File Sharing

13.2. File Sharing When youre done wiring (or not wiring, as the case may be), your network is ready. Your Mac should "see" any Ethernet or shared USB printers, in readiness to print (Chapter 14)
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File Sharing13.2. File SharingWhen youre done wiring (or not wiring, as the case may be), your network is ready.Your Mac should see any Ethernet or shared USB printers, in readiness to print(Chapter 14). You can now play network games or use a network calendar. And you cannow turn on File Sharing, one of the most useful features of the Mac OS.In File Sharing, you can summon the icon for a folder or disk attached to anothercomputer on the network, whether its a Mac or a Windows PC. It shows up in a Finderwindow, as shown in Figure 13-3.At this point, you can drag files back and forth, exactly as though the other computersfolder or disk is a hard drive connected to your own machine.The thing is, its not easy being Apple. You have to write one operating system thatssupposed to please everyone, from the self-employed first-time computer owner to thenetwork administrator for NASA. You have to design a networking system simpleenough for the laptop owner who just wants to copy things to a desktop Mac whenreturning from a trip, yet secure and flexible enough for the network designer at a largecorporation.Clearly, different people have different attitudes toward the need for security andflexibility.Thats why Leopard offers two ways to share files —a simple and limited way, and amore complicated and flexible way: • The simple way: the Public folder. Every account holder has a Public folder. Its free for anyone else on the network to access. Like a grocery store bulletin board, theres no password required. Super-convenient, super-easy. Theres only one downside, and you may not care about it: You have to move or copy files into the Public folder before anyone else can see them. Depending on how many files you want to share, this can get tedious and eat up disk space. Figure 13-3. Heres the master switch that makes your Public folder (and any other folders you designate) available to other people on the network. You can edit the Computer Name, if you like. Your Mac will appear on the network with this name. Make it nice and descriptive, such as Front Desk iMac. • The flexible way: Any folder. You can also make any file, folder, or disk available for inspection by other people on the network. This method means that you dont have to move files into the Public folder, for starters. It also gives you elaborate control over who is allowed to do what to your files. You might want to permit your companys executives to see and edit your documents, but allow the peons in Accounting just to see them. And Andy, that unreliable goofball in Sales? You dont want him even seeing whats in your shared folder. Of course, setting up all those levels of control means more work and more complexity.13.2.1. Setup: The Public FolderInside your Home folder, theres a folder called Public. Inside everybodys Home folder isa folder called Public.Anything you copy into this folder is automatically available to everyone else on thenetwork. They dont need a password, they dont need an account on your Mac —theyjust have to be on the same network.To make your Public folder available to your network mates, you have to turn on the FileSharing master switch. Choose System Preferences, click Sharing, and turn onFile Sharing (Figure 13-3).Now round up the files and folders you want to share with all comers on the network, anddrag them into your Home Public folder. Thats all there is to it.Note: You may notice that theres already something in your Public folder: a folder calledDrop Box. Its there so that other people can give you files from across the network, asdescribed later in this chapter.So now that youve set up Public folder sharing, how are other people supposed to accessyour Public folder? See Section 13.3.1.13.2.2. Setup: Sharing Any FolderIf the Public folder method seems too simple and restrictive, then you can graduate to theshare any folder method. In this scheme, you can make any file, folder, or diskavailable to other people on the network.This time, you dont have to move your files anywhere; they sit right where you havethem. And this time, you can set up elaborate sharing privileges (also known aspermissions) that grant individuals different amount of access to your files.This method is more complicated to set up than that Public-folder business. In fact, just tounderline its complexity, Apple has created two different setup procedures. You canshare one icon at a time by opening its Get Info window; or you can work in a master listof shared items in System Preferences.The following pages cover both methods.13.2.2.1. The Get Info methodHeres how to share a Mac file, disk, or folder disk using its Get Info window ...