Disabling $KeepPrivate documents!

03/19/2003 02:20:00 PM by Chris Toohey

The other day I got an email that I thought that my boss should see. Of course, the originator sent the email message to me (and other people) having used the "Prevent Copying" attribute, which would not allow me to print, forward or copy the message. I could have always taken a screen print of this, but with my "Disable Privacy" SmartIcon I was able to forward the e-mail message along.

Now before you start thinking about the moral conflicts in disabling the "Prevent Copying" safeguard; sharing information etc. that was FYEO, you have to understand that people who curse you out in an unprofessional tone (I say that having been cursed out before in quite a professional tone before) because you informed them that, due to company policy, they cannot send a 15 MB M$ Powerpoint presentation to 200 of their closest friends are not subject to the same treatment as someone who's sending you personal and confidential information. I'm not telling you to use this when your HR department sends you your payroll information, or your fellow co-workers send the server information for joining the MOHAA-LAN party. This is to be used for those times when the aforementioned non-professionals nasty-gram you just for doing your job.

A slight modification (added logic and better client UI) of the old formula implementation sits in a SmartIcon that has saved me having to call people over to my desk to read something that wasn't meant for anyone else to see!

Once you've selected the SmartIcon that you wish to use, have added it to the SmartIcon bar, paste this code into the Formula section:

FIELD $KeepPrivate := $KeepPrivate;
@If($KeepPrivate != "";
@Do(@SetField("$KeepPrivate";"");
@Prompt([OK];"$KeepPrivate Flag Disabled";"The selected message can now be forwarded/copied!"));
@Prompt([OK];"$KeepPrivate Flag Not Found";"The selected message does not appear to have forwarding/copying disabled."))

Now, that you have your SmartIcon, let's use it!

If the document's $KeepPrivate field value is set, it changes the value to "" or blank and lets you know that the message can now be forwarded and/or copied.

If the $KeepPrivate field is not set, it simply lets you know that the message doesn't appear to have the "Prevent Copying" Delivery Option selected..

After running this small-but-useful bit of formula, you can now forward that nasty-gram on!