Should my application use a login page?

Hi,

I have finished designing my app and have run into a dilemma:

"Should my application use a login page?"

My problem with this is that I have no system setup in case my users forget their login/password credentials. If I remove the login page, the application would go straight to the database page. Thus there is no protection from unauthorized users. My program is designed for Windows XP so if users have user account setup, they could use their user profile login/password to prevent unauthorized users.

Thanks in advance

Simon

Hey,

Does your application ship with it's own database, or does it connect to a shared Database somewhere?

For security reasons, it is likely that you should present a method for the user to authenticate themselves before allowing a connection to the database.

Gary

The application comes with its own database. I don't know where to start to allow users to authenticate themselves before allowing a connection to the database. I want my program to be simple and hassle free. I don't want users to have to login online to access a database because what if the server is down or there are problems with logging in. I appreciate that's what I asked for.

Hey,

It really comes down to exactly what you require. If you want to protect your data, then you have to perform some sort of authentication. The database that you ship would need to include the credentials of valid users of your application. Your application would then check the supplied credentials against those that are in the database, and if successful, the login screen goes away, and allows the user to proceed.

Gary