Open topic with navigation

License File Schema

XML Formatting

Protection PLUS 5 SDK license files are simply XML documents that have been encrypted and digitally signed to secure the contents and prevent unauthorized modification. The encrypted license file is still an XML document. Once the license file has been decrypted and verified, you can read the various license fields to determine the state of the application's license. The XML schema, or general structure, of the license file is shown below. This schema differs from the encrypted license file, which is what you would normally see if you opened the license file in a text editor, to the decrypted license file, which is found in the application's memory. Several tables outline the many fields and provide a description of what these fields contain.

Encrypted License File

The following depicts the contents of an encrypted license file:

XML

<SoftwareKey>

<EncryptedData xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/04/xmlenc#" Id="PrivateData" Type="http://www.w3.org/2001/04/xmlenc#Element">

<CipherData>

<CipherValue>CEtwIAD3IhUUA1csp6IKqkwlzGoM78Ffq/SMs9lK3EayA2R9WPC3Pzk...</CipherValue>

</CipherData>

</EncryptedData>
<Signature xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#">

<SignatureValue>iehRwDe5eVNGZI+w/b/BnM7IxqK7MvK9t2t1zzyHwp+0gS06k...</SignatureValue>

</Signature>

</SoftwareKey>

The <CipherValue> and <SignatureValue> node's content has been included to illustrate what the data might look like in an actual license file, but the data has been truncated.

Decrypted License File

The following depicts the contents of a decrypted license file. The links in comments, such as <!-- License Fields -->, are simply placeholders for the various nodes found in the corresponding tables below.

XML

<SoftwareKey>

<PrivateData>

<License>

<!-- License Fields -->
<ActivationData>

<Identifiers>

<SystemIdentifier name="..." type="..." value="..." />

</Identifiers>

</ActivationData>
<Author>

<!-- Author Fields -->

</Author>
<Customer>

<!-- Customer Fields -->

</Customer>
<Distributor>

<!-- Distributor Fields -->

</Distributor>
<LicenseGroup>

<!-- LicenseGroup Fields -->

</LicenseGroup>
<LicenseValidationOptions>

<!-- LicenseValidationOptions Fields -->

</LicenseValidationOptions>
<Product>

<!-- Product Fields -->

</Product>
<ProductOption>

<!-- Product Option Fields -->

</ProductOption>

</License>

</PrivateData>

</SoftwareKey>

The <Identifiers> node above may contain one or more <SystemIdentifier> child nodes. The name, type and value attributes would contain data based on the specific system identifier algorithm used, the number of identifiers present, and a unique hashed value. The "..." for the values are used to depict that this data is variable.

Field Listings

License Fields

In SOLO Server, all licenses are created from one Product Option record, and always belong to a customer.

* - The LastUpdated field is only present in self-signed writable license files.

Author Fields

You or your company is the "Author" of the software or application being licensed.

Customer Fields

The Customer represents your customer, for whom one or more licenses have been issued.

Distributor Fields

In SOLO Server, a distributor represents a company or individual that either resells your products or applications, or an affiliate which refers customers and prospects to your web site. The distributor information can be particularly useful in scenarios when the distributor acts like a reseller, and also provides its customers with technical support.

LicenseGroup Fields

A License Group allows licenses for a customer to be grouped together by an ID number.

LicenseValidationOptions Fields

The LicenseValidationOptions contain settings for the frequency to refresh/validate the license withSOLO Server. More information on implementing LicenseValidationOptions is available for PLUSManaged and PLUSNative.

Product Fields

Each product defined typically represents the product or application being licensed (i.e. "XYZ Product"). Products must contain one or more Product Options, as all licenses are created from Product Options.

Product Option Fields

Product Options define licensing or purchasing options available under a product. These can reflect any number of unique licensing and/or purchasing options, for example: "1 Year Subscription", "1 Year Subscription with Backup CD", or "1 Year Subscription Renewal".