Protection! Overview
Protection! is a licensing toolkit for Java that ensures that users adhere to the terms of your applications' licensing agreements. Protection! lets you embed powerful license reading and validation code into the components and applications that you sell, preventing unlicensed use of your software. Protection! locks out unlicensed users, and ensures that licensed users can only access those features that they've paid for. Whether you license your software on a per seat basis or a per running copy basis, you have complete control over the number of copies that can run simultaneously. Protection! Licensing Toolkit ensures that the license was issued for the correct product that only the licensed features are available, that the license has not expired, that the user has accepted the terms of the license agreement, and that the proper number of copies are running on the network. Protection! locks out the pirates. This comprehensive toolkit for Java solves today's complex licensing challenges. The program minimizes users' ability to make unauthorized use of your applications, and frees you to work on the core functionality that makes your applications great.
Protection! Licensing Toolkit has two editions: Standard (will be referred to, in this User Guide, as Std) and Professional (will be referred to as Pro) and several additional applications designed to provide developer/publisher with most complete protection and licensing environment. For additional Protection! applications see corresponding topic later in this manual.
Protection!'s main features:
- Quick and easy embedding into custom applications or components with the ability to get full control of license reading and validation.
- Ability to specify an unlimited set of application features, whose usage is permitted according to the supplied license.
- Ability to specify an unlimited number of application editions (i.e., Basic, Professional, Enterprise, etc).
- Licensing Server and Licensing Server Management Console applications.
- Pro! "Named User" licensing models that locks the license to a network card MAC address or other, user-definable attribute.
- Pro! "Floating User" licensing models allowing multiple concurrent users with the same license.
- Trial version(s) support.
- Date based expiration models.
- Pro! Usage based expiration models.
- Pro! "Grace Period" support wherein publishers of subscription-based software can define a specified number of days or usages past a payment deadline before service stops.
- Pro! Serial Numbers support.
- Ability to embed a license into the application to allow CD distribution of trial and/or evaluation versions.
- Ability to discover patched application parts.
- Pro! License Activation Support and Activation Grace Period Support.
- Pro! License Deactivation Support.
- Powerful Control Center application to allow easy maintenance of products and licenses.
- Pro! Web Services Support, which gives developers the ability to visually specify properties for Protection! Pro Web services applications, including general, plug-in, database options, e-mail and e-mail templates.
- Pro! Powerful Back-End Development Support, offering a default implementation as a foundation for easily building custom back-ends that are exported through Web services.
- Pro! Plug-ins Support to allow easy extension of default implementations.
- Pro! Multiple Feature Configurations that are linked to the specific type of license and state granted to the user. This feature enables the creation of multi-level software products (e.g., Basic, Standard, or Scientific), each with its own rules (e.g., Commercial, Evaluation, Expired Commercial, Expired Evaluation, Invalid License, etc.)
- Powerful Licensing and License Activation Wizards to simplify rules for license activation, evaluation, and upgrades both online and offline.
- Powerful Resolver feature that can be used to intercept and fix any issue that occurs during license reading and/or validation.