so the title basically describes it all:
I have a Document Library, where my intention is to hide this library from certain group of users, so that they can not access it in the browser. Not only that it is not shown to them in site contents, but also, if they enter the correct path, the library will not be shown to them - and not it's contents. I do not care, if some error message is then shown, or is nothing shown or is the user redirected, simply, if they are not shown the library and contents, then it is fine.
However, this user group has to be able to have read-only-access to the files (and folders) inside this library. An application uses the logged-in user's credentials and downloads some desired file for them (if the user has the permission to download the file). So this is needed (we also need to download the data under the user's account for security and logging purposes).
Anyone knows a solution to this? I am not a skilled SharePoint user/administrator, but I have tried SP Designer, but it appears, this is not a good solution, because it would require some additional Server-side installations, which is not exactly convenient to the environment - it would be possible, yes, but only when all other options are not working and/or are no other options left.
Thanks for suggestions. If there are any uncertainties, feel free to ask.
Server configuration is: SharePoint Server 2010, Win2k8R2, IIS7.5, ActiveDirectory, SQLServer2008.
