Can I password-protect a PDF file?

[tinmanjim]

I'm trying to set up a site with a 'members-only' area that contains PDF files.
Is there some way to password-protect the files themselves, or do I need to
settle for a protected php page that links to the files. While it's unlikely
that a non-member would be able to guess the filenames, it's possible that an
ex-member who's username and password have been removed would still be able to
access the files with a bookmark, as they're not protected.

I understand that short of a commercial product to convert pdf to html, I'm
stuck with the pdf format, but is there some way to embed the pdf within a html
page?

DW8 WinXP php mySQL

[G]

You can actually create files and store them with different names, so as
they can't be downloaded conventionally ...

In most Windows, and I am assuming PHP setups - you can store files above
the root and use a page to call them ...

You protect them too - I think on a blanket (all instances of the file have
the same password) approach is easier ...

Or take a look at this [url]http://www.rustyparts.com/pdf.php[/url]

HTH's

Gerry

[url]http://www.UsableContent.co.uk[/url]


"tinmanjim" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:emguap$bo7$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> I'm trying to set up a site with a 'members-only' area that contains PDF
> files.
> Is there some way to password-protect the files themselves, or do I need
> to
> settle for a protected php page that links to the files. While it's
> unlikely
> that a non-member would be able to guess the filenames, it's possible that
> an
> ex-member who's username and password have been removed would still be
> able to
> access the files with a bookmark, as they're not protected.
>
> I understand that short of a commercial product to convert pdf to html,
> I'm
> stuck with the pdf format, but is there some way to embed the pdf within a
> html
> page?
>
> DW8 WinXP php mySQL
>

[David.Holley]

You can create .HTACCESS & .HTPASSWD files in the folder that holds your PDF
files - these authentication functions fully protect the folder, and files
cannot be accessed just by remembering the URL.

Passwords must be encrypted in the .HTPASSWD file (you can't do this yourself,
the encrypted password must be generated on the server). To encrypt passwords,
I use this utility here: [url]http://home.flash.net/cgi-bin/pw.pl[/url]

The text for the .HTACCESS and .HTPASSWD files can be found here:
[url]http://www.euronet.nl/~arnow/htpasswd/documentation.html[/url]

Hope that answered it for ya.

[tinmanjim]

Thanks; I was afraid of that- while I can easily password-protect the folder,
it makes for a somewhat less than seamless user experience. I didn't have much
hope for a file-level solution, but it was worth asking.

[David.Holley]

I'm not sure how many files we're talking about here...but is it possible for
you to dump all of the PDFs in one password-protected folder and just reference
them there in your different HTML files - sessions are usually remembered using
..HTPASSWD, so users won't have to login more than once.

Another, very high-end solution is to deploy a Single Sign-On environment (if
the number of users validates the need for self-service and secured access...).

[tinmanjim]

To be honest, the sessions thing hadn't occurred to me. I'll check it out, but if the user is only bugged by a pop-up password box once per session, that would be acceptable.

Thanks!