Getting rid of "block unsafe expressions" warnings

[Nick Kasoff]

I've got an Access application which started in 97, and which we are
about to release in a 2003 version. I have Access 2003 runtime / ODE /
whatever it's called now, which is successfully creating a package
thanks to the expert help of Mike Wachal. Unfortunately, the setup
package it creates gives several nasty warnings about blocking unsafe
expressions. This is a retail package which is being used by financial
planners, who will have no idea what this message means, but will be
startled by it, resulting in many calls to our tech support line. Is
there some way of getting setup to run without this, as it has for
every other version of Access runtime?

 

[Kristyn Wagoner [MSFT]]

There are two ways to disable security warning message

Option 1:

Creating a digital certificate:

1) Start/Programs/Microsoft Office/Office Tools
2) Provide a name for the certificate
3) Open the database and create a module
4) Go to Tools/Digital Signature and locate the certificate that you created
5) Close the module and the database
6) The next time the database is opened, check to trust the file that is
signed by

this person

7) You can now change the macro security level to medium

Option 2:

Change the Macro security level to Low

1) Open the database
2) Tools - Macro - Security - Low


This is a great link for this information and more...
http://office.microsoft.com/assistance/preview.aspx?assetid=ha010916581033&ctt=98
--
Kristyn Wagoner
Microsoft PSS

Please do not reply directly to this alias. This alias is for newsgroup
purposes only.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Nick Kasoff]

This is going to be a project distributed on a CD using ADT with
runtime. Is there a way to include the digital certificate in the
project and make the process of the user accepting the certificate
reasonably automated? Asking them to browse for it on their hard drive
is going to cause serious user confusion.

 

[Paul Overway]

You don't (and must not) distribute the actual certificate with your
app....you only sign your code with it. This is supposed to form a type of
warranty that implies that the code in the database has not been modified
since the database was compiled. It is up to the user to decide whether or
not they trust you/your company. If your app is signed, the user will be
prompted with information describing the owner of the certificate used to
sign the app and will be asked whether Windows should trust applications
signed the owner of that certificate. If you distribute your certificate,
you are giving anyone who has it the ability to impersonate you/your
company.

A third option, which was not mentioned, is to set macro security to Low and
sandbox mode to default via the registry. Macro security can be set at
machine level or user level. Sandbox is a machine level setting. There
have been a variety of posts in this NG concerning this topic.