Report access without base sheet level access

sschreiner

Hi, I have a user that needs access to a report (which filters the data based on a parameter and only returns certain rows). However it doesn't seem like they can view it unless:

• I make the report public, which isn't an option as it contains sensitive data.
• OR I share the base sheet with all of the data with them, which isn't an option either

Am I missing something? Is there a better way to manage this? The only (bad) options I can come up with are:

• Use an index match formula to pull the values that match the filter criteria to another sheet and share that sheet with them (not ideal just because it feels a bit brittle)
• Copy my base sheet and have them run their process and data completely separate (but then I have to maintain two sets of forms/ sheets/ etc)

Thanks in advance!

David Joyeuse

Hi @sschreiner

Why is sharing the base sheet not an option either?

A simple viewer access to the sheet would allow him to view the report and not do any modifications within the sheet if that is your problem.

sschreiner

Sharing the base sheet is not an option because it contains other clients' data. The user is a client and I only want them to see their data, so I'm concerned about visibility, not just edits.

Jeremy Lee

Hiya! Smartsheet has a great purpose-built solution for this in Dynamic View, which would enable you to do all you require (and more).

I believe the "public" option you referenced is publishing the report and sharing the URL, correct? When publishing you do make the report accessible to anyone with the URL, but it is not publicly searchable or discoverable in any other way. When I need to share report content that's typically what I do.

The third option would be to publish the report and host it on a dashboard as a web content widget, which would give you permission control and not release that URL into the world.

Good luck!

Kenna

If the end user only needs view access, and doesn't need to modify anything, you can select to "Publish" the report an select view only. On the right side ribbon select the sheet with the arrow pointing up, when you hover over it it says PUBLISH. Then select the options that works best for you. It will create a URL that you can just email to them for view only access.