Messages

1

General Software Discussion / Re: difference in windows explorer and window search with file path

« on: August 15, 2018, 11:25 PM »

I'm with you Wraith and I also questioned their veracity on this topic. 

I posted a reply asking to be provided with the source for this information in writing as I also find this extremely hard to believe.  I can give you verbatim what they said but it would be impolite to pass along User names from another forum.   See next in quotes:

"It is my understanding that Microsoft is slowly doing away with mapped drive support and is wanting everyone to begin using UNC instead. At this point mapped drives are basically still around as a nod to programs such as yours that still require drive letters instead of UNC paths. "

On the topic of the problem itself, i was finally able to track down the reason for it by going off site and reconnecting through a VPN.  Connected Like that, i was given a lot more choices for where to start the search so I could see what was causing the whole problem.  It is caused by the way the database software is directing the request for the path.  Unless the User redirects Search to Begin at the the start of the mapped drive letter, it is by default using the already interpreted UNC path as the start.

SO:  Hat's off to you ATH,    Essentially you are 100% correct!  The software has the user already inside the UNC path before it even starts the search.  This was WHY it always returned the found items on their UNC path instead of the path using the mapped drive letter.  Fixing it just requires the User to point Search at the mapped letter before it begins.

So that is the end of MY problem. 
But like you, I would like to know where this one person got their info from re: Windows dropping support for mapped drive letters.  I promise to pass this along if i can get it.

2

General Software Discussion / Re: difference in windows explorer and window search with file path

« on: August 15, 2018, 04:52 PM »

Thanks for your reply ATH.  I wish that was all it was.  But i have it on good authority that MS  intends to do away with supporting mapped drives eventually.  It is just a matter of how soon they fully implement it.  Fully Qualified or  'UNC' paths will be the required way to link to a fie on a shared network location.  From what i understand it has something to do with ensuring security and constant compliance with other network functions.

Sorry i did not get the email telling me you had replied here as well.  I have been so tied up trying to fix this problem with all the links being wrong in a major company database because the Users tried to force a solution on a problem that made things worse instead of better,

I should add that your explanation is probably True as well  !  Thanks for the detailed explanation.


What no one can figure out is why this has never happened in the past.  The Users have always used the search function in explorer and it always returned the mapped drive letter (or so i have been told.. I do not personally do data entry so it could be that no one ever tried using search and they just dont remember it that way.

3

General Software Discussion / difference in windows explorer and window search with file path

« on: August 14, 2018, 11:16 PM »

This is an unusual situation that just occurred and the techs from the company who wrote the software have no idea and neither do I.  But it is creating a huge problem.

This is a database program that has to be loaded with file links and the only path it will allow is the mapped network drive letter path. for example  R:\docs\filename can be linked to the record in the database as the location for a specific file

This is done by browsing to the R:\docs folder and scrolling down to find the correct file which when clicked fills in the path as R:\docs\"filename" in the database record. 
However:
if the same process is followed and the User decides they want to search for the file in the docs folder, and once the file is found they click it.  THIS time Window Search fills in the database record for the file location using the full UNC path to the file...Without using the Mapped drive letter of R:
The database program has a setting that will not allow it to accept ANY paths that are not specific the the mapped drive letter.   So those that try to input with the UNC path (which is 100% correct in every way) are not accepted with an error that they are not allowed to use other paths that the one with the mapped drive letter.
I can't find any problems with the system  Everything checks out 100% and as long as the user stays in Windows explorer and scrolls down to find the file it always uses the mapped drive letter. 
Does anyone have any idea as to why using SEARCh in that mapped drive location would return a long \\remote server\mapped folder name\filename" and fill it in instead.  It will not work linked like that but if they go back and scroll to the file from the folder it is in, it works properly every time.
And yes, the UNC path translates to the exact mapped network drive path
This ONLY happens if they try to search for the file and it must be something new as no one has ever had this come up before.
My only hope at this time i tuse the old Vsubst program which always seemed to work right.  But no one has ever reported a problem using search before now.  Although i dont really see the need to use search when there are not that many files to scroll though.  Still, i also dont see any reason for Window to return the full UNC path when using deach and yet retunth normal R:\Docs\filename when scrolling tot it.
I have considered the possibility of rebuilding he windows index on that system. I dont yet know if this same bug affects all systems

Thanks

4

General Software Discussion / Re: Script to set read+write permissions to folders for users based on foldername

« on: April 03, 2018, 01:32 PM »

Thanks for the two replies.
4wd's, being the shortest would be nice but so far i can't get it to quite work.  I am sure i did something wrong with the new modules i had to import.  I saw it flash something in red but have not rerun
>  UPDATE  The error says:   add-NTFSAccess : The 'Add-NTFSAccess' command was found in the module 'NTFSSecurity', but the module could not be loaded.   So i am working on that one
>  Says something about the file not being digitally signed ;(  Also get further and just more messages telling me that for some reason the NTFSSecurity module is not going to run on this system ;((

PS:  I should add that this is a fully Up-to-date Windows 10 vr 1709 (Creator update installed) system, not Windows server and not Windows 10 1703.  That might make a difference.  Also the folders are accessed by the Users over the LAN in-house network, not directly from the system they are on.  All folders have the default shares of Admin as Owner.  The only thing i am trying to do is add each user to have access to their folder which is a folder named for them.  I normally add read/write for each user when i create the folders.  It is ONLY this one share permission that gets removed somehow on rare occasions.  The owner-share for admin is not changed when the other shares are removed.


Flatop0315.  On yours, i modified slightly making use of the $source variable you setup in line 1 and reused it in line 5 and 8 so this would be more universal and only need to state the folder-name once.  Thereafter using $source.  It appeared to work fine on a short test but did something i am not accustomed to for the sharing permissions. 
When i looked under the "Share" option it plainly says "not shared" so at first I thought the command had failed.

However, when i looked under the "Share" option for that folder it did show that user's name but with the permissions set to 'Contribute'. 
When i normally create these I don't even see that option.  I just click Share, add the username it is shared with and the permissions of  read/write. 
I noticed that the arrow beside 'contribute' would allow change to 'read/write'.  I tried to look up what the differences were and got even more confused. 
But the main worry is that even with that user listed, the folder does not show up as being shared at all.  Even when checking under Advanced system properties for all shared access.
PS: I did run the script under PowerShell as Admin

These folders serve as a backup for the employees desktop, documents and download files.  They are added to on a daily basis and while not perfect, have saved a few people from some major losses.

Any ideas on how to resolve this would be appreciated.  Perhaps i still did something wrong and i am continuing to test both versions

5

General Software Discussion / Re: Script to set read+write permissions to folders for users based on foldername

« on: April 02, 2018, 10:19 PM »

ATH:  I am open to suggestions on how to prevent this in the first place.  I am not even 100% sure the Archive utility is to blame because the timing of the problem is not really synced to the running of the Archive program.  I have considered other options such as Windows 10 updates which get blamed for everything from toe fungus to sunspots  and I feel sure adding the ability to remove user access from shared folders would fall right in line there somewhere.   
To be honest, i do have an ulterior motive for looking for a command-line method of doing this. 
Every time a new person is hired, there are a number of identical tasks that have to be performed using that new persons name and assigned password.  It had occurred to me that I could probably set up a master script to perform what now takes about 30 minutes per new hire and get that down to maybe one minute if everything could be scripted. 
Part of that process involves creating these folders and providing the correct information for ownership and sharing access.  Knowing how to do it from command line won't get me a raise or make more money, but if the script could do it all,  I would have an additional 29 minutes to play League of Legends every time they hired someone new.

6

General Software Discussion / Script to set read+write permissions to folders for users based on foldername

« on: April 02, 2018, 10:43 AM »

We have  system that hosts a folder where every employee has a sub-folder for their private use that is named the same as their username for that system.  There have been a couple of times when those rights "per user" get removed.  The folders are fine, the admin access is fine.  But the user who stores files in that folder loses all rights to it for both read and write.  I believe this might be tied to a special archive program that runs every 3 months but i have to track it down.

It wondered if there was a way to walk the directory and read the name of each sub-folder within and Add read/write share permissions for each folder to the user with the same name as the folder.

The main folder named "employees" has sub-folders named johnsmith,   fredwilson,   maryjones,  etc. for about 40 - 50 users
The last two times it happened, i went through the list one by one and restored the read/write permissions.  Since the folder names are the exact same as the user names (no spaces) I was hoping there would be a way to walk through the sub-folders under "Employees" and add read/write permissions for each folder to the user with the same name as the folder.   The User named "johnsmith" would get read/write only to his sub-folder named "johnsmith".  Same for "fredwilson" and "maryjones"
Below is an example layout.

C:\Employees\
                      fredwilson
                      johnsmith
                      maryjones

There are no loose files in the Employees folder and no folders that do not belong to Users that have an account on that system.  I just wondered is there was a way to handle the issue programmatically when it occurs > Read in the name of the folder and add  read/write permissions for that folder to the user with that name.

Would prefer Powershell or batch but whatever works   I am sure it will be some variation of the "icacls" command.

icacls C:\employees\%user% /grant %user%:(F)

But I am not sure if this is even close as i seldom if ever use icacls

7

General Software Discussion / Re: Easy way to rename a file using the contents of a text file in batch or script

« on: March 25, 2018, 03:51 PM »

Everything works BUT I end up with two extra spaces in the filename which i need to avoid if i can.
<edit>  the leading space in the name turned out to be from the text file itself.  a glitch.  The only problem is the center space between the variable and the added text  <edit>

Your code to extract the text file contents into a variable works but for some reason it leaves a leading space in the variable/  At the end,  i need to add the words "menucopy" to that variable without a space between that and original value

the output of the script gets to a file named  "%dmn%menucopy.png"
where %dmn% was the variable created from the text file and "menucopy" is just added text
But i cannot seem to get rid of a leading space added in the variable %dmn% and another one between it and the text "menucopy".

<Edit>  I forgot to setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion before adding the variables.  Problem solved.  Thanks for the input 4wd i needed your code to load the text into variables  <Edit>

I was gettong something like " jimsmith menucopy.png"    Now I get "jimsmithmenucopy.png" !"!!  Perfect

8

General Software Discussion / Re: Easy way to rename a file using the contents of a text file in batch or script

« on: March 18, 2018, 12:46 PM »

Absolutely correct 4WD.  It would be an automatic setup that I would add to another "master housekeeping" routine.  I have a lot of submissions from people that contain the necessary data for a specific job.  Part of this is a text file that contains the name that the final output should use.  Once the first program has it all compiled, it is just named "finished".jpg  The final step is to rename finished to the name of the person t belongs to which is included in their file name.txt.  I was hoping to find a way to use the contexts of the text file to rename the jpg file which , currently, i just go through foldcer by folder for each "finished".jpg and copy the contents of the name.txt file to use for renaming the finished.jpg file.
Tedious but gets the job done.
If i find a better way, i will be sure to post it in case anyone else could ever use as it appears there is a lack of utilities or scripts with that ability. I'm probably the only one who ever asked for one.
Thanks All.

9

General Software Discussion / Easy way to rename a file using the contents of a text file in batch or script

« on: March 07, 2018, 11:08 PM »

For example.  I need to rename a file photo.jpg using the contents of a text file "whose.txt". 
In all cases, the text file will only contain one word with no special characters or spaces only normal alphabetic letters. 
For example: whose.txt could be the word "mypicture".  Running the script would rename photo.jpg to mypicture.jpg and do it even if it overwrites an existing file with the name "mypicture.jpg".

I know this is probably something simple but it is late i can't think
I tried to set a variable to the contents of the text file then use the variable to rename the jpg file but can't get things in the right order to work.

10

General Software Discussion / Best Way to Embed Excel Worksheet in Word Doc

« on: May 10, 2017, 06:20 PM »

It may not even be possible int he way that I would like to do. 
There is a place in the document that refers to use of function in an excel sheet to calculate cost for use by multiple persons.  ie: (Click here to use pricing tool.)  I can hyperlink these words to the Excel document but doing so on my system wont provide the correct link when the document is opened on another User's system.  This is a spreadsheet for calculating multiples of the various pricing shown in the Word Doc.

I was wondering if there as a way to literally "embed" these calculations into the Word Doc itself so they don't show up unless someone needs them and clicks the link for Multiple User pricing.  Or if the only way to make this work is to host the Excel file on our local network and link it such that it is pulled from the network when clicked.

Unfortunately,the document is for use by "all employees" and they may not be "In-House" when they click the link.  So it would require hosting on a web-accessible location done this way and require Internet access for clicking the link.

Are there Options I am not exploring?  Or a way to literally include the spreadsheet "hidden" in the Word doc?

11

General Software Discussion / Re: Best Script type to build an email body line by line

« on: March 22, 2017, 04:58 PM »

i almost forgot i had left this 'hanging'.
That's what happens when everyone 'else' gets the Flu bug.

Anyway, I took lazy way out. 

I set the working vbs file to run with task-scheduler after the nightly backup and added the creation of the list to the backup routine.
I did try including the VBS as an integral part of the backup.bat file using : "cscript //nologo emailit.vbs" as the final step.   But this still gets skipped with no obvious reasons or errors.  As long as I eave Outlook open, running the VBS as a stand-alone item with the scheduler works like a charm so.. End of that issue.

I am still looking at your setup, 4WD, but for I must be doing something wrong or trying to hard on making the text become an active URL.  Or maybe it is that I really need to stick with Outlook where possible because of all the automatic sync on all devices in Exchange Server.   I did get the latest BLAT though and will keep trying.  The end results are an attached RTF file which is good enough for now

12

General Software Discussion / How to add an exception for logo in signature to Outlook VBA

« on: March 22, 2017, 04:28 PM »

The following Outlook VBA is used to resize all images pasted to the body of an email by 50% scale.  Works great for copy&paste screenshots that are too large for an email page size.

Unfortunately, it doesn't stop with the body of the email but continues on to shrink the logo.jpg in the email signature.  Is there an easy way to exempt the signature portion of the email or other possible options that would allow the VBA to work as it should on all images other than the one in the signature?

[Select]

Sub ResizeAllPicsTo50Pct()
    Const wdInlineShapePicture = 3
    Dim olkMsg As Outlook.MailItem, wrdDoc As Object, wrdShp As Object
    Set olkMsg = Application.ActiveInspector.CurrentItem
    Set wrdDoc = olkMsg.GetInspector.WordEditor
    For Each wrdShp In wrdDoc.InlineShapes
        If wrdShp.Type = wdInlineShapePicture Then
            wrdShp.ScaleHeight = 50
            wrdShp.ScaleWidth = 50
        End If
    Next
    Set olkMsg = Nothing
    Set wrdDoc = Nothing
    Set wrdShp = Nothing
End Sub

13

General Software Discussion / Re: Best Script type to build an email body line by line

« on: March 10, 2017, 05:46 PM »

thanks all. 
I gotta remember to stop making posts a 2 am. 
After giving it more thought in the light of day, i realized that I was making life hard for myself.  The reason for the rtf is that the written text can become active URL's once they are selected and clicked whereas in a text file this does not happen.
if i could have "read" the contents of the file whether rtf or txt into the body of the email line by line so it would retain the proper formatting, this would have solved the problem as the email body is html.

However:  After giving it a lot of thought, I decided that the person i was doing this for was going to have to give up and just open the attached file itself and from there either copy the link to a browser or do with it as they may need to get where they want to go.

But.. at 2am .. sometimes things don't look the same.
I am also currently caring for two very ill Flu victims (wife and daughter)

Either way, i have dropped the idea of making life easier for this person.
 
My only glitch in the works now is that there is almost NO way to get Outlook to SEND the blasted email once composed except by use of the vbs script here which is one I configured a year or so ago.   It was designed to be a 'drag and drop' email app which it works great for.  You see a brief BLINK and the email is gone.

Unfortunately.  I need to tie all this to the nightly backup which is a batch script.  I can use 'ipm.note' to build the email in batch and it works great!
BUT it wont SEND it.
I can build the file in the batch then use the VBS to send it ..
But
so far i have been unable to reconfigure the vbs to use a specific file rather than working as designed to capture the files dropped onto the VBS script.
This is from a lack of knowing much about WSH i am sure.  The original VBS file was one I reconfigure for my needs at  the time.  And it still works perfect for what i needed as i use it every day to drag and drop all kinds text files or zip files etc that i need to email to myself.

If you happen to see how i can set it to send a specific file at "C:\lists\listname.rtf"  as the only attachment?  That would do the trick.

Once the backup runs, i can call that vbs to send the resulting list.rtf to the person that needs it.  and it would all happen "auto-magically" at 4 am every night when the backup ran without me doing anything.
So i can go back to taking care of the ill.

PS:  4WD  I think what I was doing back then was sending an image file?  And i think we did end up with a BLAT script to do it? I wil revisit that as soon as i get a few minutes to do so.  But if BLAT was how it worked it may not "fly" now with the new exchange server setup and al the security checks on email configurations.
But it might work.   And i will look at that option.
I just know for SURE if i can get the VBS to handle a single named file at a specific location that it will for 100% sure work.









 

14

General Software Discussion / Best Script type to build an email body line by line

« on: March 10, 2017, 01:55 AM »

This is something that might have other solutions but if it can be done in a single script it would be handy.  VBS PS Batch whatever.
the content is a list of hyperlinks that need to be emailed.  Currently I do it by building an RTF file which then has to be zipped to be attached to an email.

i have it all working but would like to remove the extra steps required at each end for zipping and unzipping as well as making each written hyperlink active when clicked.

I am now building the .rtf file line by line in a separate script and it would be helpful to instead read each line into the body of the email that is used to send it. 

Currently, i am using a VBS script to get to where i go now.  Once i get to the steps that open Outlook and begin the email, i would need to add the correct vbs code to read the hyperlinks from one location and paste them into the email body then go to the next line for the next hyperlink.

The end result would be a list of maybe 40 hyperlinks which the end of the VBS script adds the recipient's name and sends it on its way.

The code below works by me dropping the zipped file onto the VBS script on my desktop to initiate and send the email.

It works fine that way except for the zipping /unzipping, etc

Is there a way to add the proper code to create the content for the body at step "oEmailItem.BodyFormat = olFormatHTML"?

What would be the proper statement to add to the VBS to loop through a list if hyperlinks and write them to the email body?

Currently the first script i use echoes the variables to the .rtf file.  I tried loading the contents of the entire .rtf file to the email body but it loses all the layout and everything runs together.

Thanks for any ideas.  Note that i the code below i used "examples" for the recipient but the rest is pretty much working as is.

[Select]

Option Explicit
Dim objArgs, OutApp, oNameSpace, oInbox, oEmailItem, olMailItem
Dim a, oAttachments, subjectStr, olFormatHTML
olMailItem = 0
olFormatHTML = 2
Set objArgs = WScript.Arguments 'gets paths of selected files
Set OutApp = CreateObject("Outlook.Application") 'opens Outlook
Set oEmailItem = OutApp.CreateItem(olMailItem) 'opens new email
oEmailItem.To = "recipient@email.com"
oEmailItem.cc = ""
For a = 0 to objArgs.Count - 1
Set oAttachments = oEmailItem.Attachments.Add(objArgs(a))
subjectStr = subjectStr & Right(objArgs(a),Len(objArgs(a))-(InStrRev(objArgs(a),"\"))) & ", " 'recreates the default Subject e.g. Emailing: file1.doc, file2.xls
Next
If subjectStr = "" then subjectStr = "No Subject "
oEmailItem.Subject = "Subject"
oEmailItem.BodyFormat = olFormatHTML
oEmailItem.Display
oEmailItem.Send

15

General Software Discussion / Adding a linefeed Before jpg images in a display window

« on: February 09, 2017, 02:53 PM »

The following code is part of an HTML file used to display images. There are several lines before his but i cut to the chase with the only working part I need help with.  I need to get it to add a line feed <br> only before it displays a .jpg file.

The contents of the folder are all png image files except for the index images which are jpg.  I am trying to get them to show up with all the png under the index they belong to.
If working properly, it should start by adding a line feed before displaying the first index file named "A.jpg", then display A.jpg followed by all the the A***.png files, then add a linefeed before displaying the "B.jpg index" followed by the B***.png files.

I am pretty sure that this needs to happen in the last 4 lines of code but I cannot seem to get the <br> to work dependent on the type of file.
 I need to add a <br> to the front of the display only if the file-type is a jpg.
 
As it is now, it displays the files end to end with the title indexes being followed by their png's then the next index file with no break. 
This works as is but I would like to try getting it a little better organized for display purposes.

[Select]

<?php
$folder_path = 'images/'; //image's folder path
$num_files = glob($folder_path . "*.{JPG,jpg,gif,png,bmp}", GLOB_BRACE);
$folder = opendir($folder_path);
 if($num_files > 0)
{
 while(false !== ($file = readdir($folder))) 
 {
  $file_path = $folder_path.$file;
  $extension = strtolower(pathinfo($file ,PATHINFO_EXTENSION)); 
    if($extension=='jpg' || $extension =='png' || $extension == 'gif' || $extension == 'bmp') 
  {
     $txtfile_temp = basename($file_path, ".".$extension).PHP_EOL;
  $txtfile = $folder_path.trim($txtfile_temp).".txt";
     $fp = fopen($txtfile, "r");
      if ($fp == false)
      {
   $file_path = "Failed to open ".$txtfile;
   $line = "Failed to open ".$txtfile;
  }
      else
      {
       $line = fgets($fp);
       fclose($fp);   
  }
   
?>
            <a href="<?php echo "".$line; ?>"><img src="<?php echo $file_path; ?>"  height="300" /></a>
            <?php
         }

16

General Software Discussion / Re: Input user data to complete URL using only HTML

« on: January 19, 2017, 12:31 PM »

Just wanted to say it's great to see people helping each other out on little projects like this 

-mouser (January 19, 2017, 11:44 AM)

Thanks Mouser:  DC has been my 100% ALL TIME BEST site for "goTo" help.
The "other guys"  don't come close.   

17

General Software Discussion / Re: Input user data to complete URL using only HTML

« on: January 19, 2017, 11:06 AM »

Only one minor edit and 4WD saved the day again!   
As below, I only added '/index' to var in your code so the page opens in the browser. !perfect!

I was trying to skimp too much     
I was hoping to get by using the "form" setup by itself but could not manage the last bit whether I used "get" or "post" or ??

You are a Lifesaver!  >>as usual   
Hope you enjoyed a Great Christmas PLUS 'Boxing Day' 
Us poor Yanks only get Christmas    
uhm ...Well Plus
New Years Day

and of course

 INAUGURATION DAY! 

 

[Select]

<HTML>
  <HEAD>
    <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
      function goToPage(form) {
        var initial = "http://www.oracle.com/";
        var extension = "/index.html";
        var newurl = initial + form.subpage.value + extension;
        window.location.assign(newurl);
      }
    </SCRIPT>
    <TITLE>Redirect Test</TITLE>
  </HEAD>
  <BODY>
    <P>
    <FORM name="form" action="" method="GET">
      Input word:
      <INPUT type="text" name="subpage" value="">
      <INPUT type="button" Name="button" value="GO" onClick="goToPage(this.form);">
    </FORM>
  </BODY>
</HTML>

18

General Software Discussion / Input user data to complete URL using only HTML

« on: January 19, 2017, 12:22 AM »

This might be simpler that I am showing below but the idea is to allow a user to complete a URL link and go there.

My best arrangement only works insofar as it doesn't crash.
A lot of the info below could even be deleted and it still 'works' to get to oracle but nothing i have tried can take the input from the user and add it to the href statement.

Any info appreciated even if it means using a completely alternative method as long as it Looks and works as intended. (and is short )

[Select]

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
     <form name ="gotourl" action=" " method="post"
     <p> Enter Final Word Here -
     <input type="text" name="fword"
     <br><br>
     <a href="https://www.oracle.com/"fword>”CLICK to go”</a>
     </form-name>
</body>
</html>

Example would be if you want to go to:
https://www.oracle.com/sun

But you only wanted the use to enter the word "sun" in the box displayed  Typing it in the box and clicking the work "click to go" just goes to oracle.com and the "sun" subdirectory does not get added.

Something like this would probably be proper using a lot of PHP but I was hoping for a simpler HTML version to add an input to a line of code and go there.

Since I admittedly don't how to do it, there may well be one
 

19

General Software Discussion / Re: Passworded gatekeeper for websites

« on: January 12, 2017, 09:01 PM »

Again, I greatly appreciate all the comments.  Many of them are dead-on.  I believe a solution I  presented at a group meeting tonight was acceptable to the managers  and this process will greatly simplify the entire procedure - IF it can be done on SquareSpace Hosting.  'SS' was not my choice of a host but it is what I am stuck with.

On the main website I just need to present a [button] that when clicked would open a small window with a box large enough for 15 characters and labeled with "Enter your group name here and click <Enter>".  The characters entered in that box would be used to complete the value of a variable whose default value would be the first portion of the URL such "https://www.mysite.com/".   

When they click Enter it would complete the variable and use it to open a window on the User's default browser to the site at that location.

Shades, you are 100% correct in the primary layout.  That is the way I designed it many years ago and it has worked perfectly for all this time.  This new wrinkle is caused by them wanting all traffic to go to the primary PUBLIC site before being redirected to the numerous private locations on another site using a single "Log In Button" on the Public Site.
 
The conundrum was that I have no way of knowing who "they" are when they click that button which makes it next to impossible to intelligently redirect them to anywhere.   Much less do so "securely" without displaying a list of site options which was 100% "Verboten"!

I made a good case for using pre-assigned keyword distribution and making the keyword be the final part of the URL needed to take each party to their own location.
The main destination is not really a 'secret' as such, only the individual sub-location within it contain any private information.  And each of those sub-locations has its own Login/PW gatekeeper anyway.

Since each person only knows the specific name for their own subfolder,  and these names are randomly generated, no Public User would ever get to anywhere other than the one subfolder they have the preassigned keyword for.  This way, i don't have to maintain a "master Key-Keeper" and also don't have to show a list of all optional choices to anyone who clicks the login-in button.  If anyone types in a nonexistent name into the login box, that would make it an invalid URL and they would get the 404 error code equivalent "This site can't be reached"

Doing this in HTML is not that hard.    But.  SquareSpace is not a normal hosting site and so far I am not getting very far with trying to redefine a "block" to create the the button object to do such "magik".     So much for "Simplicity".                    Apache is much easier I think.

Eventually, I am sure I will get something to fly.    But   .. as always,    I found that by asking the questions on DC it brought in so much extra information from all the people here and I wanted to thank everyone for their concepts and ideas.  DC has always been the best place to start when trying to find a solution to anything!



 
 
 

20

General Software Discussion / Re: Passworded gatekeeper for websites

« on: January 12, 2017, 12:56 AM »

Thanks all.

Yes, this is an APACHE setup.

The logistics are the only part that would take some doing and i was just hoping i could find a prebuilt landing page designed for sorting out and redirecting based on log-in use.

If i have to 'build from scratch, i am sure it can be done but would rather pay for a prebuilt setup based on a few spec requirements.

And 'Yes', it is the same sad story as always.

But Home Made doesn't always mean "poor work":  It depends on the Home thatmade it.

Home cooked meals are better in most cases that Mc Donald's

But in the interests of expediency, if someone had already done something like this I would rather purchase that landing page front end than to try to go it on my own.

Thanks for all the good input.

21

General Software Discussion / Re: Best Keyloger detector and other theories on how the deed could have been done

« on: January 11, 2017, 06:27 PM »

That has been suggested by me before BUT.....
No one wants to deal wih the hassle due to the number of times used.  They can barely remember a Single password much less deal with 2 factor authentication.  But I 100% agre with you.

22

General Software Discussion / Passworded gatekeeper for websites

« on: January 11, 2017, 06:23 PM »

If there is a relatively easy way to do it, does anyone know of a product that works such that it could open various hyperlinks based on the combination of username and password entered.

Currently, I have this arrangement configured on a 'per-site' basis. But what is now desired is a way to handle multiple different accesses via a log-in button such that a user would end up on a specific homepage based on what they entered for a username/password combination.

There would be at least 40 sites that would all be accessed from single central log-in connection.  which would provide no outward guide as to what goes where.  A user would just enter their log-in and password and if that combination matched one on file in the database, they would be redirected to a specific website based on that match.

This is, in my opinion, another one of those "bad ideas" that management comes up with so often.  Currently each user is given the correct web-link to go to when they are given their username and password in the first place.  Mgmt has decided it would be a 'great idea' to add a   "button" to our PUBLIC website to provide access to all those "private sites" for people who had logins and passwords for them.  The problem being that there are 40 different private sites and I would need some way of knowing where to direct any given entry so that they only got into places they should be in and never into those where they shouldn't.

I believe someone got the bright idea that this would run up the numbers on our Stats page for the public site.  But at what cost in loss of security?   I have given up in trying to point this out.

Anyway, I guess a generic front-end gatekeeper program that could be loaded with every distributed combination of log-in/password as they are given out and then be able to redirect the authorized users to the sites they should be in based on the information they enter is what I am looking for.
 
Hope all had a Happy Holidays on the DC Board.

,

23

General Software Discussion / Best Keyloger detector and other theories on how the deed could have been done

« on: January 04, 2017, 11:12 PM »

A recent hack of the office email was done by someone who was sending emails from an Office 365 account belonging to one of the owners.  My personal bet is that they got access vie a simple matter of Social Engineering wherein the owner was tricked into giving her login and password to one of those ever-present Phishing emails from "Microsoft Security" telling you to log into your "secure access portal" by clicking a link that takes them into it through the hackers site while they log in with the hacker watching every entry. This allowed the hacker to reconnect later using what they learned and simply stay connected to the web portal  for that user.

The hacker created all kinds of mischief in that persons name by literally staying connected to their Outlook web portal and simply writing emails giving the company financial officers orders to send wire transfers to the hacker's banks.  But rather than deleting the conversations afterward, they kept then for some time in the drafts folder  The when they finally deleted them, i took a while to figure out what i need to recover were deleted draft emails. 

Neat trick and they got away with it for several few days before anyone noticed.  Even then, it took me a while to realize i needed to search for deleted "drafts".
 
Some people have suggested that a keylogger was involved but I think it was much simpler than that.  Still, I wouldn't mind running a few rootkit/keylogger scans to be safe.  I was wondering if anyone knew of some that might be the best to scan with. 

I have not dropped in at DC for some time, definitely not since the Holidays so I hope all at DC had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year for  2017.

24

General Software Discussion / Re: Spellcheck in Office 2016. One copy seems to have improved but not others

« on: November 02, 2016, 05:32 PM »

OK, we can Close this oe.  No Thanks to MicroSofty though.  NONE of their techs had any idea and it was in sheer desperation that i took a shot in the dark and found this.  I still cannot explain why it affect WORD and OUTLOOK but it is apparently some feature of Windows itself that is installed when you choose to take the Insider program under Updates in Windows 10.

I still do not understand how I got it in the first place as on the one system that had it because I am sure it isn't registered to the insider program and as far as I know, neither was I on any other system... as far as I KNEW.  I am now.  On one system anyway and sure enough, the feature started working in Outlook and Word on that system too without having to install OFFICE again or anything else.

MS does their best to talk you out of going for the Insider builds and I probably wont stay there.  It will be interesting to see if this "feature" in Word and Outlook Remains active even after I leave the Insider Program. 
For now, it is nice to know how to get it anyway.  Maybe this knowledge will be of use to someone else one day.   


 

25

General Software Discussion / Use Batch Script to create an acronym from a variable

« on: October 31, 2016, 05:34 PM »

The Variable is made up of one or more words separated by spaces.

The resulting acronym cannot be more than 8 characters in length and must contain at least the first letter from each word in the input.

If the Input was "president" the output would be "presiden" not just the letter "p". 
If the input was "president and chairperson" the output would be "pranch".

If the input was "chief cook and bottle washer" the acronym would be "ccabw" but
if the input was "cook and bottle washer"  the acronym would be coanbowa.

Is there a relatively simple way to accomplish this using a for/to loop?