSystemDB.bstrVal ) );

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 

// Dispatch commands specified on the command line.
if (!ProcessShellCommand(cmdInfo))
     return FALSE;

// The one and only window has been initialized, so show and update it.
m_pMainWnd->ShowWindow(SW_SHOW);
m_pMainWnd->UpdateWindow();
				

To open the database with the proper security, you first need to create a workspace with the required name and password, assign the workspace to the m_pWorkspace data member of the CDaoDatabase object, and then call Open. In the code below, myWS is a CDaoWorkspace that is defined in the CSecuredRSView class, and myDB is a CDaoDatabase, also defined in the view class. The code is the OnInitialUpdate method of the view class.

void CSecuredRSView::OnInitialUpdate()
{
    m_pSet = &GetDocument()->m_securedRSSet;
	
    // In order to open a secured Access DB we must have a Workspace
    // that has been opened with the correct user name and password.
    // Note that the system DB is not set here, because it was set in 
    // InitInstance.
    myWS.Create("New", "Lamont", "Lamont");
    myWS.Append();

    myDB.m_pWorkspace=&myWS;
              myDB.Open("F:\\jet4.mdb",FALSE,FALSE,_T(";User=Lamont;PWD=Lamont;"));
    m_pSet->m_pDatabase=&myDB;

    CDaoRecordView::OnInitialUpdate();
    GetParentFrame()->RecalcLayout();
    ResizeParentToFit();
}
				

Using User-Level Passwords with the MFC ODBC Classes

When connecting to the database through ODBC, it is much easier to specify which workgroup information file you want to use. Simply pass a parameter in the connection string that points to the workgroup information file to use. The code below is from a CRecordset-derived class that was generated with the MFC AppWizard.

CString CSecuredRSSet::GetDefaultConnect()
{
    return           _T("ODBC;DSN=Secure;SystemDB=F:\\secured.mdw;User=Lamont;Pwd=Lamont");
}
				

NOTE: In the case of user-level security, where you are specifying a workgroup information file, the version of the workgroup file must match the version of the database. Whether your database is in the Jet 3.51/Access 97 format or Jet 4.0/Access 2000 format, the workgroup information file must also be in this format. The easiest way to ensure this is to include an appropriate workgroup information file in your application directory. Then open the database, passing the password as a parameter.