Security

New objects created in BRIDGE have, by default, the same access controls as the folder they are created in. (This is done "by reference" and not "by copy", so changes to the folder's permissions affect all of the contained objects.)

You can edit a folder's permissions in the full editor by selecting it in the "explorer view" (the folder tree and contents list window) and choosing "Edit Permissions..." from the File menu. The permissions UI is due for a major overhaul, but for now you can either choose to allow read/write/change-permissions access to anybody (even without a login), anybody with a login, or just specific users, specified in a comma-delimited list of user ids. A better approach for the latter option will hopefully be designed soon.

Temporary Accounts

There is a clunky way to create temporary accounts that will provide access to specific objects or folders to students or others working on a proposal who may not have or need "real" login accounts:

  1. In the proposal folder, choose "Add to..." from the File menu. Choose "System admin tools", then "Local Accounts Databse", then click "Create". An object named "accounts" should appear. (At present the object must be named "accounts".)
  2. When you open the accounts object, you can:
    • Define individual user ids and passwords for each user, or
    • Define specific user ids, all of which share the same password, or
    • Define a single password, and allow any user id with that password
  3. Now for the kludgy part: Make a note of the "User name prefix" field in the accounts object. It will be something like "guest.9963.. In the permissions dialog for the folder, you can enter "guest.9963.* (replacing "9963" with the actual number from your accounts object) in the read, write, or change-permissions user id list to grant access to logins from the accounts object.
    • You can also specify specific IDs from the accounts object in the permissions dialog, e.g. "guest.9963.pli".

Better integration with VT PID and Portal services may eliminate the need for this for people with VT logins.

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Last modified 6/1/03 1:17 PM by isenhour (history)
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