Tera, I empathize with you, as this is beginning to sound like a really seriously confusing problem. Part of the confusion is your original question, what you want to do about that login.
I appreciate you for all your comments and the others who participate in this question. And I'm really sorry for causing confusion. and as my first post says, I know how to do it. I'm looking to see how others do it. Just to clear it once again, I haven't any problem with what I'm doing. I was just trying to learn some thing new, something that pros like you or others would do in this situation. So far using tempVars was great.
Here is my point of confusion: When someone uses one of these "open" terminals, does it matter who they are?
Yes, It matters. I need to know who edits a record.
Because your posts SEEM to be saying that you can't log them in as individuals (because they share the same login). Yet in other posts you seem to care about customizing per person.
Somebody suggested to use environ and check who is loged in to windows. I explained that because some PCs are shared (terminals) windows username is the same and I can't use environ.
I explain it once again. Even from these open terminals, At present the users launch the database, select their name from a combo box, type their password and if the password is OK, they can continue using the database, (according to their permissions). When they are finished with their job, they click a button in the ribbon or the switchboard, log out of database (not windows).
I know you worry about retaining an ID (which was the thrust of your original question).
Yes, it was my main question. How many different ways can be used to retain an ID after a user log in a front end? Global variables, Tempvars, using a hidden textbox in swichboard. How many other ways can be used?
My previous comment was simply this: For the question to have ANY meaning, I must assume that you have a way to determine who someone is. Yes I have. As I explained above, everybody has to log into FE to be able to use it. You have seen several suggestions about retaining an ID including Public variables, TempVars, and a user-defined structure, plus a few other ways of retaining this user ID, so I know that you have some ideas that will lead towards your goal.Yes, those were the exact things I was looking for. I didn't think of tempvars and user-defined structure. Maybe I had to mark the question as Solved, but I thought someone may appear with a new thought. That was why I kept the thread open.
But the level of customization you are trying to manage is what seems to be giving you trouble.Once again. I'm sorry for causing confusion. I have no problem. Everything is just OK and the system is running without any flaw. I was just trying to learn some other ways for retaining ID after a successful log in to FE.
Your simple question has been answered. It is up to you to decide when you are ready to pursue other ways of per-user customization that are less time-consuming.
Well, I think you are right. I was hopping to find some new methods I'm not aware of, but so far so good. I learned tempvars and user-defined structures can be used too.
Once again thanks to all who shared their knowledge and experience.