Hi Chris:

Is there a way I can include the username and password in the URL of a protected page to gain access to a that page without going through the log-in page?

I'm not quite sure what the syntax would be in the URL.

Warren

5 Computers in an office, random hardware and operating systems.  Some wireless some wired - all the same ISP connection.

Some users do not see the PLACE A NEW AD hyperlink.  How can this be hidden?  There is no conditional statement yet some see it and others don't.

To make this problem even more confusing if I take an image and put the place_new_ad.asp hyperlink on that image the users don't even see that image any longer.

How can this be resolved?

Hello,

What is the difference between the paypal_sub_signup and the paypal_signup directories?  Also, I know it depends, but what directories and files can I delete from my web server if I am not using them?  I copied the entire set of files that came with the program over to the webserver and I am concerned that there is too much out there.

Jess

Just as an FYI, I found the problem.  FP2003 has an "Optimize" feature that removes so called not needed spaces and comments from the pages.  It also completely screws up .ASP code.

I turned off the optimization feature and all the pages I was having problems with worked.  However, I would still recommend not using it too!

If you would like me to, I also have no problem going into your machine real quick via remote access and setting permissions / putting the right connecting string in there for you.

I need to go in as an administator though to set the permissions.

Hi Chris,

Alright.  We figured out how to work with both C# and VB, by creating a separate VB web project in VStudio, and then passing the aspprotectnet.dll to the C# project.

Ok.  I have another question:

How can our code determine the identity and user_id of the currently logged in user:

Is it Session["User_ID"].ToString() and Session["Username"].ToString()?

thank you

I've downloaded this neat little app, but I'm having troubles understanding what I should be using.  Cassinni or IIS, can you help?  I've tried to look at the help, but it is very vague on what to use in each situation. 

Any help is appreciated. 

Cheers

btw: who is this hosting company anyway ?

and did they give you access to a control panel that lets you manage your site ? sometimes that is where you manage those permissions if their interface supports it

lastly, are frontpage extensions installed in your web so it can be connected to via frontpage ?

You should read my article on server side includes… the path to the include file must of course be adjusted depending on where in your web you are.
http://www.powerasp.com/content/code-snippets/includes.asp

You will also notice if you look at the provided example pages that the include paths have been adjusted to make sense.

If it is 2 directories down it should probably look different..

example:)   "../../checkuser_inc.asp"

It’s weird that if you are not getting an error because if the path to the server side include is wrong you should get a nasty server error.

Also..

The ASPProtect system and any pages it protects must also be part of the same Application in IIS. It’s the nature of forms based authentication. Do a google search if you are not sure what an application is in IIS.

Lasty…. If you are logged in at the time

Whether your current session at the site is still active… or you have the cookie set to remember you.

Well, nothing will happen… cause your already logged in and you will just see the page as normal.

Perhaps things are working and you just don’t understand that part ?

You need to go to the log off page.. log off… then close all instances of the web browser windows..

Then come back to the site… then see if it prompts you to log in.

Ok, so I checked to see if ASP is running on the server and it is.  then I added code to the top of a page and this is what i can see when 'view Source' on the web browser:

<%@ LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" %>

<!-- Begin ASPProtect Code -->
<!-- Groups with access to this page. ( * Admins * ) -->
<% GROUPACCESS = "4" %>
<! #INCLUDE FILE="check_user_inc.asp">
<!-- End ASPProtect Code -->

<html>
<head>
<title>TeamManagers</title>

Yet I get no challenage for a password and no error message!

Okay Chris, I wold like to get rid of the encryption then if it's not too much trouble.

I have no option of running the production server against an ms access db, since the db needs to be online and accessible from another system.

ASPProtect v7 comes with working example code of protecting a file download.

This comes with the system as an example folder with some files in it.

(some of the initial purchaser's of the system might not have that directory.. if that is the case please ask)

Here is how it works...

Basically we protect the file download by only allowing a logged in user to download it. The special ".asp" page we use the stream the file is password protected. It also hides the true location of the file so you can keep your files out of your web or keep them in a folder in your web that does not allow file browsing. Under this scenario even if someone looks at the html source they can not tell where the file really came from and they can only download if they are logged in and you offered them the link to the file.

For the file download protection examples to work you may need to edit some values
in the stream_download.asp file that are valid for your setup.

Look at the source. The values you can edit are commented.

Now, you also need to call a valid "download file name" from the download_link.asp file which is an example of how make a download link to the streamed download.

Protecting ASP Pages

To protect a page without using the Access_Level or Groups feature simply add this code to the top of that page.

Put this under the <%@ LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" %>

<!--#INCLUDE FILE="check_user_inc.asp"-->

This is an example of a File Server Side Include. You could also use a Virtual Server Side Include.

The following URL explains what Server Side Includes are.
http://www.powerasp.com/content/code-snippets/includes.asp

Now when someone runs that page they will prompted to login. They will not be allowed access to that page until they successfully logged in.

An example of doing this is provided in the "default.asp" file included in the root of the Password System.
Look at the source code with a text editor to see the working code. It is quite simple.

 Protecting ASP Pages Using Access Levels

To protect a page using the Access Level feature simply add this code to the top of that page.
You simply specify the Access Level before the include file is called. In this example we are protecting the page with Access Level 4.

Put this under the <%@ LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" %>

<% CHECKFOR = "4" %>
<!--#INCLUDE FILE="check_user_inc.asp"-->

This is an example of a File Server Side Include. You could also use a Virtual Server Side Include.

The following URL explains what Server Side Includes are.
http://www.powerasp.com/content/code-snippets/includes.asp

Now when someone runs that page they will prompted to login. They will not be allowed access to that page until they successfully logged in as a Level 4 user.

Examples of managing Access Levels are provided in the "multiple_access_levels" folder included in the root of the Password System.
Look at the source code of the ASP pages in that folder with a text editor to see the working code. Again, It is quite simple to follow.

Protecting ASP Pages Using Groups

Please see the code generators in the admin are for the code to do that.

Hi,

How do you know permissions are ok in that folder ?
Please tell me more on how they were set.

Please read through my article on how they are set correctly.
http://support.cjwsoft.com/code/moreinfo136-1.htm

Often times they are not set correctly or people thingk they set them somehow but in fact did not do it the correct way.

I would also suggest using the "test_physical_path.asp" page in the "extras" folder to verify if the path you are using to the database mdb file is in fact correct. That page should work whether permissions are set or not. At least then you will know if the path is correct or not and you can go from there.

I would kile to see more support for the groups function:

1. on the password_admin/default.asp page have a coulmn listing groups

2. ability to change groups in bulk eg change the expiry date for all group x members

Cheers

that would probably work...

any ".aspx" page can grab that data after someone logs in..

Session("Username")
Session("User_ID")

etc etc

anything you see set in the "aspprotectlogin.aspx.vb" file will be there

any data not set there would have to be added and then the project recomplied so that data gets saved...

Great suggestion, routing the banner click through an intermediate page before the destination.  We use Deepmetrix LiveSTATS.xsp V7 and I should be able to configure a filter to capture the stats of the intermediate page.

Thanks for the help!
Lance

humm, yea thats a data connection error..
really not related to the asp code in the application for the most part.

that is low level

If using MSACCESS

I would make sure permissions are set correctly on the database folder (not just the database file itself)

I would make sure your using at least a 2000 version of the database. 2003-2003 format being better.. 

I would make sure the server has up to date mdac/odbc drivers.. (that is really the server admins responsibility)


As for permissions there are articles in our forums about exactly how they need to be set. Improper permissions can cause a ton of random errors like that.

Here is the complete page with the error message:

============================================================ ===

Unspecified error



This means there is most likely a problem with the "ConnectionString" info that you specified.

If you are using a DSN-Less Connection with MSACCESS.

Check that the physical path to the database has been specified correctly.
It has to be perfect and correct. It cannot be specified using "http://" or by using "server.mappath".
It has to be specified like the following example.

ConnectionString = "DBQ=C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\advpass_pro\_database\passwords.mdb;Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};UID=admin;PASSWORD=Xpass"

If this is running on an NT server or Win2000 Server make sure that permissions have been set on the database.
Only the server admins can do this. If you are not the admin you will have to ask for this to be done.

Our home page is not showing up gives this error:

Active Server Pages error 'ASP 0126'

Include file not found

/Default.asp, line 246

The include file 'elib/articles/home_feature1.asp' was not found.

I did a google search and it turns out that error very well might have to do with ASP trying to send an email and that process failing.

That tells me your emailing from the application is not working so it is probably not something you edited incorrectly.

see this article...

80040211
http://www.aspfaq.com/show.asp?id=2026

Emailing was working as when I did your installation (I think I did it months ago, didn't I) so it must be some incorrect changes to your email settings in the admin settings screen. Try sending an individual email to a user from the admin users screen and see if it works. My guess is you will get the same error and means your email sending options are no longer correct or valid.

If that is the case I would ask you if you changed them or possibly something changed as far as your email setup goes. Passwords ? EMail Server .. etc etc etc

This is what "John Evans" of CJWSoft has to say on the matter...

"I think that’s pretty much impossible. If the server sees a .JPG or .JPEG extension why in the world would it go and try to read it or do anything with it.

I believe there may have been some issues with Outlook and Outlook express that made it look like a vbs script sent as an attachment was actually a JPG because someone found an exploit in those programs and it would appear as if double extension files were one thing when in fact they were not.

Having a real time virus scanner on the server (which any good host will) should also catch anything infected being built on the server drives as the file uploads. Always worked for me and I had a lot of people uploading ZIP files on winxptheme.com at one point. Many had viruses in them although I suspect it was totally innocent on the end users part. Some people didn’t even know they had a virus on their rig. 

Fact is anything is possible but I think chances of getting a virus or being hacked in some way from this sort of upload are really slim."

dsn-less is the way to go..
http://support.cjwsoft.com/code/moreinfo9-2.htm

you also need to use newer versions of the database as the odbc drivers on the server are sometimes very new and no longer work with access 97 databases

Hi,

No, only ".asp" files can be protected.  It is the nature of Forms Based Authentication when using web based scripting technologies whether those scripts be ".cgi", ".asp", ".php", or whatever.

To protect entire direcotries at once you really need to run your own webserver and use NTFS permissions and user accounts..... or if something special is installed on the server there may be ways to do it as well. That usually isn't going to happen under a shared hosting account but there are special authentication products for such a thing that some hosting companies do purchase and allow their hosting customers to use.

Using aspprotect we do give working examples of ways to stream and partially protect images and downloads while a user is logged in to an ".asp" page.

Also, any ".htm" pages can simply be renamed to ".asp" if you need to protect them. Links to each other need to be updated of course because of the extension change.

In my opinion the truth of the matter is most high end sites use Forms Based Authentication with scripts. Not directory protection as it is fairly primitive/old school as well as sometimes being confusing for the users of the site because of how the login window from the server often gets stuck behind the browser.. etc etc

If you have a lot of pages in a site that you need to add protection code to then if can often be helpful to use a good Multiple file search and replace program to carefully add the protection code to the top of the source code of the pages. There are even multiple file search and replace programs that can rename extensions which can be helpful for large sites.

For images and graphics you want protect you have to do some work and set up and intelligent system for yourself.

Lastly whether you use https:// or not is no concern to ASPProtect as it works the same under https:// as it does under http://

If I also password protect the pricelist pages then someone will have to login twice.

nobody should have to log in twice... ?

session variables keep track of access... once your in - your in and you can browse to and from any password protected pages you like

If it is making you log in each time then cookies are most likely disabled.. session variables requires cookies being on to work.. cookies being on  is a requirement of aspprotect and is how Formed Based Authentication works..

let me know if that is the issue there...

you shouldnt have to be logging in more than once per session

Thats the whole point of the application...

you basically have to edit the html in the links in the various pages and remove them... some are in includes files

use a text editor and be causious / back things up before you remove links so you can revert back