I am trying to design a file for use by three different departments. The
columns will be named as steps in a process, and different of the departments
are responsible for filling in the information for different steps. I want
the file to be secure in the sense that only the department which is
responsible for their pieces of information is able to fill in that
information. I am thinking of the following setup.

Three separate tabs, each with the same header information on top, with the
pieces of information from one department, linking into the other sheets. So
if Dept. 1 fills in columns 1-3, and then dept. 2 fills in 4-5, and so on,
then for those first sets (as example), I am thinking of having unlocked
cells on Dept.1's tab in columns 1-3, then locking the other columns, but
having those columns feed off of what Dept.2's tab has in 4 and 5. For
Dept.2, the first three columns would be direct links to Dept.1's tab, and so
as soon as Dept.1 fills in something, Dept.2 would have columns 4-5 (which
would be unlocked for them) to fill in, to supplement the data put in by
Dept.1. And so on for all departments that are involved, and for all columns
of data that need filling. Then I'd lock the sheets with a password unique
to each dept.

If anyone has a better way of handling this sort of situation (this is a
temporary fix), please let me know.
--
Boris