Using TurboActivate with Visual Basic .NET

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.

Set the "Target CPU" to x86

For VB.NET projects we recommend you set the "Target CPU" to x86. If you do this, your app will be able to run on both 32-bit and 64-bit machines without having to do complex installation scripts.

To set the target CPU to x86 first click the "Project -> [Project Name] Properties" menu in Visual Studio. Click the "Compile" tab on the right hand side. Click the "Advanced Compile Options..." button. Then choose x86 from the "Target CPU" dropdown:

Make sure you set this for both your "Release" and "Debug" configurations.

Example project

Included in TurboActivate.zip is a simple example project. The TurboActivate.vb 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:

TurboActivate.VersionGUID = "Version GUID you copied earlier"

IsActivated(), IsGenuine(), IsGenuineEx()

There are 3 separate TurboActivate functions for checking whether a customer is activated or not:

• IsActivated() checks if the user is activated without contacting any servers (no internet connection needed ever). It does this by verifying the cryptographically signed "computer fingerprint".
• IsGenuine() contacts the LimeLM servers to see if the user is still activated (checks for revoked product keys, etc.) and whether features have changed. This function requires an active internet connection to succeed (or else you get a TA_E_INET return code).
• IsGenuineEx() is a mix of the best parts of IsActivated() and IsGenuine(). In IsGenuineEx() you can specify how often to check with the LimeLM servers and all other times it verifies the activation locally. (Note: in VB.NET IsGenuineEx() is the IsGenuine() function with the 4 parameters.)

For most cases we recommend using IsGenuineEx(). For example:

Dim isActivated As Boolean
Dim gr As IsGenuineResult

Try
    ' Check if we're activated, and every 90 days verify it with the
    ' activation servers. In this example we won't show an error if
    ' the activation was done offline. (see the 3rd parameter of
    ' the IsGenuine() function)
    gr = TurboActivate.IsGenuine(90, 14, True)

    isActivated = (gr = IsGenuineResult.Genuine _
                   OrElse gr = IsGenuineResult.GenuineFeaturesChanged _
                   OrElse gr = IsGenuineResult.InternetError)

Catch ex As TurboActivateException
    MessageBox.Show("Failed to check if activated: " + ex.Message)
End Try

If isActivated Then
    ' your app is activated and genuine

    If gr = IsGenuineResult.InternetError Then
        'TODO: give the user the option to retry the genuine
        '      checking immediately. For example a dialog box.
        '      In the dialog call IsGenuine() to retry immediately.
    End If
Else
    ' TODO: Not genuine or not activated. Either way you should either
    ' restrict the user from using your app or give the user a trial
    ' of your app.
End If

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 isActivated Then
    ' your app is activated and genuine, see above
Else
    ' not genuine / not activated

    TurboActivate.UseTrial()

    If (TurboActivate.TrialDaysRemaining = 0) Then
        'TODO: disable the features of your app
    Else
        ' trial days remaining
    End If
End If

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.