Setting Up Authenticated Sessions
Network communication must be active to initiate sessions with other
and enable program linking using the Sharing Setup icon located in the Control
Panels folder inside the System Folder. The next figure displays the Sharing
Setup icon:
The Sharing Setup icon
The following figure shows the Sharing Setup control panel that the Finder
displays when the user opens the Sharing Setup icon:
The Sharing Setup control panel
To permit other computers to initiate sessions with the owner's computer,
the owner of the computer must click the Start button underneath Program
Linking (Start toggles with Stop). The Sharing Setup control panel then
indicates "Program linking is on. Click Stop to prevent other users from
linking to your shared programs." To prevent other computers from initiating
sessions, an owner simply clicks Stop underneath Program Linking. The
Sharing Setup control panel then indicates "Program linking is off. Click Start
to allow other users to link to your shared programs." Clicking the Start or
Stop button also enables or disables the transmission of incoming Apple events
across the network.
If a user clicks the Stop button while there are active incoming sessions
( sessions initiated by other users), an alert box (shown in the following
figure) appears on the user's screen.
The session termination alert box
If a user clicks OK, all active sessions initiated by other users are
immediately terminated. Note that it is still possible for the owner of the
computer to initiate sessions, even though other users may not initiate
sessions with the owner's computer.
each user through an assigned name and password. Each session initiated with a
port that is located on a remote computer requires authentication (unless guest
located on the same computer never require authentication.
A computer's owner can establish access for other users and guests by opening
the users and groups icon located in the Control Panels folder. When an owner
opens the users and groups icon, the Finder displays the users and groups
control panel. The users and groups control panel allows an owner to specify
the names and passwords of other users whose computers can initiate sessions
with his or her ports across the network. When the computer's owner opens the
users and groups control panel, the Guest icon appears. If the owner's name is
specified in the Sharing Setup control panel, an icon with the owner's name
also appears.
To specify a particular new user, the owner chooses New User from the File
menu. The owner should type in the user's name. When the owner opens a user
icon in the users and groups control panel, the Finder displays the users and
groups dialog box on the owner's screen. The following figure shows the users
and groups dialog box for a particular user.
The users and groups dialog box
To permit authenticated session requests, the owner can specify a password
clicking the check box under Program Linking. If the owner clicks the check
box again, all active sessions initiated by this particular user are immediately
terminated. The user termination alert box (shown in the following figure) is
displayed as a warning.
The user termination alert box
When the owner opens a Guest icon in the users and groups control panel, the
Finder displays the guest dialog box on the owner's screen. Authentication is
not required if the owner permits guest access. The next figure shows the guest
dialog box.
The guest dialog box
By clicking the check box under Program Linking, the owner permits guests
As an example of the authentication process, one user might decide to make a
dictionary service available to other users. Another user may wish to employ
this service in a word-processing program. Assuming both programs support
the dictionary service that is open on the other user's computer by initiating a
session. When the word-processing application requests a session, the
PPC Toolbox attempts to authenticate the user by requesting a user name
and a password (unless guest access is enabled). If the authentication process
verifies the user's identity and the dictionary application accepts the request
for a session, a session is established and the user can access the dictionary's
data.
The following figure illustrates the authentication process that occurs when a
user attempts to initiate a session.
Referenced by (2):