Creating Secure Trial Versions for .NET Applications - A Tutorial

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using SoftActivate.Licensing;

namespace SampleTrialAppCS
{
    public partial class ActivationForm : Form
    {
        public ActivationForm(string actionText, string licenseKey)
        {
            InitializeComponent();

            actionLabel.Text = actionText;
            this.licenseKey = licenseKey;
        }

        public void ActivateLicense()
        {
            isActivated = false;

            licensingClient = new LicensingClient("http://localhost:55355/",
                                                  CreateLicenseKeyTemplate(),  // no license key provided means we are requesting a trial version
                                                  licenseKey,
                                                  null,
                                                  12345 /* productId */
                                                 );

            licensingClient.OnLicensingException += new LicensingExceptionEventHandler(OnLicensingException);
            licensingClient.OnLicensingComplete += new LicensingCompleteEventHandler(OnLicensingComplete);

            // contact the licensing server and ask for a trial license for this computer's hardware id
            // if a trial license was already granted by the server for this particular computer and product id, the server will deny the request
            licensingClient.BeginAcquireLicense();

            ShowDialog();
        }

        public string ActivationKey
        {
            get
            {
                return activationKey;
            }
        }

        public string HardwareId
        {
            get
            {
                return hardwareId;
            }
        }

        public DateTime LicenseExpirationDate
        {
            get
            {
                return licenseExpirationDate;
            }
        }

        public bool IsActivated
        {
            get
            {
                return isActivated;
            }
        }

        public bool ClockManipulationDetected
        {
            get
            {
                return clockManipulationDetected;
            }
        }

        private void OnLicensingComplete()
        {
            isActivated = true;
            activationKey = licensingClient.ActivationKey;
            hardwareId = licensingClient.HardwareId;
            licenseExpirationDate = licensingClient.LicenseExpirationDate;
            clockManipulationDetected = KeyHelper.DetectClockManipulation(licenseExpirationDate);

            // This thread is a worker thread. We need to invoke the method on the UI thread.
            Invoke(new LicensingCompleteEventHandler(OnLicensingCompleteUI));
        }

        private void OnLicensingCompleteUI()
        {
            Close();
        }

        private void OnLicensingException(Exception ex)
        {
            isActivated = false;

            // This thread is a worker thread. We need to invoke the method on the UI thread.
            Invoke(new LicensingExceptionEventHandler(OnLicensingExceptionUI), ex);
        }

        private void OnLicensingExceptionUI(Exception ex)
        {
            MessageBox.Show("Error: " + ex.Message);
            Close();
        }

        private KeyTemplate CreateLicenseKeyTemplate()
        {
            return new KeyTemplate(5, // number of groups of characters in the license key  
                                               5, // number of character in each group
                                               "doxzyMNu7n46whM=", // the public key used to verify the license key signature
                                               null, // private key is not needed for license key validation ! 
                                               109,  // signature size of the license key is 109 bits
                                               16,   // data size embedded in the license key is 16 bits
                                               "ProductId" // this is the name of the data field embedded in the license key
                                               );
        }

        LicensingClient licensingClient;
        string licenseKey;
        string hardwareId;
        string activationKey;
        bool isActivated;
        DateTime licenseExpirationDate;
        bool clockManipulationDetected;
    }
}