Protecting the worksheet

You can protect the views in the worksheet against certain changes by other users. When a worksheet is protected:

  • You can drill, rotate the view, and submit data.
  • You cannot insert or delete rows or columns (whether the sheet contents are protected or not).

If you have multiple sheets in your workbook, you need to protect each worksheet individually.

If you want to protect a worksheet but leave selected cells unlocked, you must unlock the cells before you protect the worksheet: once you protect the worksheet, you can no longer access Excel's Format Cells command to unlock the cells.

Once a worksheet is protected, selecting the Protection command from the CPM Views menu opens the Unprotect Sheet dialog box, where the Contents, Objects, and Scenarios commands are disabled.

To protect a worksheet and leave specific cells unlocked:

  1. Unlock any cells outside the data area that you want to be edited by other users. Inserted rows and columns and data entry cells are automatically unlocked.
  2. Right-click on the cells and select Format Cells.
  3. Click the Protection tab.
  4. Clear the Unlocked check box and click OK.
  5. Select Protection from the CPM Views menu, and select the options you want to protect. This protects the remaining cells in the worksheet.
    1. Select the Contents option to protect the cells in the worksheet by disabling these Excel commands: Format, Sort, Auto Filter, and PivotTable and PivotChart Reports. Rows and columns inserted with the Excel Services Insert/Delete commands and writeback cells are not affected.
    2. Select the Objects option to protect charts, graphics, and similar objects in the worksheet.
    3. Select the Scenarios option to protect the changing and resulting cells in created Excel scenarios and their "what if" values for a given worksheet. The Delete and Edit commands are disabled in Scenario Manager.
    4. Optionally, you can specify a password. The password must be the same for all worksheets in the workbook. Do not password-protect your sheets and views with your NT sign-on password or your database access password.
    5. Confirm the password.
    6. Click OK. When the Protect Sheet dialog box is reopened, the protection options are disabled and the worksheet is now in a protected state.
  6. Repeat this process for each worksheet you want to protect. Use the same password for all sheets.