kill application upon query from the database of the server

[batmanAgen]

hi guys, need help with this one.. im building a license monitoring application. and part of the system is the module in which the program kills/blocks a certain application from running based on the returned info from the database (license information). so if the company has 5 licenses for a specific app, then 5 should be the max number of concurrent usage, though it can be installed on more than 5 pcs. so my question is, is it possible for my app to be embedded in the OS, so that i can control the applications being ran based on my license server.. or is there any other way to do it.. i need comments/suggestions/any wild ideas guys.. thnx in advance...

[Steve Maier]

I think Sony has a nice little rootkit that does this.....:laugh: But seriously, if the application is a .NET app, you could make a license provider dll that would talk to the database and determine if it could launch or not. If the main app is a Win32 one, ou could write a small wrapper exe to do the checking that then runs the normal app. One thing to think about when ou are building this type of system is the need for an admin to be able to add a license quickly. Sometimes purchasing a license or a block of licenses could be a slightly slower process. If you had a good way to allow another copy to run (and keep track of that) then users will not feel trapped by their own purchasing dept. Steve Maier, MCSD MCAD

[batmanAgen]

thanks for the reply Steve..:) yes my application is a c# .net application. what i have now are codes for viewing all the running processes and killing a running process. im new in network programming, i also havnt explored much of the .net class library that's why im having difficulties in trying to implement this. can i ask you some questions?:D what is that license provider dll? and what about that wrapper exe?:) can i put that in my client pcs and embed it in the OS? so that when the client PCs boot, it already has that client application agent running, thus enabling the communication between my server and its clients. And from the server, i can get info about that specific client.tnx :)

[Dave Kreskowiak]

Sounds like a VERY convoluted solution to a licensing issue. Why couldn't you just create a license server on a machine and have the client software just ask for and checkout a license? When the client is done, the license is checked back in to the database. The licenses would have to be checked out on a leased basis so you don't end up with permanently checked licenses. The clients would have to renew their lease every so often in order to keep working. Forget trying to "kill process" and all that crap. It's an unsupportable solution... RageInTheMachine9532 "...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome

[Steve Maier]

I agree with Dave that it sounds too complicated. .NET applications can have a licence provider defined for them. There are a few licensing systems out there that are just for .NET. I was looking at a free one called OpenLicense[^]. The .NET classes allow ou to define our own licensing scheme and if ou wanted it to check a server, it could. Steve Maier, MCSD MCAD