Hi Jennifer, and anyone following this discussion.
So, the flaw in the plan was this: When multiple tabs from the same document are Published to the Web, all the URLs share a common base code, with a unique ending that directs the link to that particular tab. However, a motivated student can simply delete the unique part of the URL and will then be able to flip through any / all published tabs. (Only those tabs that are published will be visible). Depending on the type of content you're managing, this may or may not be acceptable.
In Jennifer's case, a teacher who wants to share grades for individual students, it was not acceptable to allow any student to view other student's grades.
I met with Jennifer on the sheet and we worked our way to a fairly streamlined and secure solution.
Nutshell version:
1. On the teacher's master sheet, individual report tabs will be created for each student, 31 students in this case.
2. Next, 31 new document will be created, and the data from the 31 report tabs will be ImportRange()'d to each of these documents.
3. We now felt, that as there was only one set of data in the document, it was safe to Publish to the Web that document, creating a unique URL for each of the 31 students. The document has info for only one student, and therefore does not suffer from the weakness in my original proposed sharing plan.
Pleasure to work with you Jennifer! Post back if / when you hit bumps in the road.
Best,
Lance