Foxpro dos exe obfuscation

[iitpradeep]

Hi everyone!

i am a programmer from India.
I have developed a complete software package for Retail Chemist in Foxpro 2.6 dos. It has accounting module and i have also add module to transfer all the data into Tally 9.0.

Now as i have work so hard on developing it. i dont want anyone to steal my source code by decompiling.

Can any one please tell me, how can protect my foxpro exe from decompiling.

Waiting for help.

Thnak you.
Harish.

 

[Stella740pl]

Does anyone really still wants to decompile and steal code written for DOS in a product that is well over 15 years old?

In any case, take a look at the discussion on the topic in thread184-1400785. Even though it's about Visual FoxPro, it might still be of help to you. Check out the link posted by Andy Kramek and see if that product can be used with FoxPro 2.6 for DOS, and also read all the opinions that people experessed.

Generally, in most cases, if there are people who are determined to steal the code, they probably would find a way to do it. The question is, do you really thik someone is determined to steal your product and why do you think so?

 

[mmerlinn]

[ ]

I see no point in trying to stop anyone from stealing your code.

First, you can't force them to be your customer, and even if you could, you would not want that kind of customer.

Second, businesses that take shortcuts (like stealing) seldom last more than a year or two, so no matter what they do with your code it will have no impact on you nor your good customers.

Third, if a "good" customer did steal your code or bought your stolen code, be ecstatic that they are no longer your customer. It would have just been a matter of time before you lost them anyhow because of their shoddy business practices. In the meantime, you have saved tons of money by not having to support the high-cost customers.

Fourth, if someone did steal your code and tried competing against you, it would not hurt you. You would not want their "cheap" customers and the high cost of supporting them even if they did buy YOUR LEGITIMATE application from you. Likewise, the thief could not support the stolen application nor improve it, so eventually he would be gone along with all of his customers.

And finally, as pointed out before, WHY would ANYONE want to steal legacy code from a platform that has not been supported for YEARS? How in the world would they even be able to use it on modern machines without any support from MS? Or without the knowledge needed to get it running and to keep it running?

Basically, my opinion concurs with others here that you are wasting your time pursuing this.

mmerlinn

http://mmerlinn.com

"We've found by experience that people who are careless and sloppy writers are usually also careless and sloppy at thinking and coding. Answering questions for careless and sloppy thinkers is not rewarding." - Eric Steven Raymond

 

[SSDESIGN]

This is how I try to prevent copying my code. It's a method which I have found to be mentioned the most...

The first program line must be:

SET DEBUG OFF && TO PREVENT DECOMPLILING BY OTHERS

FOLLOWED BY:
SET PROCEDURE TO XYZ && XYZ IS THE NAME OF THE
FIRST MODULE

Good Luck...

 

[TamarGranor]

Turning off debugging information does not prevent decompilation. Sorry.

Tamar

 

[Olaf Doschke]

SET DEBUG OFF is not even about debug info being built into an exe or not...

ON
(Default) Makes the Debug and Trace windows either available or unavailable from the Visual FoxPro menu system.

OFF
Makes the Debug and Trace windows unavailable from the Visual FoxPro system menu. However, when SET DEBUG is set to OFF, you can open the Debug window with SET ECHO ON or ACTIVATE WINDOW DEBUG, and you can open the Trace window with SET STEP ON or ACTIVATE WINDOW TRACE.

So you see even turning off does not prevent you from debugging, as there are several ways to get into debug mode and it's windows.

And that's not even the easiest way to get at sourcecode of an application. Your worst enemy is someone using ReFox or UnfoxAll to decompile. But Refox is also there to protect an EXE, and it works for older fox versions, but only at lesser protection levels.

At the higher protection levels Refox, especially the ones even Refox can't decompile any more, it needs VFP6+:

http://fox.wikis.com/wc.dll?Wiki~ReFoxlevelsofprotection

Bye, Olaf.

 

[pmaeperez]

If you need the "FOX KIT 2.6 FOR WINDOWS", I got it.

 

[pmaeperez]

Or see this site:

http://www.vetusware.com/browse/?page=20