This tutorial demonstrates how to implement Machine
License and protect your application as a shareware license. Typically, as
shareware, you want to distribute your application as a trial version that allows
the user to evaluate the application for a limited trial period. If the user
wants to continue to use the application after the trial period, you can issue
the License Key to turn the trial version into the full registered version.
Based on the settings used in this tutorial, the following describes
how the user would experience the protected application.
·
When starting the application, the
Registration dialog box pops up. The user may click the Register Later button
to skip registration during the trial period.
·
The user can try out the application for a
limited trial period.
·
The user cannot gain additional trial period
by reinstalling the application or turning back the system clock.
·
To register, the user can click the Register
button to link to your registration webpage, or send you a registration email.
In both cases, the Registration ID is
automatically passed to the webpage or the email composer.
·
The user can click the Register button to
link to your website and register the application. The Registration ID is
automatically passed to your website.
·
Alternatively, the user may contact you by
phone, fax, etc., and provide the Registration ID.
·
With the received Registration ID, you can
generate the License Key to be returned to the
user that turns the trial into full version (or extends the trial version).
·
During registration, you may collect the user
information and charge the user a license fee.
·
When the user enters the License Key in the
Registration dialog box, the application is turned into the full registered
version.
The following instructions use ElecKey
Integrator (the shell protection method)
to protect the application. The necessary settings are described below.
However, you may change the options as you want.
Besides the shell protection method, you may also use the provided KeyCheck API (including the KeyCheck Class
Library and the KeyCheck .NET Component) to protect your application, by
specifying the same settings as described below. Please see Protecting Applications
Using API and the provided code examples
for more information.
1.
Run ElecKey Integrator. The wizard dialog box
appears.
2.
In the Select Application License Type
dialog, select Machine License.
3.
In the Select Integration Task dialog,
select Protect Code and Enforce Licensing.
4.
In the Specify Protected Program
dialog, specify your executable file name in the Original field. In the Target
field, specify a different name for the protected executable file that will be
created.
5.
In the Set Identification dialog,
assign a Program ID in the Program ID field.
6.
In the Key Detection Method dialog,
select Detect Stand-Alone Key.
7.
In the Set Options dialog, you can use
the default settings.
8.
In the Choose Implementation dialog,
select Shareware.
9.
In the Select Evaluation Mode dialog,
General Evaluation is preset for the shareware license. Specify the limits as
you want.
10. In
the Customize Messages dialog, the needed dialog boxes for the implementation
you have chosen are automatically checked. However, you can enable the dialog
boxes as well as edit messages and options as you want. Then, click the Edit
button of the Registration Dialog Box checkbox.
11. In
the Registration Dialog Box Properties dialog box, click the Options
tab. Then, in the URL/Email/Document/Executable field, enter your
website URL. For instance, https://www.sciensoft.com/register.html or
https://www.sciensoft.com/register.htm?regid=<EncRegID>. Or, enter the
email composer parameters. For instance, mailto:service@sciensoft.com or
mailto:service@sciensoft.com?subject=Request License Key&body=My
Registration ID is <RegID>.
12. In
the Create End-User Utilities dialog, the needed end-user utilities for
the implementation you have chosen are automatically checked. However, you can
choose to build the end-user utilities as you want.
13. In
the Summary dialog, review the action you have chosen.
14. Click
the Integrate button. The protected version of your executable file is
created.
It is recommended that you save your unprotected executable file in a
safe place. You can then rename the protected version to its original file
name, and use it further to create a setup package and distribute your
application to the user.
To create a setup package and distribute your application, please
ensure to include the protected version of your executable file and the ElecKey
system files. For Win32/Win64/.NET applications, the following is the list of
the needed system files:
·
Ekc3220.dll
(in \Deploy\Win32App\KeyCheck\)
·
Ekc6420.dll
(in \Deploy\Win64App\KeyCheck\)
·
Ekag20nt.exe
(in \Deploy\Win32App\KeyCheck\)
·
Ekag6420.exe
(in \Deploy\Win64App\KeyCheck\)
·
End-user utilities
(optional)
The above system files must be placed in the same directory as the
protected executable file. Depending on the features you have enabled, you may
need additional system files. See the topic Protecting Windows
Apps/Deployment for more details.
By implementing Machine License, you can license the protected
application by generating the License Key to be returned to the user. The
following instructions describe how to use LicenseKey
Manager to generate a License Key.
1.
Run LicenseKey Manager.
2.
In the Main tab of the Key
Properties pane, enter the Registration ID received from the user in the Registration
ID field. Then, click the Check button.
3.
The Identification field shows the Key
ID, Program ID, and flag decoded from the Registration ID.
4.
From the Implementation drop-down
list:
5.
Select Distribution if you want to
generate the License Key that turns the application into the full version with
no limit.
6.
Select Evaluation if you want to
generate the License Key that extends the trial period. You can then specify
the Expired Date, Max-Day, and Max-Exec as you
want.
7.
From the Note pane, you can enter
notes about registration such as the user’s name, address, telephone, etc. in
the Messages field.
8.
From the Email pane, you can enter the
user’s email address in the Email Address field.
9.
Click the Key Properties pane. Then,
click the Generate button. The License Key is shown in the License
Key field. All registration information (including Registration ID, License
Key, date, etc.) are automatically recorded in the Registration List
pane.
10. To
send the License Key via email, click the Email pane. Then, click the Send
button. LicenseKey Manager automatically launches your default email composer
with both email address and License Key filled in.