This guide shows how to create a limited Trial edition of any Windows or Macintosh product. Use QuickLicense to reduce development time and provide a flexible, secure Trial edition of any application.

First, consider how you want the evaluation process to work. Your Trial edition can auto-activate on first launch for a specific computer or require user information before activation. User data can be entered through a dialog or web page before receiving an Activation Code or instant activation. Trial software can expire after a specified number of days or executions.

Once the trial period expires, the application can present an appropriate message or take the user to your online order form.

Step 1 - Configure Trial License

Use QuickLicense to configure how the license works. Set checkboxes and make selections in the License dialog. Click the Make Ticket button to generate an encrypted Ticket file that defines the license and activation process.

On application launch, send a Request Message to the QuickLicense runtime and get back a Response Message. This process allows your application to be activated, validate security, enable the appropriate features and implement the licensing strategy configured in the Ticket file. A few lines of code are needed in your application as described below. The Request Message and Response Message are simple strings with semicolon separated data fields. The SendMessage application comes with QuickLicense to experiment with a configured Ticket file. SendMessage sends a Request Message to the QuickLicense runtime and displays the returned Response Message. Use it to simulate your application's interaction with QuickLicense.

You are now ready to call the QuickLicense runtime from your application.

On Windows, QuickLicense runtime software is stored in a DLL file. Include the DLL and Ticket file with your application. On Mac, the QuickLicense runtime is an application that can run with no menu commands or dock icon. The user sees an Activation dialog integrated within your application.

On Windows, your application calls an external method. On Macintosh, it sends an Apple Event. Other interface methods are also supported. QuickLicense comes with simple source code examples that show how to send and receive the Request Message and Response Message strings.

Alternatively, use AddLicense to wrap a compiled application without programming.

QuickLicense includes the royalty-free runtime file that can be used for any number of applications or licenses. There are no fees, special installation or registry changes required. Just include the runtime and Ticket files in your application installation.

If your configured Ticket file presents an Activation dialog, that dialog can contain the URL of an activation page on your web site. An HTML form can collect the customer information and email it to you. Generate an Activation Code that is automatically emailed to the user.

An Activation Code can be immediately generated from a script on your web site, from the Safe Activation server or from WebActivation running on your own Windows web server.

Customer data can be collected during the activation process. Import that data into the QuickLicense application to create a customer record. Customer data can be searched, organized, exported or imported to a spreadsheet or database. Use this data to manage the evaluation, sales and support process.

Get QuickLicense for Windows or Macintosh.