The server access file contains one or more access records. Each access record is composed of five fields:
| Field | Function |
| Client Machine Name | The name of the client system |
| Client Username | The user's login name on the client system. |
| Local Username | The local user name that AcuLaunch will use when fulfilling requests for the client user |
| Password | Optional password protection. When used, the requester must supply a password that matches this field. |
| Umask | A three-digit file creation mask. |
Client Machine Name Client Username Local Username Password Umask starling bernie bsmith <none> 002
This record will allow user bernie to connect from machine starling. AcuLaunch will use the local user name bsmith (Bernie's account on the file server) when executing requests for bernie. No password is required.
Three fields, Client Machine Name, Client Username, and Local Username, can have a wild card value to indicate a general behavior. These wild cards are:
| Field name | Wild card | Meaning |
| Client Machine Name | * | Match all client machines |
| Client Username | (empty field) | Match all client users |
| Local Username | same as client | Use the Client Username |
On Windows clients, Client Username is set to the name given by the user at logon. If the operating system does not provide a logon, or the user bypasses the logon, the value of the environment variable USER is applied. If USER is not defined, the value of the environment variable USERNAME is applied. Note that the values assigned to these variables are case-sensitive. Be sure that the case used in the AcuAccess file matches the case of the value set in the variable. If neither USER nor USERNAME is defined, the literal string "USER" is used.
For illustrative purposes, here is a set of common access records:
Client Machine Name Client Username Local Username Password Umask support-pc techie <none> 002 warehouse-pc <none> 002 president-pc diamond <same as client> <none> 002 robin <same as client> <none> 002 starling felice <same as client> <none> 002 starling baxter ...... 002 swallow hartley hartley <none> 002 swallow acct <none> 002
These entries are interpreted as follows:
The entry for support-pc allows any user of support-pc to use AcuLaunch. AcuLaunch will use the local user name techie when executing requests for support-pc.
The entry for warehouse-pc allows any user of warehouse-pc to use AcuLaunch. Because the Local Username field is empty, AcuLaunch will use the value of DEFAULT_USER as the local user name when executing requests for warehouse-pc.
The entry for president-pc allows user diamond to access AcuLaunch. For this record to match, the DOS environment variable USERNAME or USER must be defined with the value "diamond". AcuLaunch will also attempt to use diamond as the Local Username. If diamond is not a valid local user name, the value of DEFAULT_USER will be used.
The entry for robin allows all users of robin to access AcuLaunch. If the requester has an account on the server by the same name, AcuLaunch will use that name; otherwise AcuLaunch will use the value of DEFAULT_USER.
The first entry for starling allows user felice to access AcuLaunch. AcuLaunch will follow the same rules as the previous entry to assign a local user name.
The second entry for starling allows user baxter to access AcuLaunch. AcuLaunch will use the value of DEFAULT_USER when executing requests for baxter. baxter will need to provide a password before a connection will be established.
The first entry for swallow allows user hartley to access AcuLaunch. AcuLaunch will use the local user name hartley when executing requests for hartley.
The second entry for swallow allows all users of swallow to access AcuLaunch. AcuLaunch will use the local user name acct for all users of swallow, except hartley (or other records for swallow that explicitly name a client user).
The most permissive access record that can be created is:
Client Machine Name Client Username Local Username Password Umask * <same as client> <none> 002
This record allows any user of any client to use AcuLaunch, so long as they have an account on the server by the same name, or DEFAULT_USER is defined with a valid user name (DEFAULT_USER cannot be defined to be root). A client user running as root will be mapped to DEFAULT_USER.