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3.1 Example 1: Open a Document from a Web Server Gated by Forms Authentication

This example demonstrates how a document is opened from a Web server that is gated by forms authentication. This example builds on the use cases covered in "Authenticate Against a Web Server That Is Gated by Forms Authentication" (section 2.5.1) and "Download a Document from a Web Server" (section 2.5.2).

Sequence for opening a document from a Web server gated by forms authentication

Figure 16: Sequence for opening a document from a Web server gated by forms authentication

Process for selecting the file access protocol

Figure 17: Process for selecting the file access protocol

Preconditions

  • The protocol client can connect to the server that hosts the document.

  • The user has permissions to access the document on the server.

  • The Web server is configured such that the user’s identity is established by using forms authentication. The user’s identity is transferred between the protocol client and the server by using HTTP state management as described in HTTP State Management Mechanism [RFC2109].

  • The protocol client is configured to store and transmit cookies as described in HTTP State Management Mechanism [RFC2109].

Main Flow

  1. The user attempts to download an access-protected document from a Web server that is gated by forms authentication.

  2. Prior to downloading the document, the client application attempts to determine the capabilities of the Web server by making an HTTP OPTIONS request.

  3. The server issues a response indicating that it is capable of forms authentication in a format described by the Office Forms Based Authentication Protocol [MS-OFBA].

  4. The protocol client follows the Office Forms Based Authentication Protocol and issues an HTTP request for the HTML form that the user can use to establish identity.

  5. On receipt of the HTML from the Web server, the protocol client instantiates a dialog box and renders the form.

  6. The user then interacts with the form to establish identity.

  7. The Web server then responds with any finalization logic required.

  8. Once this process is finished and the user’s identity has been established, the protocol client issues an HTTP OPTIONS request to the server again to determine the capabilities of the server.

  9. The Web server issues a response containing the headers X-MSFSSHTTP=1.0 and MS-Author-Via=MS-FP/4.0,DAV. The MS-Author-Via header is described in Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) Protocol: Server Extensions [MS-WDVSE].

  10. The client application then downloads the file from the Web server by using the File Synchronization via SOAP over HTTP Protocol [MS-FSSHTTP].

  11. The client application uses the FrontPage Server Extensions Remote Protocol [MS-FPSE] for document management functionality such as version history, check in and check out features, and the property panel, which are described in section 2.1.3.