8. License and demo mode #

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PBToolboxAI is a commercial library. License checking is entirely offline: no connection, no activation, no server call. A signed key is set at startup and the DLL verifies it locally.

8.1 The three key types #

Keys are cumulative: call PBT_SetLicense as many times as needed, the library keeps one key per type.

A project therefore needs both: one dev seat per developer, and one runtime key for the application you deliver to your customers.

• A dev key that ends up in an executable unlocks nothing.
• A runtime key grants no development seat.
• Your end customers have nothing to enter and nothing to activate: the runtime key is in your code.

The "IDE or executable" detection is performed by the DLL itself (process name, design-time modules loaded), not by PowerBuilder code — it cannot be bypassed from your sources.

8.2 Setting the key #

Only one thing to do, before the first window opens:

// Declaration - application object, "Local External Functions"
Function long PBT_SetLicense (string as_client, string as_key) Library "pbtoolboxai.dll"

// open event of the application object
// Local variables
long ll_rc
string ls_dev_key

// The RUNTIME key belongs in the code : it MUST ship inside the exe.
ll_rc = PBT_SetLicense(gs_licensee, gs_runtime_key)

// The DEV key is read from the workstation : it only unlocks the IDE, and
// embedded in the code it would ship in every copy without serving anything.
ls_dev_key = ProfileString("pbtoolboxai.ini", "license", "dev", "")
if ls_dev_key <> "" then ll_rc = PBT_SetLicense(gs_licensee, ls_dev_key)

Open(w_main)

The key is set through the DLL function, never through a component method: it applies to the whole process and has to be set before any component exists. That is the same reason PBT_LicenseStatus asks for no handle.

The holder is passed in clear, as the first argument: the name (or e-mail address) the licence was issued to, and it must match the one carried by the signed key. A key therefore cannot travel without the name of whoever bought it.

💡 Which key goes where. The runtime key belongs in the code: it must end up inside the executable you ship. The dev key does not — it only unlocks the IDE, so inside an exe it is useless while still travelling around, carrying your company name. Its place is a pbtoolboxai.ini file next to the IDE, or a registry value.

Setting the key after a component has been created also works: components that are already open unlock immediately. But the application open event remains the simplest place.

💡 Keep the key in a constant or in an application resource. It is signed: it contains no exploitable secret and cannot be modified without invalidating its signature.

8.3 Checking the license state #

// Declaration
Function long PBT_LicenseStatus (ref string as_json, long al_len) Library "pbtoolboxai.dll"

// Local variables
string ls_status

// The licence status, as JSON
ls_status = Space(1024)
PBT_LicenseStatus(ls_status, 1024)
// -> {"licensed":true,"ide":false,"keys":{...},"reason":""}

Useful during integration to confirm that a key is taken into account, or to log a startup in your application journal.

8.4 Demo mode #

Without a valid key — or with a key that does not apply to the context (a dev key inside an exe, for instance) — the library runs in demo mode: everything is usable, everything is visible, but with limits — except the five components of the community edition, described just below, which are never restricted.

Five components stay free #

The community edition takes no setting up: with no key at all, five components run with no badge and no limit, indefinitely.

The choice is deliberate: the four visual components are the ones you meet first, they carry no data model of their own, and they are enough to prove on a locked-down machine that the runtime deploys — the real obstacle before any purchase. json joins them because it is written in pure PowerScript, without the DLL: it is a basic tool, not a component.

The list lives in the DLL. PBT_LicenseStatus returns it as it is, under "free": your application can therefore state what it is entitled to without a key, rather than discovering it component by component.

A valid key always wins: on those five components as on any other, it restores your name and your edition.

The badge #

Every component displays a "PBToolboxAI — DEMO" badge, which cannot be hidden.

Functional limits #

These limits apply to the rendering: nothing fails, the display is truncated. So you can genuinely evaluate every component, on your own data, before buying.

Setting a valid key instantly lifts all these limits and removes the badge, without restarting the application.

8.5 Perpetual + maintenance #

The license is perpetual: the versions covered by your maintenance period keep working forever, including after that period expires.

In practice, the key carries a maintenance end date, compared against the build date of the DLL:

• a library version released during your maintenance is unlocked permanently;
• a version released after it expires returns -3: renew your maintenance to get access;
• applications you have already shipped are never affected: they embed the version they have always used.

8.6 Frequently asked questions #

Is my key checked online? No. No network, ever. The check is an RSA signature validated locally by Windows.

Do my customers need a key? No. Your runtime key is inside your application; they never see anything about the license.

What happens if I forget PBT_SetLicense in production? The application works, but every component displays the demo badge and the limits in the table above apply. That is the first thing to check if a badge shows up at a customer site.

Can I set a dev key and a runtime key in the same code? Yes — that is even the usual case: the dev key applies when you run from the IDE, the runtime key when you run the exe. Each one is ignored in the other context.

The badge appears even though the key is set. Three causes, in order of frequency: (1) a dev key while you are running a compiled exe, or the other way round; (2) the return value of PBT_SetLicense was never tested — check that it is 0; (3) maintenance expired for the DLL version installed (return -3). PBT_LicenseStatus settles it in one line.

A key is nominative. A dev key is tied to a developer, a runtime key to your company. Do not share them outside your team.

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