4.7.6.2 Accessing a Workspace anonymously

If anyone points his Web browser to    http://bscw.gmd.de/pub/english.cgi    it will display the    Folder page of user anonymous on GMD's public BSCW Server. This Folder contains all objects on the server that allow anonymous access. Typically, there is not much of a chance to come across the Folder that you have published.

If you want your anonymous audience to immediately find your information, you need to publicize a URL that permits direct access. And it needs to bypass the normal BSCW log-in procedure. This is achieved by using an address which differs from the "normal" URL of a BSCW object. You may determine this special URL in two ways.

When anonymous access is already allowed:

• Click the    icon in the footer of a Folder page

to display the    Folder of user anonymous.

• Find the object and note its BSCW address as displayed in the 'Location:' window of your Web browser.

Before anonymous access is allowed:

• Note the object's URL in your Workspace (most Web browser are able to copy the URL of a link to the clipboard).
• Modify it so that it bypasses the log-in procedure and accesses the object directly.

The principle of the modification is demonstrated in the following example:

To a Workspace member, the internal address of a Folder might be:

http://bscw.gmd.de/bscw/bscw.cgi/d18147

The bold segment of this address must be replaced as shown in this address for anonymous access :

http://bscw.gmd.de/pub/english.cgi/d18147

The inserted text has two components:

pub

This path specification bypasses the log-in procedure that is normally started when a user accesses the server. Access control, however, will not be bypassed: BSCW returns an error message if anonymous is not allowed to access the requested object.

english.cgi

specifies the language which BSCW uses in the HTML-based user interface for this anonymous user. This might be irrelevant for a single Document, but if you allow anonymous access to a Folder, the anonymous users will see the Folder page with language-specific icons on the button bars and [Action] bars.

If you think that the anonymous users will prefer the user interface in another language, replace english by another language available on your BSCW server. You may see the options available in the menu next to

Display all user interface messages in

in your 'Edit preferences' form (see section 2.3).