Sharing subfolders?

[Terry Pinnell]

I have this large folder set as Shared on my XP (SP3) PC:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4019461/Sharing-Parent-1.jpg

But its many subfolder are show as **not shared**:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4019461/Sharing-Subfolder-1.jpg

Yet in reality they clearly *are* shared, because I can stream their
content to my TV wirelessly with my WDTV unit.

Can someone explain the apparent contradiction please?

 

[VanguardLH]

I have this large folder set as Shared on my XP (SP3) PC:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4019461/Sharing-Parent-1.jpg

But its many subfolder are show as **not shared**:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4019461/Sharing-Subfolder-1.jpg

Yet in reality they clearly *are* shared, because I can stream their
content to my TV wirelessly with my WDTV unit.

Can someone explain the apparent contradiction please?

Unlike file permissions which can be made to propagate to child files
and folders (i.e., they inherit permissions from parent) or not, sharing
permissions always propagate to the children. When you share a folder,
everything under it gets shared. You would have to "share" a subfolder
to change what permissions were allowed under there that are different
than the sharing permissions for its parent folder. Share permissions
for files and subfolders are the same as the parent folder unless you
CHANGE them. The default action is sharing a parent folder will
propagate the same sharing permissions to its children.

Technically the children are not shared. They are accessed THROUGH the
parent share. You are granting network access through the parent. The
"share" is how you are granting access. Once you peek through the
"share" hole then permissions apply. If you don't want some children to
get accessed through this share then you have to individually change
their permissions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_resource

Despite what is shown in the Sharing dialog and typical intuitive
interpretation, you've proven that sharing a folder shares everything
underneath it.

 

[Nil]

I have this large folder set as Shared on my XP (SP3) PC:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4019461/Sharing-Parent-1.jpg

But its many subfolder are show as **not shared**:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4019461/Sharing-Subfolder-1.jpg

Yet in reality they clearly *are* shared, because I can stream their
content to my TV wirelessly with my WDTV unit.

Can someone explain the apparent contradiction please?

You're mis-reading things. The second dialog box is to allow you to
create a separate share for the subfolder, which you might want to do
for different users or with different permissions. It says nothing
about whether its parent folder is shared.

When you share a folder, all sub-folders are shared by default.

 

[Terry Pinnell]

Unlike file permissions which can be made to propagate to child files
and folders (i.e., they inherit permissions from parent) or not, sharing
permissions always propagate to the children. When you share a folder,
everything under it gets shared. You would have to "share" a subfolder
to change what permissions were allowed under there that are different
than the sharing permissions for its parent folder. Share permissions
for files and subfolders are the same as the parent folder unless you
CHANGE them. The default action is sharing a parent folder will
propagate the same sharing permissions to its children.

Technically the children are not shared. They are accessed THROUGH the
parent share. You are granting network access through the parent. The
"share" is how you are granting access. Once you peek through the
"share" hole then permissions apply. If you don't want some children to
get accessed through this share then you have to individually change
their permissions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_resource

Despite what is shown in the Sharing dialog and typical intuitive
interpretation, you've proven that sharing a folder shares everything
underneath it.

Many thanks for that clear explanation - now understood!

 

[Terry Pinnell]

You're mis-reading things. The second dialog box is to allow you to
create a separate share for the subfolder, which you might want to do
for different users or with different permissions. It says nothing
about whether its parent folder is shared.

When you share a folder, all sub-folders are shared by default.

Thanks, got it.