bcTrialVersion.NET is a .NET Component for C#, VB.NET. It provides �trial period� capability for your software. bcTrialVersion.NET stores information about the trial usage of the software and decides if the software has expired or not when asked programmatically using the IsExpired() function.

Information regarding the trial period is kept in Windows registry in either plain or encrypted form.

Users of the component can supply their own encryption algorithms if they want to do so.

Encrypted information will be harder for hackers to locate in the registry.

Create Trial / Evaluation Version
Software Using .NET Component

You drag drop the component and set it�s properties. In your application, you call IsExpired function to check the whether the evaluation has expired or not. If evaluation record is not found in the registry, you call RecordExpirationInfo(). It can also be called in an installer. The trial version types can be one of the following:

a) Expire in n number of days after first try (or installation if the installer creates the required registry information)
b) Expire on date .
c) Expire after n number of tries.

To use this component, the programmer sets couple properties such as expiration date (or # of tries) and picks the Windows registry section to record the information in; chooses a hard to guess registry subkey name and writes an if block in his application to ask the component if the application has expired or not.

Once an application expires, the component can set a flag in the registry so that after re-installation the program will still know that it was tried and trial period has expired.

Here are the documentation files in zipped format.

Screen Shots:

Above figure shows the properties of TbcTrialVersion component.

How to Install:

To place the component in your Toolbox, you can right client the toolbox and choose �Add Items� as in next image:

A dialog will popup that will allow you to browse to the component DLL location. After you browse, and pick the DLL, you will see it in the list with a checkbox.

When you click OK, your component will appear in the toolbox as below:

Basic Code Sample a Typical User needs to write:

The component comes as .NET DLL and source code with the help files.

Help documentation is available for download for quick review[82KB]

Download bcTrialVersion.NET Component

TbcTrialVersion.NET is distributed under Apache 2 license . You may download here. Zip file includes Delphi Pascal source code. It should be possible to use it in Lazarus / Free Pascal as well.

For technical questions please contact support@gobestcode.com

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