No subject

(at least originally)
We don't do this, since we have too many users of our GRASS
installation, especially when we are using it for classes. In
addition, our network's admins frown upon wide-open access to
accounts or files.

Therefore, our method is to have a map database for the installation
we call 'permanent' that is readable by all. In the user's account,
we create a data directory. Under this are directories for each
permanent mapset they want access to. (i.e. world, spearfish, usa,
whatever). Now, in those directories we create a symbolic link
(with the 'ln -s' command) to the appropriate directory in the 
grass account. then the user declares their mapset to be
'workspace' or some other arbitrary name. With the g.mapsets command,
one can set up a search path of mapsets so that both 'permanent'
and 'workspace' will be searched for database elements.

OK, let's say your main grass database is /usr/grass/data,
and you have a map database of the world, so in /usr/grass/data
you create world/permanent directories. In permanent are
are all the grass data dirs, like cell, dig, colr, etc.
Now, let's say  your user's home directory is 
/home/zajac, and he has created a /home/zajac/data/world
directory, in which he did a: 
ln -s /usr/grass/data/world/permanent permanent
to create a link to the main data set.

Now he runs grass, and fills in the the initial questions grass
asks like this:

LOCATION: world
MAPSET: workspace
DATABASE: /home/zajac/data

grass will look in /home/zajac/data/world and find the permanent dir
but no workspace and say the same. It will also ask if the user
wants to create a workspace mapset. Answer yes and things will be 
set. The user will be able to access the maps in /usr/grass's 
database, but any operation that creates a map or file will do
so in the workspace mapset, which they own. To access another
user's maps, another symbolic link can be created, and g.mapsets
can be used to put that mapset in the current search path.

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Chris Rewerts        rewerts at ecn.purdue.edu
Agricultural Engineering, Purdue University