Directlink timeout when password option used

Hi Cem,

Great to get the message about the new version, I'll be upgrading soon.

I havent downloaded and installed on my test server however I have tested the directlink feature on your demo site and whenever I enable the 'Protect Link with Password Option' the link just times out. eg i am never prompted to download the file or enter a password after clicking 'Test'.

I am using IE v8.

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Damon

Hi Damon,
Thanks for the error report. I confirm the problem but it's due to a breaking change in ASP.NET 4.0 (a change in URL path handling which causes an infinite redirect).
We have just started to run our site under ASP.NET 4.0 thus you experienced the problem.

We now switched back to ASP.NET 2.0 for the live demos so you will see it works now.
As I said, you will not experience this problem unless you are running ASP.NET 4.0 on your server.
However we will release a fix for this shortly.

Ok here is a quick fix for users running under ASP.NET 4.0 and experiencing the infinite redirection problem.
The fix also includes a small modification to the web.config file for preventing IIS 7 from taking over error messages (friendly 403 and 404 messages) displayed by the direct link page.
Fix 1 for FileVista v4.0

Thanks Cem for the quick response.

I would like to see the event log reflect the creation of 'DirectLink''s and the options used to create the Directlink. Eg created by, expires when, etc. Also when a person downloads using a directlink, what IP they are connecting from etc. This would be primarily for auditing/security purposes.
 
I havent looked at Email notifications in depth yet, but I would like to see the event log capture email events as well if possible.

Cheers,

Damon

Actually when a person accesses a direct link, an event is raised (including IP and Browser information). However this setting was off in the live demo. It's a new event type so you will need to enable it (on Settings/Events tab) when you first update your version. It seems we forgot to enable it after we updated the live demo. It's now turned on.

No event is raised on creation of direct links. We will instead implement direct link management feature in next version so you will be able to keep track of the direct links in the administration page.

Regarding email notifications feature, emails are actually sent by the application to the subscribed users in the event of something happens. It's an extension to the event log, there are no manual emails sent by users thus I don't see a reason for tracking them.

Hi Cem,

Thanks for the tip on Directlink, that should do the trick. 

I would like to know whether you can allow and disallow users the Directlink feature or not? For some instances you may not wish give a user the ability to create Directlink's not only at their root folder level but at their user level. Your thoughts?

For email notifications, an adminsitrator of Filevista as well as Group managers generally want to have 'all cards on the table' when looking at event logs not only for troubleshooting purposes but for overall management of Filevista. Seeing emails notifications logged in the event logs would assist. 

Thanks again for your prompt response.

DirectLink feature depends on the Download permission, this means if a user has Download permission in a folder then he is allowed to create a direct link in that folder.

What I mean about email notifications is, there is already one corresponding event for each email notifications. For instance, first an upload event is logged and then an upload notification is sent. They contain the same information. Your suggestion may be useful when you actually want to track which notification is sent to which users at what time. I have noted your suggestion.

Hi Cem,

Understood re: Directlink permissions, however I have instances where I want a user to be able to download and upload files themselves like all previous versions, but not give them the ability to 'share that access' and be able to give directlink access to any other anonymous person.

Yes, in reagrds to email notifications, thats was what i was trying to explain. You summed it up much better.

Thanks,
Damon

I agree on the direct link permission problem. I love the feature but it should have a seperate permission entry. Users that are allowed to download things are in most cases not the ones who are allowed to decide to give that permission to "the whole world".

FYI, we have just released v4.1 which has the following change:

- Changed: Creating direct links is now controlled with the new "Direct Link" permission instead of "Download" permission.

Awesome, thanks Cem!