Introduction to Access Control Records

Access control records reside in ACCESS files and DIRMAP files. These records enable you to enforce security over the data on your system. For example, you can:

• Prevent users from all outside sites from gaining access to your data
• Prevent anyone at a specific outside site from gaining access to your data
• Permit specific users to gain access to your data

Use of access control records is optional. Access control records are the only records in an ACCESS file. In a DIRMAP file, access control records must follow the last directory control record.

Using Access Control Records

Access control records are organized into SELECT blocks. A generic SELECT block looks like this:

 SELECT 
   <authentication records> 
   <initial action records> 
   <decision-making records> 
 END SELECT 

You may nest SELECT blocks.

VM:Webgateway defaults to allowing a file to be served. That is, if VM:Webgateway encounters no access control records while processing the ACCESS and DIRMAP files, it assumes it should serve the requested data.

If VM:Webgateway encounters a syntax error in a SELECT block, it denies the request and sends the web browser user an explanatory error document. A syntax error is defined as an access control record that:

• Contains an invalid keyword
• Appears before the outermost SELECT record
• Conveys wrong information (for example, a duplicate PASSWORD record in a SELECT block or mismatched SELECT/END SELECT records)
• References a file that does not exist or cannot be read

VM:Webgateway ignores access control records that follow the outermost END SELECT record.

VM:Webgateway ignores leading, trailing, and superfluous embedded blank spaces in records. Keywords (such as SELECT, WHEN, and ALLOW) are case insensitive.

VM:Webgateway ignores blank lines in ACCESS and DIRMAP files.

See Also

Introduction to Directory Control Records documents additional records you can use in DIRMAP files.