Here is what the index file for this directory looks like
Authorization-realm=myrealm@hopf.math.nwu.edu
Authorization-module=~/bin/authwn -D wnpasswd
Authorization-type=basic
File=index.html
The realm lets the client know that the same user/password pair is valid for any other directory with the same realm. The Authorization-module line specifies that we are using the module authwn which comes as part of the WN package. The -D option indicates that we are using a DBM data base for storing user names and passwords. (A simple password file can also be used). The wnpasswd argument is the name of the password file (actually in this case since we are using DBM, the password data base consists of two files: wnpasswd.dir and wnpasswd.pag).
You can look at the User's Guide section on authentication.
John Franks john@math.nwu.edu