Hi All,

I have been asked an interesting question by one of my clients who bought
one of my programs which holds a large database.

I guess i should feel proud and privilaged on what they have asked but i
dont think its right!

They want to know if i will give them the password to the database so that
they can allow other companies ( IT ) to link into my program as well.

As far as i would see it, if i give them the password this will also allow
them to see how a master genius sets up the databases etc,,, not alone
knowing the password to all the other copies of the program out there.

The program was not written for them specifically either, just a generic
piece of software i sell here and there.

Had they of paid me x thousands of pounds then maybe!, but not for $50
total.

I was just wondering what your corporate response would be if you was asked
to give out a password to your database so other IT software companies and
them can get there hands on it?

Many Thanks

Steve

Does this database program of yours also include functions to check spelling
and grammar?

Show quote Hide quote nope didnt enclude em fankfully.

What would you do Mike if someone wanted your password the database?

<snip>

Mike is a hobbyist ( albeit a very knowledgable one )

Like me, he writes his own file handling systems.
Very proprietary

I give people data export utilities - send to file
- also APIs in 'real' DLLs that gives them read only access

Same response if they asked you for the source code of the application so
they could customize it - They didn't pay for that....

Understand that getting the password to an Access database is a trivial
matter - so if they wanted it bad enough its very easy to do...

Show quoteHide quote

Give them the password. Version 1 of my software I was very strict on this
and I didn't give the password out. Not because I was worried about them
seeing the database but because I was worried it would generate support
calls if they stuffed things up. With version 2 I mellowed on this issue and
handed out the password by default. So far I haven't had any troubles.

The problem of them having access to other customers data is a concern
though. You should modify your program so that the password can be specified
when creating the database, or a random password generated. To get around
this current situation I'd create a dialog to allow changing the database
password. The dialog should be designed so that if the default password is
being used they don't need to enter it. Whatever you do I would charge them
for your time.

As for someone looking into how your database is constructed I wouldn't be
concerned about this, competitors won't gain much from this and would be
able to find out your password anyway if they wanted to.

Michael

BTW, I don't think master genius' create all their databases with the same
password :-)

Michael

Don't say no, and don't give them the password. Never say never to a
customer, instead say "That will cost you an additional $$$ for the
additional functionality", or "We cannot do exactly what you have requested,
but we can modify the program to suit your needs." You can be polite while
saying no :-)

That assumes that you are willing to customize it for them, if not just say
that it's against company's policy to that.

Do not assume that they want your password just to steal your DB or
software, they may be hungry for new functionality, that means they liked it
and that's good news.

You could make a modified version for them that is enabled by a part of a
license key or a separate password. If you don't have a method to do so, you
could make it activate the new functionality by an INI entry. You could also
send them a .REG file that they just double click to add entries to the
registry to enable the new functionality.

Your license to them must have a limitation on what they can do with your
software. You may have to make the cheaper version per site, or per company,
or enterprise wide, and make another one for those who have to let other
companies use your software on their system. I am not sure what you could
call this, a Reseller license? a Multi-company license?

Some companies let other companies log on to terminal server and use your
software as part of their normal operation. Some companies do the payroll
management for others for example. You could limit such things by designing
the software to make it add more companies and generate reports per company,
etc. It all depends on what your software does.

Finally, if you ask them for more, make sure that is no more than what they
are willing to pay for.



Show quoteHide quote

Show quote Hide quote If you are concerned about the privacy of the data, then you have one
type of problem

However it sounds as if you are really concerned with concealing your
database construction techniqes.

You could sell them an Add On that reveals the data via a DLL or an AX
EXE but only permits read access and only supports specific queries.

In fact you could turn your App into an AX EXE ...

Steven wrote:

If you are concerned about other IT departments accessing the raw data
or screwing up the data through direct access, create a means for them
update the db but using only your code to do it.  Perhaps provide them
with a class that will let them connect to the database and perform
safe CRUD operations.

But if they want the password, they could probably find it very easily.

How could someone find it easy?

Its a 2002 database.

in <CcWXe.122906$R83.41***@fe04.news.easynews.com>

Show quoteHide quote$45 US and this:

http://www.lostpassword.com/access.htm

---
Stefan Berglund

Show quote Hide quote Ok so who is going to be the first to post the code here on how to find the
passwords ourselves?

I know the 97, and 2000,  but not 2002+

Steven wrote:
Show quoteHide quotehttp://www.snapfiles.com/get/accesspass.html  (free)

Access 2002? There isn't much in access you could have that you'd want to
hide from competitors, surely. I could understand if you'd spent many hours
writing lengthy stored procs and triggers in sqlserver but access is just
tables and queries.

Michael

Michael C wrote:
There can be value in a table heirarcy and structure - developing a
structured approach to storage for a particular matter that takes into
account retrieval and storage issues is a programming task in itself.
Getting your hands on someone else's work can drastically reduce the time
that you may need to develop one from scratch.

I'm not the slightest bit fussed about people seeing my database structure.
In fact I publish it. I did spend some significant time writing a trigger
and stored proc recently and I guess I should probably stop people seeing
those but I'm not really that fussed.

Michael

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