Because a digital certificate (digital certificate: Attachment for a file, macro project, or e-mail message that vouches for authenticity, provides secure encryption, or supplies a verifiable signature. To digitally sign macro projects, you must install a digital certificate.) you create yourself isn't issued by a formal certification authority, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) projects signed (digital signature: An electronic, encryption-based, secure stamp of authentication on a macro or document. This signature confirms that the macro or document originated from the signer and has not been altered.) by using such a certificate are referred to as self-signed projects. Databases signed with a self-signed certificate are recommended only for personal use, or during testing and development phases of an Access solution.
At the High or Medium macro security level in Access, when a self-signed database is opened for the first time after it has been signed, you will see a message indicating that the certificate used to sign the VBA project hasn't been issued by a certification authority, and thus shouldn't be trusted. Obviously, you can safely trust a self-signed VBA project from yourself or your workgroup, and if you add its certificate to the list of trusted publishers on your computer, you will not see any warnings the next time you open the file.
After you create the certificate, you will be able to transfer the certificate to the computers that are part of your workgroup so that all members of the team can share the certificate, and avoid the warning messages each time they open the file.
If you or a member of your workgroup modifies a self-signed VBA project on a computer that has the certificate, Access will automatically sign the project again, so the file need not be manually signed each time.
To learn more about certification authorities that offer services for Microsoft products, see the list of Microsoft Root Certificate Program Members, on the MSDN Web site.
Note The hyperlink (hyperlink: Colored and underlined text or a graphic that you click to go to a file, a location in a file, a Web page on the World Wide Web, or a Web page on an intranet. Hyperlinks can also go to newsgroups and to Gopher, Telnet, and FTP sites.) in this topic goes to the Web. You can switch back to Help at any time.
- In Microsoft Windows XP, on the Windows Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Office, point to Microsoft Office Tools, and then click Digital Certificate for VBA Projects. In Microsoft Windows 2000, on the Windows Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Office Tools, and then click Digital Certificate for VBA Projects.
If the SelfCert.exe file is not on your computer, you might need to install it.
How?
- Run the Microsoft Office Setup program again.
How?
- Quit all programs.
- Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon in the Microsoft Windows Control Panel.
- Do one of the following:
- If you installed your Office program as part of Microsoft Office, click Microsoft Office in the Currently installed programs box, and then click the Change button.
- If you installed your Office program individually, click the name of your program in the Currently installed programs box, and then click the Change button.
- On the Advanced Customization screen in the setup program, click the expand indicator (+) next to Office Shared Features.
- Select Digital Signature for VBA projects, click the arrow next to your selection, and then click Run from My Computer.
- Follow the instructions in the Create Digital Certificate dialog box.
For more information about signing a project, see Signing a VBA project.
