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1991-09-17
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E X E - Q - T E R D O C U M E N T A T I O N
Welcome to Exe-Q-Ter, Exe-Krypter, & Exe-Q-Ter Install. The purpose of
Exe-Q-Ter and the accompanying files is to allow all users and developers of
FoxBase+, FoxPro 1.02, and FoxPro 2.0 the alternative of creating DOS
executable files for their respective FoxBase/FoxPro versions, with the added
capability of password and/or password/encryption protection for their
applications, databases, and memo fields. It is not the intention of Exe-Q-Ter
to imply, either directly or indirectly, that non-registered users of
FoxBase/FoxPro Runtime or FoxPro 2.0 Distribution Kit, should dismiss the laws
of copyright and trademark regulations concerning the distribution of
FoxBase/FoxPro applications. On the contrary, you should know that it is
UNLAWFUL to distribute FoxBase/FoxPro applications unless you are in fact a
registered owner of either the Runtime or Distribution Kit. You may contact
Fox Software, Inc. or a legitimate distributor of Fox products to obtain either
of the above. Any known infringement of the above will be reported to Fox
Software at once.
EXE-Q-TER, EXE-KRYPTER, & EXE-Q-TER INSTALL are registered copyrights of E.
Scott Jones, (c) 1991, All Rights Reserved. This unlicensed version of
Exe-Q-Ter may be distributed in its original format, meaning that ALL files
listed in this documentation and in the on-line install documentation are
distributed with it. Other than this provision, Exe-Q-Ter, Exe-Krypter, &
Exe-Q-Ter Install may not be distributed, reproduced, or in any other manner
made available to a third party. Exe-Q-Ter, Exe-Krypter, & Exe-Q-Ter Install
are not Fox products, nor are they in any way related to Fox Software, Inc.
FoxBase+, FoxPro, and any other word containing the letters "F O X" are to be
considered as registered trademarks of Fox Holdings, Inc., and/or Fox Software,
Inc.
REGISTRATION
This unlicensed version comes with a 90 day trial. After that period of
time, you must register in order to receive a legitimate copy of Exe-Q-Ter if
you plan to continue to use the product. Upon registration, you will receive a
full registered copy of Exe-Q-Ter which is not encumbered by the registration
screens and security measures. An additional benefit will be a large discount
on upgrades to future versions, along with slightly smaller DOS executables
owing to the deleted registration and security routines. Exe-Q-Ter can be
purchased for $49.50 plus $3.00 shipping and handling - U.S., $49.50 plus
$10.00 shipping and handling - international. To order, you may use the form
included in the file "register.txt", or you may send a check or money order to
E. Scott Jones, 422 Pebblestone Court, Marietta, GA 30067. I cannot accept
cash. Additionally, there is a NO REFUND, NO WARRANTY POLICY regarding the
Exe-Q-Ter. Therefore, test this program thoroughly before you buy. Put it
through its paces, bang it around, make sure it's what you want. After I have
received your funds, delivery will be within 10 to 30 days. You may send the
additional charges if you would like Exe-Q-Ter delivered by Federal Express or
Express Mail. Please be sure to include a note to that effect.
LICENSE
EXE-Q-TER is licensed for ONE user on ONE machine at a time ONLY. Volume
discounts are available. To inquired about this, I may be reached at the above
address or on CIS 75500,2370.
INSTALLATION
To load Exe-Q-Ter Install, simply type "TEINST". First, of course, copy all
of the files to your FoxPro directory, or another sub-directory created by you.
Exe-Q-Ter Install will install the necessary files on the same drive and in
the same directory as it resides.
It is MANDATORY for this UNLICENSED COPY of EXE-Q-TER to have ALL of the
following files in the same directory as "TEINST.EXE", otherwise the
installation will abort.
1) REGISTER.TXT
2) TEREAD.TXT ( this file )
3) A2079340.SET
4) X2089340.SET
5) X2099340.SET
6) X2109340.SET
7) P2084770.SET
8) P2094770.SET
9) P2104770.SET
10) ECR88200.SET
11) ECR88300.SET
12) ECR88400.SET
13) TE_INST.VOJ ( an encrypted on-line readme file, which can only be read
from within Exe-Q-Ter Install. For fun, load the file into your
favorite text editor and have a look.)
Please read the on-line documentation in Exe-Q-Ter Install. After doing so,
simply press the F10 key and Exe-Q-Ter Install will install and rename the
above files. More about filenames in subsequent sections. It is recommended
that you place all of the install files either in your root FoxPro directory,
or a sub-directory created by you. Please understand, it will be necessary for
you to have the EXE's created by Exe-Q-Ter in your root FoxPro directory. If
you choose to put TE.EXE in a directory other than your root FoxPro directory,
you will need to make sure that your APP, FXP, DBF, FPT, and FOX files are in
the SAME directory as Exe-Q-Ter. Once you plan to run an EXE file created by
Exe-Q-Ter, it MUST be in your root FoxPro directory. This subject will be
covered in greater detail in subsequent headings.
GETTING STARTED
After you have installed Exe-Q-Ter, you are ready to begin creating EXE files
with password only, password/full encryption, or no password/no encryption
options. To load Exe-Q-Ter, simply type "TE". You will see the dreaded
registration screen, which will also appear when you run your EXE programs
created by Exe-Q-Ter. Needless to say, these will not be present in the
registered version of Exe-Q-Ter. After pressing the F10 key to accept the
terms and conditions of the registration screen, you will be presented with the
main screen of Exe-Q-Ter, which I will refer to as the category screen from now
on. Once inside of Exe-Q-Ter, you may press the F10 key at any time to return
directly to the category screen. The category screen presents you with three
options: 1) FoxBase 2) FoxPro 1.02 3) FoxPro 2.0. If you are using more
than one version of FoxPro, it will be helpful for me to describe the necessary
files for each version.
FoxPro 2.0 - TE.EXE, TE2SET.ESJ, TE2PAS.ESJ, TE2ENC.ESJ
FoxPro 1.x - TE.EXE, TE1SET.ESJ, TE1PAS.ESJ, TE1ENC.ESJ
FoxBase + - TE.EXE, TEBSET.ESJ, TEBPAS.ESJ, TEBENC.ESJ
Now you can select from the category screen which version of FoxPro you will
be creating your EXE programs for. By the way, you may press the ESC key at
any time to exit Exe-Q-Ter. After having chosen the version you will be using,
you will be presented with the creation options for your EXE file. The first
line delineates which FoxPro module you are running under. For example,
FOXPRO.EXE, FOXPROLX.EXE, FOXPRORT.EXE, DK (S) for standard ( if you are in 2.0
and a registered owner of the DK )., etc. Simply enter the appropriate number
and you will be moved to the next option, which asks you to supply the program
name for which you will be creating your EXE file.
It is IMPERATIVE that you enter the program name WITHOUT the extension,
otherwise Exe-Q-Ter probably won't work. Exe-Q-Ter searches your directory for
the highest file order. For instance, if you are in FoxPro 1.x, Exe-Q-Ter will
only look for an FXP file with the same name as the program name you've
entered. If it doesn't find it, Exe-Q-Ter will inform you a little later that
it can't continue the process. If you are in FoxBase, Exe-Q-Ter will only look
for FOX files. In 2.0, Exe-Q-Ter will first look for the APP file and if it
doesn't find it, then it will look next for the FXP file. Exe-Q-Ter will NOT
deal with PRG files. After typing in your program name, you will press
<return> and be moved to the next line.
Now you are asked if you want to suppress the opening FoxPro screen. The
default is N. Therefore, if you desire screen suppression, you must enter a y
or Y. Note: this option is useless with FoxBase. Now you are down to the
last option in this section, which asks you if you would like to invoke
Exe-Krypter.
Again, the default is N. If you choose Y, you will be presented with the
Exe-Krypter option screen which asks you whether you want password only or
password/full encryption. We'll address this subject in the heading under
ENCRYPTION. For now, let's assume you've chosen N.
If you've chosen not to invoke Exe-Krypter, you will immediately be presented
with Exe-Q-Ter's confirmation screen. This screen merely displays the options
you've chosen and asks you if everything is correct. The default is Y. You
may press Y or <return>. If you choose N ( by pressing the n or N on your
keyboard ), you will be driven back to the option screen. Again, you may press
the F10 key to return to the category screen, or ESC to leave Exe-Q-Ter. If
you've chosen Y, you will be presented with the final screen before Exe-Q-Ter
creates your EXE file.
This final screen is your bail-out option. It tells you that Exe-Q-Ter is
about to create <progname.EXE>. The default is Y if an EXE file by the same
name doesn't already exist, otherwise the screen warns you that an EXE program
by the same name already DOES exist and asks you if you wish to over-write it.
The default for this screen is N. If you've chosen to proceed, Exe-Q-Ter will
begin operations. A screen will be displayed showing you what Exe-Q-Ter is
doing. When completed, Exe-Q-Ter will tell you it has finished its task. Any
key other than the ESC key will return you to the category screen.
RUNNING YOUR EXE-Q-TER EXE PROGRAMS
The EXE files created by Exe-Q-Ter are NOT STANDALONE EXE's. In order for
your EXE file to operate, it MUST be in the FoxPro root directory along with
the APP, FXP, or FOX program file. The reasons for this are varied, some
having to do with the encryption process, and some having to do with the fact
that it is not my intention to run afoul of the law by creating EXE's using
FoxPro code, which would be absolutely necessary in order to create STANDALONE
EXE's, or EXE's not requiring the presence of the program file created in
FoxPro/FoxBase. If you need to have your FoxPro files in other
sub-directories, you must make sure that the code in your main APP, FXP, or FOX
files addresses this issue.
So what are the advantages of Exe-Q-Ter? Well, we haven't even discussed the
password and encryption options yet, and I believe you will see a TREMENDOUS
advantage to Exe-Q-Ter when this issue is discussed further down. In the
meantime, I believe the advantages will be obvious when we're talking about
FoxBase/FoxPro 1.x. As far as FoxPro 2.0 is concerned, I believe you will find
Exe-Q-Ter to be extremely reliable when running FoxPro 2.0 programs. If you
don't own the Distribution Kit, then again, the advantages are obvious, but let
me reiterate - it is UNLAWFUL to distribute FoxPro applications unless you are
a registered owner of either the RunTime or Distribution Kit. However, you may
certainly use the EXE files created by Exe-Q-Ter for your personal and/or
company use, whichever applies. Developers, please read the following sections
carefully, especially if you are planning to distribute encrypted applications.
NOTE TO DEVELOPERS
For those of you who are registered users of the Distribution Kit, a short
comment. Should you decide to distribute EXE's created by Exe-Q-Ter, you do
not need to include Foxr.exe as far as operational integrity is concerned.
However, you should check with Fox in order to ascertain whether or not they
have a problem with this.
For those developers who are distributing ENCRYPTED applications, it is
IMPERATIVE that you thoroughly read the following section on ENCRYPTION AND
PASSWORDS.
ENCRYPTION
Password Only
IT IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU MAKE BACK-UP COPIES OF YOUR FILES BEFORE
PROCEEDING WITH EITHER THE PASSWORD OR FULL ENCRYPTION OPTIONS!
If you've chosen to invoke Exe-Krypter, you will be presented with the
Exe-Krypter option screen. There are two choices: Password Only or Full
Encryption. The default is P for Password Only. You may type the letter or
press <return> if Password Only is your desired choice. After you've entered
your choice, you will be presented with the confirmation screen discussed
earlier. To review, this screen merely displays the options you've chosen and
asks you if they are correct. After choosing Y or pressing <return> you get
the bail-out screen, and finally, the creation of your EXE.
If you've chosen the Password Only option and proceeded with the creation of
your EXE, you may now exit Exe-Q-Ter and go for a test drive, but please know
this: ONE OF YOUR FILES HAS BEEN ENCRYPTED. If you are using 2.0, then either
your APP or FXP program file has been encrypted, depending on whether or not an
APP file exists. If you are in FoxPro 1.x, then your FXP file has been
encrypted. In FoxBase, of course, your FOX file has been encrypted. The very
first time you type the program name of your EXE created by Exe-Q-Ter, you will
be prompted to enter a password. You may enter up to 38 characters, either
alphabetical or alphanumeric. After you've entered your password, it will be
displayed and you will be asked if it is correct. If so, you MUST type a y or
Y, otherwise Exe-Krypter will retry. If you've typed y or Y, Exe-Krypter will
ask you to re-enter the password. This time, the screen will echo "*" while
you type. If the password is entered correctly, the program will exit and tell
you that your password has been Exe-Krypted and stored. To run the program
from now on, the correct password MUST be entered.
Passwords are CASE SENSITIVE. If you enter a password in upper case the
first time, you must enter it in upper case in order to run the program.
Additionally, you may mix upper and lower case and include spaces of varying
length. In effect, you have a virtually unlimited combination of password
options. For those of you who will be distributing EXE's created by Exe-Q-Ter
with the password option, it would be a good idea to hang around until your
client has entered the correct password and can get back into his program. If
the client screws up the password thing, or if ( in rare circumstances ) the
password doesn't "take", you'll still be around to copy the virgin EXE onto
his system again and let him retry.
NO TWO PASSWORDS ARE ENCRYPTED IN THE SAME MANNER! Because of this, every
now and then the password might not "take" on the first try. You need have no
fear of the password being invalid once you've made it work on the second run.
Again, this has happened only VERY rarely, and it's due to the complex nature
of the encryption process. Therefore, if you've gone thru the password
routine, it is important that you test your program immediately. If it works (
and it will 99.99% of the time ) then you're home free. If it doesn't work,
then you simply go back into the Exe-Q-Ter and repeat the creation process.
However, be aware of this *** IMPORTANT *** note. Since your program was
encrypted by Exe-Q-Ter the first time, you must do one of two things: either
copy your back-up APP, FXP, or FOX file back into the same directory as
Exe-Q-Ter, or create the EXE TWO TIMES in a row WITH the Password option
specified. Exe-Q-Ter doesn't know if a file is already encrypted or not; it
only knows that it is going to assault whatever is in it's charter. More about
this in the Full Encryption section. It should work when you try again. Of
course, make sure you are entering the CORRECT password before you do this.
The reason passwords don't "take" most of the time is due to the nature of
the encryption process. This generally happens when you create two EXE's in a
row without leaving Exe-Q-Ter. The underlying cause of this is the fact that
Exe-Krypter does NOT use the same variables or keys on any two programs.
Therefore, if you experience problems, the easiest solution is to exit
Exe-Q-ter after creating an EXE with the password or full encryption option
specified and simply reload to create your next password-protected or fully
encrypted file.
The METHOD with which your password and file is encrypted and stored is a
method which uses many variables and many keys, and a method which I'm
obviously not going to go into detail about. Suffice it to say, however, that
your password is entirely secure from just about anybody. If some super-sleuth
were able to crack the code and discover your password, he wouldn't be able to
use the same keys and variables on the next program because they would be
entirely different. If you want to make sure that nobody can run your programs
without a password, then Exe-Krypter will do the job for you.
Since the Password Only option encrypts only your main program file - either
an APP, FXP, or FOX file - you may wonder how to protect other programs which
are called by your main program. Here is a simple method which you may find
helpful. In your main program, you might want to initialize a PARAMETER. For
instance, you might type the following:
Sunshine = .T.
DO program WITH Sunshine
Then in your called program:
PARAMETER Sunshine
IF Sunshine = .F.
QUIT
ENDIF
This will guarantee that none of your programs will work without them being
run from the EXE created by Exe-Q-Ter. To prove the efficacy of this, load
FoxPro and DO <main>. You will find that it won't work! Only by first having
the program decrypted can FoxPro read your APP, FXP, or FOX file. And the only
way your program can be decrypted is to let the Exe-Krypter in your EXE file
work its magic. If you've added the above PARAMETER routine to any called
programs, you can try to DO <calledprogram> from within FoxPro, and you will
discover that it won't work either. And now it's time to explore encryption
more thoroughly.
Full Encryption
If you have read the preceding material on Passwords, you should have a
general idea of what is entailed in the encryption process, however, the
following will explain how to make sure WHICH files are encrypted and WHICH
files are NOT encrypted.
Exe-Krypter will automatically encrypt the following types of files - DBF,
FPT, APP, FXP, FOX. This is determined by two parameters.
The first parameter is the directory. In other words, Exe-Krypter will only
search for files in the current working directory, or put another way, the
directory in which Exe-Q-Ter itself resides, or - if you are using the EXE with
full encryption - the directory in which the EXE file resides. However, it
ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to make sure that the files you wish to encrypt initially
are in the same directory as TE.EXE aka The Exe-Q-ter.
The second parameter Exe-Krypter uses to determine which files to encrypt are
the file-types themselves, along with the specified program name. Here's an
example: you've type in PROGNAME for your FoxPro filename and you've chosen
Full Encryption. When Exe-Q-Ter has finished creating an EXE by the title
PROGNAME, it will then turn over control to Exe-Krypter. Exe-Krypter will
search the current working directory for a DBF, FPT, APP, FXP, FOX named
PROGNAME. Any of these types of files that are in the current working
directory and have the title PROGNAME will be assaulted by Exe-Krypter. As
mentioned previously, Exe-Krypter doesn't know whether or not a file has
already been encrypted; it merely carries out its charter regardless of the
current status of the files.
READ-ONLY IS NO PROTECTION!!! If your files are read-only, Exe-Krypter will
not be prevented in the least from gaining access, so PLEASE do not depend on a
read-only attribute to protect your file from Exe-Krypter. It won't.
I suggest that if you are planning to do much file encryption that you create
a separate directory for your Exe-Q-Ter files and then copy the necessary
FoxPro files into that directory before you begin the encryption process. This
will insure that only those files you wish to encrypt will in fact be
encrypted. Another example:
You have the following files: PROG.FXP, PROG.DBF, PROG.FPT. You wish to
encrypt the FXP and the DBF files, but not the memo file. In this case you
would simply make sure that you don't have the FPT file in the same directory
before invoking Exe-Krypter, or you may rename the file temporarily until
Exe-Krypter has completed its task.
The other side of this coin is this; you may want to actually encrypt a file
but you discover that for some reason Exe-Krypter didn't encrypt it. The
answer is that the file you wished to encrypt doesn't have the same title as
the program name you entered when creating the EXE. For instance, your main
program might have been called ADMENU.FXP, and the subordinate files might have
been named ADDRESS.DBF, ADDRESS.FPT, etc.
Again, EXE-KRYPTER WILL ONLY ENCRYPT FILES WITH THE SAME TITLE AS THE PROGRAM
NAME YOU SUPPLIED TO EXE-Q-TER!
I suppose in a future version I will allow a pick-list or point-and-shoot
method or some such concoction to give people more control over the encryption
selection, but for now the five file-types will have to suffice.
Now, we'll discuss the process of DECRYPTION in a bit of detail.. In order
to decrypt a file or files, you simply go back to Exe-Q-Ter and create an EXE
file with the same option you chose the first time. For instance, if you chose
the Password Only option, then only the APP, FXP, or FOX file was encrypted.
Therefore, you would go back to The Exe-Q-Ter and create another EXE with the
same name, choosing the Password Only option once again. If you've chosen the
Password Only option the first time, and then decide to DECRYPT the file, YOU
DEFINITELY DO NOT want to decrypt with the Full Encryption option. This will
decrypt your original program file alright, but it will also ENCRYPT your DBF
and FPT files if they happen to have the same title as your program. If you do
this, you will end up with an UNENCRYPTED program file and two ENCRYPTED
database files. If this ends up being the case and you don't have these files
backed up, you've got a BIG problem. Well, not really. You could wrangle
yourself out of it by manipulating the files and Exe-Q-Ter's access to them,
but it's certainly much simpler to just make sure you have back-ups. In fact,
the fastest way to decrypt your files is to copy your back-ups over them.
MAKE BACK-UPS BEFORE YOU ENCRYPT!!! You'll save yourself a lot of headaches
later on. Actually, the only reason we've discussed decryption is give you a
more thorough understanding of how Exe-Krypter works. The BEST way to decrypt
files is, as mentioned previously, to copy your back-up files over the
encrypted files.
TRY IT OUT! Go ahead and encrypt a file and then run it to make sure
everything works properly. Then, exit the program and load FoxPro/FoxBase by
itself. Then try to USE a DBF or DO program.
Let's recap:
1) Your EXE files MUST BE in the root FoxPro directory.
2) You MUST include an APP, FXP, or FOX file in the root FoxPro Directory.
3) Password Only encrypts the APP, FXP, or FOX file ONLY.
4) Full Encryption encrypts your APP, FXP, or FOX file in addition to the DBF
and FPT files as long as they have the SAME name and are in the SAME directory
as your Exe-Q-Ter EXE file, which MUST BE in the root FoxPro directory.
5) The best way to decrypt files is to copy your back-ups over the encrypted
files.
6) You may use EXE files created by Exe-Q-Ter within the purview of your
licensing status with Fox Software/Fox Holdings, Inc. It is unlawful to
distribute FoxPro applications unless you are a registered user of the RunTime
Version of FoxPro or the Distribution Kit.
FINAL COMMENTS
I have tested the program as thoroughly as I possibly can, however, that
doesn't mean that it is guaranteed to be free of bugs. If you find a bug, or
what you consider to be a bug, please let me know and I will address it
promptly. Exe-Q-Ter, Exe-Q-Ter Install, and Exe-Krypter were written entirley
in Borland C++ 2.0. There are no inline assembly calls. These programs were
created on a Zeos 386/33 with 4 meg of ems/xms total memory, however, all
programs were additionally tested on a 286/12 with 640K, no ems/xms and no disk
cache. And although everything worked like a champ, I must tell you that doing
the tests on the 286 was VERY, VERY boring.
I have implemented almost NO provisions for a monochrome monitor, although
the 286 was a monochrome and all in all, it looked okay. Well . . . it looked
like it could get by. If the program is successfull, I will make sure that the
registered version addresses the monochrome issue nicely.
SUGGESTIONS AND COMMENTS are more than welcome! I can be reached at the
address listed under the REGISTRATION heading or on CIS 75500,2370.
E. Scott Jones
September, 1991