Different techniques to handle license control 1

[d00ape]

Hi.

I’m a VC++ developer that is going to distribute exactly 10 licenses of an ActiveX control I’ve done. I would like to make the ActiveX itself freely available on for e.g. a public ftp-server. So, about 100 users have may installed my ActiveX but because my customer just bought license for 10, only 10 users should bee able to use it at the same time.

I’ve figured of this a lot and have found out that all controls may have some connection to a server that “allow” them to run. If that’s a good thought, how should I design that “server-program”?

Would be very pleased of tips of where to find different ways to handle license and login techniques!

In which way is preferred to handle my problem? All thoughts are helpful!

 

[mingis]

If you don't want to dig into PHP/CGI scripting, write simple server application with listenning socket, using some free port and waiting for some "login" and "logout" requests. Logins and logouts should be sent by your front-end application and would increment and decrement login-counter on the server. Logins are answered with positive answer only if that counter is less than 10 in your case.
In case of customers computer crash there could be no corresponding logout - so additional login timeout should be implemented, duplicated logins from the same computer should be processed as one login too.

 

[d00ape]

OK!

I guess I need to have som kind of server-app running to satisfy my needs...

I've almost never used PHP. How could that help me. (I'm well known of ASP).

Thanks

 

[mingis]

> I've almost never used PHP. How could that help me.

Don't know. Learn PHP and ask in PHP forum. What I've said is an imagination of how to make it in C/C++. But you should have then your PC accessible from Internet. No one ISProvider will allow you to run your C programs on theyr sites.

> I'm well known of ASP

Is then ASP not good enough to manage such login/logout procedure?