Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!mic
From: mic@ut-emx.uucp (Mic Kaczmarczik)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: Postscript
Message-ID: <47755@ut-emx.uucp>
Date: 24 Apr 91 02:46:39 GMT
References: <1991Apr22.212326.26982@csusac.csus.edu> <1991Apr22.211904.8832@ni.umd.edu>
Organization: UT Austin Computation Center, Unix/VMS Services
Lines: 47

In article <1991Apr22.211904.8832@ni.umd.edu> louie@sayshell.umd.edu (Louis A. Mamakos) writes:
>In article <1991Apr22.212326.26982@csusac.csus.edu> severyn@athena.ecs.csus.edu (Niles Severyn) writes:
>>
>>I've been working with the file operator in postscript trying to open
>>files for writing (for debugging purposes). The interpreter is quite
>>happy to do it, however when I go out and try to find the file, it
>>doesn't exist.
>
>Sorry, you lose.
>
>I very much would like to be to use this facility as well to run the
>"distill" package, as I used to under Release 1.0.  My understanding
>is that this capability was removed in the name of security.  
>
>As a result my existing, working, application stopped working and I'm
>stuck without an alternative.  I suppose that I could dig up an Apple
>LaserWrite and catch the stuff coming back down the serial port, but
>that seems such a shame given that I have a wonderful PostScript
>engine right on my desk at work and at home.

	I may be missing the point here, but for the Distillery, could you
	maybe use the pft program to communicate with your server, and have
	the distill program write the distilled code to the standard
	PostScript output?  This should be pretty similar to talking to a
	LaserWriter over a serial line.  I have not tried it, but something
	like
		cat still.ps myfile.ps | pft >myfile-distilled.ps

	might at least let you use the Distillery.

	The more general case is a pain, since there are some times you
	need to disable *all* write access to files (e.g. for print jobs
	submitted from systems you allow to print on your printer but 
	nothing else).  However, perhaps at least locally, Mach port-based
	authentication could be used to figure out the uid/gid to use for
	*some* class of file opens.  That way, if you open an authenticated
	connection to the PostScript server, you can have the server open
	files with your access rights.  I share your hope that this will
	be fixed in a later release (the sooner the better).

--mic--

-- 
Mic Kaczmarczik			|
Unix/VMS Services		| It's amazing how much ``mature wisdom''
UT Austin Computation Center	| resembles being too tired.
remark@{ccwf,emx,bongo} 1-0251  |      		  The Notebooks of Lazarus Long