Generating Serial Numbers

[ozonic]

I need to be able to create serial numbers for my application and I'm not quite sure how this is normally done. I've Googled for this and all I get is how to beat the system and get CD Keys, but I need an ALGORITHM to create the CD Key with one application and then my target (main) application must use the same algorithm to verify that the serial number is valid (mathematically). The ideal situation would be where the user would call me to generate a serial number for their application which would expire after a certain period of time. If any one has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[karthiklsimha]

Serial number

Hi ,

In case of setup and deployment project in VS 2003, you can try adding a new UI Dialog using the dialog editor called "Customer Information". This UI dialog provides us with a functionality of having the serial number. There is also an inbuilt algorithm (which can be customized) to verify the serial key which user enters.

Regards,
Karthik Simha

 

[ozonic]

Hi

Thanks for your reply, I really appreciate it. I'm actually using VS 2005, but I've had a look at the "Customer Information" dialog and it seems pretty useful, but I'm not quite sure how you custimize the algorithm (other than just rearanging the order of the symbols, numbers, chars. etc). In the MSDN documentation they explain the how the algorithm works (eg. that numbers are added and their sum is divided by 7and if the remainder is zero than the serial is valid), but they don't explain how to modify the algorithm. Is it really possible to modify it and how?

Best Regards
Paul

 

[karthiklsimha]

Hi Paul,

May be you can dig more into "CustomActions" and "Windows Installer Properties" (like PIDKEY) you will be able to achieve what is required.

Regards,
Karthik Simha

 

[ozonic]

Hi Karthik

I havn't been able to find anything yet, but I'm going to carry on looking. But thanks for all your help, I appreciate it.

Best Regards

Paul