[solved] How Can I Protect My Customization

MRQ
MRQ Member Posts: 73
edited 2006-08-06 in NAV/Navision Classic Client
HI

How can i protect my customization from another devloper ?

In fact i see some protected CUSTOMIZED OBJECT at one of our clients

and when i try to open it using my development license return this Msg

"you donat have permission to read contact your system maneger if you need to have your permissions changed "

so how can i protect my customization from another devloper ? #-o

and is there any way to break this protection ?

Comments

  • Torben_R.
    Torben_R. Member Posts: 99
    What you have seen at your customer is a licensed add-on, and the developer tries to protect his special development. But he cannot protect it! :twisted:

    If you copy the object, that you're not allowed to open, to an id that you're allowed to open (50,000 - 99,999), you can open it and find all the goodies, they want to hide. :whistle:
  • MRQ
    MRQ Member Posts: 73
    thanx Torben R :mrgreen:

    but how can i do the same thing for my customization ?
  • kriki
    kriki Member, Moderator Posts: 9,121
    This is it:
    Torben R. wrote:
    If you copy the object, that you're not allowed to open, to an id that you're allowed to open (50,000 - 99,999), you can open it and find all the goodies, they want to hide. :whistle:
    Regards,Alain Krikilion
    No PM,please use the forum. || May the <SOLVED>-attribute be in your title!

  • Luc_VanDyck
    Luc_VanDyck Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 3,633
    If you want to protect some calculation or algorithm, you better put your code in a DLL and call that from Navision. Because if your C/AL code is in some Navision object, it can be made visible (either by renumbering of the object, or by using the debugger).
    No support using PM or e-mail - Please use this forum. BC TechDays 2024: 13 & 14 June 2024, Antwerp (Belgium)
  • Miklos_Hollender
    Miklos_Hollender Member Posts: 1,598
    This topic has been discussed by a couple of times. Generally, a business logic - oriented customization is almost impossible to protect, because even if it's put in an add-on range, a smart programmer can just input wrong data and then look at the code with the debugger. Technical customizations can be put in an external DLL, but for business logic it would be clumsy to do that I think.

    However, if you think about this subject deeper: the real value of business logic - oriented add-ons are not the code itself, but the industrial experience, the knowhow: after playing around with it a bit, others could rewrite it in probably 10-20% of the time you spent to develop it. Therefore it's simply pointless to protect. However, you can always fire a lawsuit if you think your intellectual property has been stolen. You can even register a patent for your stuff, if the laws in your country allow it.

    There is another kind of customizations, that are not so business logic-oriented, but rather technical extensions like controlling an external machine or showing a drag & drop scheduler. These kind of developments can be easily protected by putting them into DLL's and, in .NET's case, obfuscating them.
  • MRQ
    MRQ Member Posts: 73
    thanx

    kriki my friend i did not mean how to break but i mean how to protect my customization

    couse i want to learn the way of doing this

    its good to learn all ways even the weak one so can u tell me how can i doit plz thanx again.
    If you want to protect some calculation or algorithm, you better put your code in a DLL and call that from Navision. Because if your C/AL code is in some Navision object, it can be made visible (either by renumbering of the object, or by using the debugger

    good one =D> thanx Luc Van Dyck
  • Miklos_Hollender
    Miklos_Hollender Member Posts: 1,598
    It's simply requesting a range of object numbers from Microsoft and then renumbering your objects with the Renumbering Tool, which is, I think, on the Navision Tools CD, also from MS. But as Microsoft tends to ask for written business plans of your add-on and so on, if it's a small customization, I think it does not worth it. I think the best you can do for small customizations is writing a contract with your client that customizations are your intellectual property and therefore it's their responsibility to not allow other solution centers physically access them. (Actually, customizations are Microsoft's property, which sounds strange but it's true, I checked in our contract a few years ago.)
  • MRQ
    MRQ Member Posts: 73
    Miklos Hollender wrote:
    This topic has been discussed by a couple of times. Generally, a business logic - oriented customization is almost impossible to protect, because even if it's put in an add-on range, a smart programmer can just input wrong data and then look at the code with the debugger. Technical customizations can be put in an external DLL, but for business logic it would be clumsy to do that I think.

    However, if you think about this subject deeper: the real value of business logic - oriented add-ons are not the code itself, but the industrial experience, the knowhow: after playing around with it a bit, others could rewrite it in probably 10-20% of the time you spent to develop it. Therefore it's simply pointless to protect. However, you can always fire a lawsuit if you think your intellectual property has been stolen. You can even register a patent for your stuff, if the laws in your country allow it.

    There is another kind of customizations, that are not so business logic-oriented, but rather technical extensions like controlling an external machine or showing a drag & drop scheduler. These kind of developments can be easily protected by putting them into DLL's and, in .NET's case, obfuscating them.


    nice analsys thanx

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