Obfuscator for VFP9 ?

[sfr10000]

I have seen comments in VFP forums regarding an Obfuscator. Does an Obfuscator for VFP9 exist ?

 

[Mike Lewis]

What exactly do you want to achieve? Are you aiming to prevent your code from being de-compiled? If so, there is an option to encrypt the code when you do a build (it's in the project options dialogue), but it won't provide more than rudimentary protection.

You say you've seen this discussed in "VFP forums". Do you mean here on Tek Tips? If so, which threads? If you've seen a discussion elsewhere, why don't you follow those up.

Mike


__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

My Visual FoxPro site: www.ml-consult.co.uk

 

[sfr10000]

I copied the following from a web site I found when doing a
Google search on decompiliers for VFP. I realize the direct reference is to the dotnet obfuscator, however the text was part of a discussion of VFP decompilers and there is a vague reference to VFP apps. Yes I am interested in protecting my source code, and no I dont think most of the available methods of protecting it are satisfactory, including the Foxpro encoding. There isnt sufficient information on the authors to follow up.

Text I am refering to:

You can't prevent decompilation of dotNET, either. But you can obfuscate, relabelling constants and variables confusingly and overloading methods so practically everything uses the same method label. You can sort of do this with VFP apps, but it is much harder to obfuscate methods.

No longer true ... a basic version of an "Obfuscator" is included with latest dotNET release; decompilation is as easy as ever, but the obfuscator alters source code before you compile, mashing var names etc so it still runs but is absolutely awful to try to follow. -- John Ryan

 

[StewartUK]

He's referring to pages on the fox wiki - don't know why he doesn't say so?!

The 2 pages

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

and

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

seem to give a very comprehensive overview of the ineffectiveness of code protection.

OK, I work in-house for my employer, but it seems to me unlikely to me that someone will try and decompile and so steal another person's application unless it was one that was known world-wide.

Stewart

Hope that helps,

Stewart
PS If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ184-2483 first.

 

[AndyKr]

>.Yes I am interested in protecting my source code, and no I dont think most of the available methods of protecting it are satisfactory, including the Foxpro encoding.

Check out REFOX. It is primarily a decompiler but it can also be used to brand source code so that it cannot be decompiled. See

http://www.refox.net/

But the first thing to do, in any case, is always to build your complied code the the 'debug info' OFF. That will prevent the easy access to code and removes a lot of the readable stuff that otherwise appears in the result.

----
Andy Kramek
Visual FoxPro MVP

 

[Mike Lewis]

sfr10000,

So, if I've understood this right, you are looking for a way of making your code as difficult as possible to understand ("relabelling variables ... overloading methods"), rather than preventing decompilation.

I have to say that I don't see the point of any of this. Who exactly are you trying to protect your code against? I don't mean to sound denigratory, but, really, is there anything special about your code that would make is valuable for someone to steal?

Mike



__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

My Visual FoxPro site: www.ml-consult.co.uk

 

[sfr10000]

If there is little or no valid reason to protect source code, then there are a lot of programmers who have wasted countless hours writing programs to do just that.

 

[Mike Lewis]

If there is little or no valid reason to protect source code, then there are a lot of programmers who have wasted countless hours writing programs to do just that.

Yes, there probably are.

I can only go on my own circumstances. I've written some very successful commercial applications, some of which enjoy a large share of their markets. These products have some serious competitors. Should I take action to prevent those competitors from stealing my code?

I can't see the point of that. If a company really thinks it can create a product that's as good as the market-leader by stealing code - without the support or co-operation of the programmer, and without access to the application design on which the code is based - well, all I can say is it must be a pretty incompetent company, and certainly no threat.

But your experience might be different. By all means, tell us exactly why you think your code is likely to be stolen.

Mike



__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

My Visual FoxPro site: www.ml-consult.co.uk

 

[TamarGranor]

SFR - I'm with Mike here. The reality is that the people who would steal your code or your app aren't going to buy it from you because you make stealing it harder.

Tamar