Why should I install Gatekeeper (Gk)?
Gk can be of help in a number of situations such as, if your workbook is used by different types of users and you want to segregate the different functionalities, or want to hide certain information to a certain group but not another, or want to expose functionality to users with a Gk login, or want to protect a worksheet for a specific group, or want to allow certain users to run specific macros, or your workbook users are not aligned to the Windows domain and want to create your custom groups, etc. ...then Gk can help you manage this in a relatively simple way and save you the hassle of setting and managing a multitude of different passwords.
Users will have their own Gk login password and the add-in will automatically protect/un-protect/hide/unhide sections of the workbook based on the rules you set up.
Users will have their own Gk login password and the add-in will automatically protect/un-protect/hide/unhide sections of the workbook based on the rules you set up.
Will Gk make my workbook's protection more or less robust?
Neither. What Gk allows you to do is to define different protection rules based on who accesses your workbook. This is done through Gk rules. Gk is an add-in and if installed will be running in the background. When it detects that a workbook with Gk rules is being opened it will set the workbook's protection and worksheet visibilities based on the Gk rules and the user logged in Gk. This allows you to customise/expose parts of your workbook or macros based on who is using your workbook.
Will my overall macro security be reduced if I install Gk?
To work properly Gk requires that Access to the VBA Project Object Model is trusted/granted. This is due to what seems to be a bug in Excel®/VB which allows worksheets to have a blank codename.
You should never enable this option and also set the macro security level to allow any macro to run on your machine. At least you should set Excel® to ask you whether or not you want to enable macros before opening a workbook. Only run macros from trusted sources. This will help you avoid running malicious macros on your machine.
You should never enable this option and also set the macro security level to allow any macro to run on your machine. At least you should set Excel® to ask you whether or not you want to enable macros before opening a workbook. Only run macros from trusted sources. This will help you avoid running malicious macros on your machine.
What if I set Gk protection rules but some of my users don't have Gk installed?
Workbooks with Gk protection rules do not require Gk to open (Gk protection rules won't be applied!), however, some care has to be taken on how the Gk rules are set up so that the required functionality will still be available to these users. Such users will only be able to see the 'Main' worksheet, and 'Fixed' worksheet(s). Editable cells will also depend on how you set your Gk rules. For instance, you can make a worksheet to be visible to all users ('Fixed' within Gk), unlock the necessary cells and protect the worksheet in the normal fashion. This worksheet will be available to any user, whether they have Gk installed or not.
When trying to set Gk rules I am getting a message that neither of the worksheets has got a codename, what is the problem?
This is due to not trusting VBA Project Object Model access and/or your project within the workbook is protected (read Gk requirements for further details around this).
If you do not wish to trust access, a possible workaround is that of opening and closing VBE (Alt+F11). If the project is not protected this should be enough to instantiate the codenames and you will be able to set Gk protection rules. If the project is protected you will have to unprotect the project for this workaround to work.
If you do not wish to trust access, a possible workaround is that of opening and closing VBE (Alt+F11). If the project is not protected this should be enough to instantiate the codenames and you will be able to set Gk protection rules. If the project is protected you will have to unprotect the project for this workaround to work.
Is there a limit on the number of 'Units' or 'User groups' a Gk user can be a member of?
No, there isn't.
Are the Gk 'Units' or 'User groups' linked in anyway to the Windows domain?
In no way whatsoever. Gk 'users', 'user groups' and 'units' can be fully maintained by any Gk user that has administrator rights.
Do I need OS administrator rights in order to install Gk?
You don't need administrator rights, however, if you are installing this at work you might need some formal authorisation before you can download and install software on your network.
What version of Excel does Gk work on?
At the moment Gk can be installed on Excel® 2007 and Excel® 2010 (32bit versions).
