ChooserUser 1.2 is a freeware control panel that lets you control who can change the owner name (or user name under System 6). It also allows the owner name to be changed at startup, either manually or automatically. This program will be particularly useful to public Macintosh labs found in university settings.
This program complements my program, LaserwriterLockout 1.2 (forthcoming), which allows system administrators to control which devices can be selected in the Chooser window.
ChooserUser 1.2 adds some new features to the previous version, ChooserUser 1.1, which include the following:
1) Support for System 7.0. System 7 moves the user name to its own control panel, Sharing Setup, where it is called the owner name. ChooserUser now acts on the owner name, protecting it from change in the Sharing Setup control panel and providing a limited ability to change it at startup. (The ability to change it is only apparent and even this is only when ChooserUser is running. It is limited because the owner name is encrypted within the Users and Groups file where ChooserUser cannot access it.)
2) Added the ability to empty the Appleshare log-on name and expanded the Appleshare control features to work whenever a user logs on Appleshare.
3) Added the ability to dim the cancel button in the Appleshare log-on dialog at startup. This provides some log-on protection against users who dont have valid accounts to log-on the machine. (Bypassing this by using a floppy disk to gain access to the machine is still possible, so this is not a complete security solution.)
4) Various bug fixes.
5) Removed the Hide the System Folder feature. This is because this feature is beyond the scope of this particular control panel. Password protection for accessing the ChooserUser control panel is still provided.
To install it under System 6.0x, drag the ChooserUser icon into your System Folder and reboot. Using ChooserUsers Appleshare control features at startup requires a modified installation. This is described below.
To install it under System 7.0x, drag the ChooserUser icon into your System Folder. Click OK to the dialog that appears, and reboot. Alternatively, the file can be placed directly in the Control Panels folder. Using ChooserUsers Appleshare control features at startup requires a modified installation. This is described below.
In order for the Appleshare log-on control features to work for an Appleshare log-on attempt at startup, ChooserUser must load before Appleshare. When running under System 6.0.x, you can force ChooserUser to load before Appleshare by renaming either program to change the alphabetical ordering of their names. Under System 7, you need to install ChooserUser in the Extensions folder where the Appleshare file resides.
The text in the ChooserUser control panel comes up differently depending on whether System 6 or 7 is installed. The instructions below use the System 7 terminology. When System 6 is running, replace the term Sharing Setup cp with Chooser and the term owner name with user name.
Select the ChooserUser control panel. The first time ChooserUser is chosen, it displays a dialog asking you to register it. You can just click OK without making any entries if you want, but the dialog will be redisplayed every time ChooserUser is accessed. In the System Administrator field, type in your name. In the second edit field, labeled Computer Site Name, type in the name of the computing site or the name of the organization you are affiliated with. This information is displayed in both ChooserUsers startup dialog and the warning dialog that comes up in the Sharing Setup cp.
If you want, you can restrict access to the control panel with password protection. To enter a new password for the first time, click on the Password… button. A dialog appears with two edit fields. In the upper one, type a new password of up to 10 letters. Because what you type is displayed as bullet characters for security, you cant be certain that you havent made a mistake. For this reason, there is a second edit field where you need to retype the password for confirmation. Both edit fields support delete, arrow keys, and selection, but not cut or paste commands. When you click OK, if the text in the two edit fields does not match, a beep will occur and the dialog will not be dismissed. If you click Cancel, no password will be registered. If the password is accepted, the Password… button will become checked, indicating that password protection is on and the password will be required on subsequent access of ChooserUser. If you type an incorrect password upon opening the control panel, a beep will occur; the text will be selected, and the dialog will not be dismissed. If you choose Cancel, ChooserUser will be closed. If you wish to turn off password protection, uncheck the button. The current password will be forgotten, and if you check on the button again, you will be prompted for a new password.
The second panel in the control panel (the first panel is just the name ChooserUser along with my name) is where you decide at what level the owner name should be protected. With each level of protection, there are options available in the third panel. For normal operation, select the At startup and in the Sharing Setup cp radio button. Users will be able to edit the owner name in the Sharing Setup cp normally. They can also change the owner name at startup, an option discussed later. If for some reason, you want users to be able to change the owner name at startup only, you can select the At startup only button. It will no longer be possible to edit the owner name in the Sharing Setup cp. In the third case, you can select the Never radio button. This will prevent users from changing the owner name at all (The options to change the owner name in the third panel are dimmed). It also prevents the user from changing the owner password and Macintosh name. This option will come in very handy if you use the owner name as a means of identifying Macintoshes in a public lab. In fact, its the major feature of ChooserUser.
As mentioned previously, there are several options available in the third panel for each level of protection assigned to the owner name. When its possible to change the owner name in the Sharing Setup cp and at startup, the Prompt for an owner name at startup checkbox is available. Check it on to make a dialog appear at startup prompting for an owner name. The current owner name is displayed in this dialog. If you edit the current name, but decide not to change it, you can still click the Cancel button. Normally, the dialog would sit there forever until someone clicked OK or Cancel. You can force the dialog to cancel by checking the Cancel after... button. When this button is checked on, the dialog will display how many seconds are remaining before the dialog cancels. You can set how many seconds you want it to remain (from 5 to 120 seconds) by using the up or down arrows next to seconds remaining field. These arrows will work only if the Cancel after... button is checked on.
When its possible to change the owner name only at startup or not at all, you can alert users that they cannot edit the owner name in the Sharing Setup cp by checking the Warn on illegal edits in the Sharing Setup cp button on. A dialog appears where you can assign the method to warn users. You can use a simple beep or click on Display Warning Alert to display a dialog. In the edit field below, you can enter a text message to be displayed in the warning dialog (this message can be edited only when the Display Warning Alert button has been checked on). This option is handy since some users might become utterly confused if the Mac doesnt do anything when they type into the Sharing Setup cp. When the option to display a dialog at startup is on, there really is no sense in displaying a startup icon, so this option is dimmed.
The next option available is to assign an owner name that the computer should start up with. If the Change the owner name at startup to: button is checked, the owner name will be changed to the name in the accompanying edit field at every startup.
The final pane contains three buttons to control the Appleshare log-on dialog. When the Appleshare log-on dialog appears, it already has the log-on name filled in, usually with the current owner name. This can confuse users whose name is not the same about what to do next. By checking the Empty Appleshare log-on name at startup, ChooserUser will clear the log-on name when the Appleshare dialog appears. Once the user has typed in his or her log-on name, it is often helpful to make that name the new owner name. To do this, check the Coerce owner name to the Appleshare name. ChooserUser will then extract the name the user types into the Appleshare log-on dialog and make it the owner name. This option is available only when ChooserUser has been set to restrict editing of the owner name in the Sharing Setup cp. Another useful Appleshare log-on control option is to prevent users who are not registered with the Appleshare file server from using the Mac. ChooserUser can accomplish this by dimming the Cancel button in the Appleshare log-on dialog, thus forcing the user to enter a correct name and password to continue. To engage this feature, check on the Prohibit canceling Appleshare log-on button. Note that it will still be possible for unauthorized users to gain access to the machine by using a startup floppy. These features require the special installation process described above if they are to work at startup.
Unlike most other control panels, ChooserUser cannot not be bypassed at startup by pressing a key or holding down the mouse button. This exclusion does not apply to holding down the shift key under System 7.
Thanks to all those people who have sent me letters regarding ChooserUser and in particular to Joe Barrisa, Dag Hasvold, William Burns, Ricky Okazaki, and Paul Hutton.
Distribute ChooserUser with this documentation.
ChooserUser comes from
Maurice Volaski
Internet: volaski@contra.med.buffalo.edu
AOL: Mauric9278
Address: 173 Princeton Ave. Apt #2, Amherst, NY 14226-5006
