Question

I’ve got an application for our company that has to store settings in a global fashion so that employees with a multitude of access types can run the program.

Most of our employees access the program using a Public account, which means they don’t have to log on – there is a login ID called Public that anyone can use. The Public account, as you can guess, is severely limited!

As a result, I can’t seem to find a way to get my application to write data to the PC. The error is always the same Unauthorized Access Exception.

I have tried using the following paths, that all fail:

• C:\ProgSuite\
• Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData)
• Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonApplicationData)

I do not want to use Isolated Storage, because I do not want to have to configure the application for each individual that logs in onto one of the many PCs in our plant.

Is there a way to say, “Hey, my Application is an administrator. Give me access!” ???

We are currently limited to .NET Framework 3.5.

Edit:

Exception Message:

System.UnauthorizedAccessException: Access to the path 'C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Aaon Coil Products, Inc\AcpConfig.log' is denied.
   at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
   at System.IO.FileStream.Init(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, Int32 rights, Boolean useRights, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options, SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES secAttrs, String msgPath, Boolean bFromProxy)
   at System.IO.FileStream..ctor(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share)
   at Suite.MdiForm.SaveFormSettings()
   at Suite.MdiForm.MdiForm_Closing(Object sender, FormClosingEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.OnFormClosing(FormClosingEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.WmClose(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)


************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3603 (GDR.050727-3600)
    CodeBase: file:///c:/WINDOWS/Microsoft.NET/Framework/v2.0.50727/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
Suite
    Assembly Version: 2.2.8.28978
    Win32 Version: 2.2.8
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/Aaon%20Coil%20Products,%20Inc/ACP%20Software%20Suite/Suite.exe
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3053 (netfxsp.050727-3000)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3053 (netfxsp.050727-3000)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3053 (netfxsp.050727-3000)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Core
    Assembly Version: 3.5.0.0
    Win32 Version: 3.5.30729.1 built by: SP
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Core/3.5.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Core.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Management
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3053 (netfxsp.050727-3000)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Management/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Management.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Data
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3053 (netfxsp.050727-3000)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_32/System.Data/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Data.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3082 (QFE.050727-3000)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll
----------------------------------------
System.DirectoryServices
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3053 (netfxsp.050727-3000)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.DirectoryServices/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.DirectoryServices.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Configuration
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3053 (netfxsp.050727-3000)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Configuration/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Configuration.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Transactions
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3053 (netfxsp.050727-3000)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_32/System.Transactions/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Transactions.dll
----------------------------------------
System.EnterpriseServices
    Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.3053 (netfxsp.050727-3000)
    CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_32/System.EnterpriseServices/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.EnterpriseServices.dll
----------------------------------------
AcpSuiteFormHeader
    Assembly Version: 1.0.0.0
    Win32 Version: 1.0.0
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/Aaon%20Coil%20Products,%20Inc/ACP%20Software%20Suite/AcpSuiteFormHeader.DLL
----------------------------------------

Answer 1

I use CommonApplicationData and it seems to work fine with one caveat. I found that if an admin creates the subdirectory within the CommonApplicationData path then other users who are ‘non-admin’ cannot delete that directory. You may need to add a FileSystemAccessRule to the DirectoryInfo object when you create the sub directory contained within CommonApplicationData. There is an overload to the create method that allows you to specify an object of this type.

Edit: with code snippet.

public static void CreateWithEveryoneFullControlIfAdmin(this DirectoryInfo source)
{
    if (IsAdmin())
    {
        DirectorySecurity directorySecurity = Directory.GetAccessControl(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonApplicationData));
        FileSystemAccessRule accessRule
            = new FileSystemAccessRule(@"BUILTIN\Users", FileSystemRights.FullControl,
                InheritanceFlags.ObjectInherit | InheritanceFlags.ContainerInherit,
                PropagationFlags.None,
                AccessControlType.Allow);

        bool modified = false;
        directorySecurity.ModifyAccessRule(AccessControlModification.Add,
            accessRule,
            out modified);

        if (modified)
        {
            source.Create(directorySecurity);
        }
        else
        {
            source.Create();
        }
    }
    else
    {
        source.Create();
    }
}

public static bool IsAdmin()
{
    WindowsIdentity identity = WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent();
    WindowsPrincipal principal = new WindowsPrincipal(identity);
    return principal.IsInRole(WindowsBuiltInRole.Administrator);
}