Rick,

I've done a bit more research and according to what I've read, any files created in subfolders under ProgramData\ at install time are automatically read/write to all users, but to create/delete files your program needs administrator rights (one way or another). So as long as you create the folder and file through the installer, you should be OK. That doesn't address the issue of dynamically creating shared files, but I haven't had time to investigate that issue yet.

Actually, back in the dim time when I worked as a research programmer on mainframe systems, several systems had the ability to assign file/folder access permissions to programs. E.g. designated program(s) could create files in a folder or write to them, but user's couldn't write their own programs to do the same. This was never possible before in Windows because all I had to do to defeat the permission was replace the program. If the %programfiles% folder is well protected and all users normally run in a User mode instead of an Administrator mode, this might be a viable and useful, if still imperfect, possibility.

Like the alien/father said to Eleanor in Carl Sagan's Contact, "Small steps."

...Jim

>> I think you are supposed to create an appropriate subfolder during setup and give it the appropriate permissions in: CSIDL_COMMON_APPDATA\developer\appname\ which translates to something like C:\ProgramData\developer\appname\
>>
>
>Yeah, that's the part that sucks. What installer tool do you know that allows you to set permissions - shor tof the full install packages that cost thousands of dollars and require a degree in a separate language <s>? And would you want to (from a user perspective) have an application muck with your permissions just to run an application? It's a scary thought...
>
SNIP...
>+++ Rick ---