Using TurboActivate with Delphi

Before you can do anything you need to login to your LimeLM account (or sign up) and download the TurboActivate.zip. This zip contains the TurboActivate.dll & TurboActivate.exe along with source code examples.

Adding licensing & online activation to your app

After you've created a new product, go to the version page of the product you will be adding licensing to. You will need to do 2 things:

1. Download the TurboActivate.dat file for the product version.
2. Make a note of the Version GUID.

You'll be including the TurboActivate.dat file in the same folder as the TurboActivate.dll and TurboActivate.exe files and you'll use the Version GUID in your code as part of integrating TurboActivate within your app.

Example project

Included in TurboActivate.zip is a simple example project. It was created with Delphi 2010, but it can be ported to older versions with minimal effort. The TurboActivateUnit.pas file contains all the functions you'll be using to add licensing, online-activation, and trial functionality to your app.

VersionGUID

You must set the TurboActivate.VersionGUID property before you use any TurboActivate functions. We recommend you set the VersionGUID property when your application first loads. You only need to set it once:

procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
var
  ta : TurboActivate;
begin
   ta.VersionGUID := 'Version GUID you copied earlier';
end;

IsActivated()

The IsActivated() function simply checks if the user is activated and returns a boolean value.

UseTrial(), TrialDaysRemaining()

The UseTrial() function starts and/or revalidates the trial. The TrialDaysRemaining() function returns the number of days remaining in the trial. When TrialDaysRemaining() returns 0 you should disable your apps features and require them to activate. See the example project.

Note: Always call UseTrial() before calling TrialDaysRemaining().

if TurboActivate.IsActivated() then
  begin
     mnuActDeact.Caption := 'Deactivate';
  end
else
  begin
     mnuActDeact.Caption := 'Activate...';

     TurboActivate.UseTrial();

     if TurboActivate.TrialDaysRemaining() = 0 then
     begin
         //TODO: disable the features of your app
     end;
  end;

Learn more about using trials & trial extensions to win over prospective customers.

Activating your product

We recommend you use the TurboActivate.exe for entering product keys and activating your product. In the example project we show how to launch TurboActivate.exe and then check if the user is activated after it closes.

If you want to build your own interface then just use the CheckAndSavePKey(string pkey) and Activate() functions.

IsGenuine()

The IsGenuine() function connects to the LimeLM servers and reconfirms that your user's activation is valid. Using this function lets you retroactively revoke product keys. You do not need to (and should not) call IsGenuine() every time your application runs.

We recommend you call this function about every 90 days.

Also, if IsGenuine() throws an exception (particularly EInternetException) it might be a result of the user blocking TurboActivate from checking with the servers. We recommend you handle this case by first warning the user that the genuine check failed, then disabling the features of your app after X failures.