Troubleshooting Macro Warnings and Security Levels

The security level for FlexPro might be set to Low

To have FlexPro warn you that a database or add-in contains macros, change the security level to 'Medium'.

The security level for FlexPro might be set to 'High', and the macros are not digitally signed

To have FlexPro warn you that a database or add-in contains macros that are not digitally signed, change the security level to 'Medium'.

You or someone you have designated as a trusted publisher might have developed the macros

If you designated the macro developer as a trusted publisher, FlexPro opens the database and enables macros. If you no longer consider the macro developer a trusted source, you can remove the macro developer from the list of trusted publishers. To have FlexPro prompt you every time you open a database or load an add-in that contains macros, remove every publisher from the list of trusted publishers. If you are using FlexPro Professional or FlexPro Developer Suite, you can check whether the macros contained in the database have been signed. Click Developer[Code] > Visual Basic. In the Visual Basic Editor, click on Digital Signature in the Tools menu.

The macro you want to run might not be from a trusted publisher

You will receive a macro warning if the security level for FlexPro is set to Medium or High, and you open a database or load an add-in that contains digitally signed macros that are not from a trusted publisher. If you are sure that the macro developer is a trusted publisher, add the name to the list of trusted publishers.

The database may contain a macro virus

If you do not expect the database to contain a macro, your computer might have a virus that is adding a macro virus to the database. Check your computer for viruses, and try to get an uninfected copy of the database from the source.

The database contains legitimate but unsigned macros

FlexPro cannot distinguish between safe macros and unsafe macros. If you know the macros are legitimate and safe, you might want to digitally sign those macros and then add their names to the list of trusted publishers.

To stop displaying macro warnings, change the security level for FlexPro to Low. To prevent your computer from becoming infected by macro viruses, you should only set your security level to Low if you use a separate anti-virus application that can check the FlexPro databases and add-ins for macro viruses. Otherwise, you should make sure that all macros used by you come from trusted publishers.

This warning appears in the Security Warning box if the security level for FlexPro is set to High or Medium, and you open a database or load an add-in that contains digitally signed macros, but the digital certificate has not been authenticated. For example, if the macro developer has created his or her own digital certificate, you will receive this warning. This type of unauthenticated certificate can be forged by malicious users to falsify the identity of the source of the certificate. For example, a malicious user could create a certificate with the description "Weisang & Co." The only warning that the certificate is false would come from the warning described here. You should expect professional software developers to sign using authenticated certificates. You should only accept unauthenticated certificates from co-workers you know or friends. Don't accept any from sources you don't know.

If the security level for FlexPro is set to High and you trust the macro source, you can select the Always trust macros from this source check box and enable the macros. If the security level for FlexPro is set to Medium, you can enable the macros without adding the macro developer to the list of trusted publishers. If you don't consider this macro developer a trusted publisher, do not enable the macros or do not open the database until you have verified that the publisher can be trusted.

Macros might have been automatically disabled

If the security level for FlexPro is set to High and you open a database or load an add-in that contains unsigned macros, the macros are disabled and you cannot run them. You can enable macros that are not digitally signed by changing the security level to Medium, closing the database or unloading the add-in, and then opening the database or loading the add-in again. Remember to change the security level back to High if you want FlexPro to automatically disable unsigned macros in the future.

You might have chosen to disable macros when you opened the database

If the security level for FlexPro is set to Medium or High, and you have determined that the macros are to be disabled because their source is not trustworthy, you cannot run the macros. To run the macros, close the database or unload the add-in, re-open the database or load the add-in and then click Enable Macros.

Your network administrator might have enforced a security level for your workgroup or corporation to make sure you use only macros that have been deemed virus free. For more information, contact your network administrator.

The list of trusted publishers might be locked

Your system administrator may have locked your list of trusted publishers so that you cannot add new macro developers to it.

The macro might not be digitally signed

In order to add a macro developer to the list of trusted publishers, the macro must be digitally signed by the macro developer.

The security level for FlexPro might be set to Low

In order to add a macro developer to the list of trusted publishers, you must set the security level to 'Medium' or 'High'.

If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer with FlexPro, the Certificate Properties dialog box appears when you click the Details button in the Security Warning dialog box to get information about a digital certificate for a digitally signed macro in a FlexPro database.

The Trust tab in the Certificate Properties dialog box contains an option for categorizing the certificate as generally trustworthy. FlexPro, however, ignores all options that you have activated on the Trust tab. To add a macro developer to the list of trusted publishers when you load databases, check the box Always trust macros from this source in the Security Warning dialog box.