Files

Database files have several security features in addition to the file permission mask, discussed in a separate section:

File Password

Files created by the c-treeACE Server, and others, can be assigned a file password when created. File passwords can be changed later by the Administrator or the file’s owner, and then be required for users to access files. For example, a user could be required to enter a file password before initiating the file operations specified in the file permission mask (see "File Permission Masks").

File passwords can be up to 9 characters long. Characters can be letters, numbers, or punctuation marks. Passwords are case sensitive (i.e., upper case and lower case characters are treated as different).

File Owner

As explained in "Users", when a file is created by the c-treeACE Server, the User ID requesting the creation is established as the owner of the file. The Administrator may change the file owner any time to any other currently valid User ID. The owner is used to define one of the ways file permissions can be granted, e.g., the owner typically has permission to write to the file.

File Group

When created, a file is typically associated with the current primary group of the User ID who created the file. The file group is designed for use with the file permission mask. This can be changed later to any other currently valid Group ID for that User ID by the Administrator or owner. For example, the file permission mask may allow “group permission” to read the file, while no others can (see "File Permission Masks").

If instructed by the user’s application when it creates a file, a file’s Group can be any one of the owner’s other Group IDs, instead of the owner’s primary Group.

The current Owner of a file may use the ctfile utility, after entering both the current User ID password and the current file password, to change: the file password; the file permission mask (see "File Permission Masks"); the file Group; and even the file Owner itself, which would block the user from accessing the file through the original Owner User ID. "User’s Control of Security Options" contains a further description of this treatment.