A status field is a good idea, and you could also look into an authors field which you add/remove names to after the status changes. So after original submission, the original authors name gets removed, but the authorization folks are added.

If you want to avoide tampering with the original form altogether (still working with users who have author access in the ACL), another way is to remove author access completely and make any comments and authorizations part of a response document, but this is a bit more complex. I did an employee recognition application this way, where the original unmodified doc was in the top pane, and ‘reviewers’ would add comments and approve the submission in a response document which was in the bottom pane.

Good luck, there are a few different ways to achieve what you are trying to do.

Rich

This is actually quite simple, and there are multiple possible approaches. If the originator has only Author access in the ACL, use an Authors field on the form to keep them from editing it – if they’re not listed in the Authors field on the form, they can’t edit it. If they have Editor access or higher in the ACL, you can put the fields on the form in a controlled access section. If the section doesn’t grant them access, they can only view it.

Thanks for all your Advice. I used the Querymodechange event and all appears to work nicely

Chris