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VENDINFO Software Distribution Information System: Conceptual Approach by H. Rudy Ramsey, Ph.D. Rams' Island Software Distributed for Public Comment, May 8, 1993 ABSTRACT This document describes the conceptual approach for a system called VENDINFO. VENDINFO is intended to convey software product information and distribution permissions from the author to distributors. A standard file format carries extensive informa- tion in a compressed, efficient form. The associated toolset will aid the author in constructing the record, and will allow the distributor to extract portions of the record, or make distribution decisions based on its content, in a highly auto- mated way. VENDINFO will allow automation of many operations now performed manually by BBS Sysops, disk vendors, etc. Although work on VENDINFO is proceeding, it's not too late to influence this project. This concept paper is being made public so that we can obtain feedback from the shareware industry. We want VENDINFO to satisfy YOUR needs! Comments can be made to Rudy Ramsey via any of the addresses below. Comments by electronic mail are preferred, but please use any convenient method. Copyright 1993 Rams' Island Software, Parker CO 80134 USA Rams' Island Software 7644 E. Lakecliff Way _______ Parker, CO 80134-5904 (USA) ____|__ | (R) --| | |------------------- Voice: (303) 841-2848 | ____|__ | Association of BBS: (303) 841-6269 | | |_| Shareware CompuServe: 76244,324 |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- FidoNet: 1:104/333 |___|___| MEMBER RIME: RAMSISLE Internet: 76244.324@CompuServe.Com VENDINFO Approach -1- 5/8/93 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author is indebted to Fred Hill for providing both motivation and ideas in the early phase of this effort. Thanks are also given to the following, for reviewing drafts of this paper and providing useful comments and encouragement: Jim Green, Richard Holler, Bob Ostrander, Eric Robichaud, Bob Schenot, and Bill Shor. Several other members of the Association of Shareware Professionals have offerred useful suggestions, though they may not have reviewed the paper itself. BACKGROUND The existing mechanisms for conveying information from shareware authors/publishers to shareware distributors are inefficient, highly labor-intensive, and often ineffective. There is a good deal of relevant information to be conveyed, including product names, versions, and descriptions; distribution permissions and restric- tions; preferred packaging methods and file names; and much more that will be discussed below. Failures to convey such information reliably and efficiently are costly to the entire industry, and especially to the authors. Such failures often result in products distributed in violation of distribution restrictions, with finan- cial loss to the author and legal exposure to the distributor. Other adverse consequences include failures to replace out-of-date products, products poorly described to the end user by dis- tributors, and very large expenditures of time and effort by the distributors. To the extent that there is any unified "system" associated with this information flow, it consists of some rather loose conventions regarding the VENDOR.DOC, and perhaps SYSOP.DOC files that are typically included in each shareware package. (There are also two conventions -- FILE_ID.DIZ and DESC.SDI -- for automatic conveyance of product descriptions, but the useful content of these files is very limited.) While most vendors intend well, and many are quite conscientious, the (necessarily manual) processing of this informa- tion is time-consuming, error-prone, and expensive. Many dis- tributors (especially BBS Sysops) are believed to largely ignore this information, at least partly because the effort required to attend to it is unacceptably large. The present proposal is an attempt to address these issues with sufficient breadth and care that a real solution will result. VENDINFO Approach -2- 5/8/93 GOALS 1. The primary goal of this effort is to automate the handling of information about distribution restrictions applicable to various software packages. We want to make it easy and painless for each software distributor to determine whether or not it is free to distribute a particular package in a particular way. We would like the distributor to be able to ask questions like these, and get exact answers: o I am a BBS Sysop charging users a monthly fee of $5.00 US, with no additional charges for downloads. I wish to dis- tribute PACKAGE.ZIP. Does its author allow this distribution? o I am the manager of a FidoNet-based file distribution network to which PACKAGE.ZIP has been submitted. I am considering publishing a CD-ROM of such files, intended for use only by Sysops in this network. May I place this package on the CD- ROM? o I am a mail-order disk vendor and an ASP Vendor Member, charging $6 per 360K diskette. May I distribute PACKAGE.ZIP? Do I need explicit permission, or are the necessary permis- sions already given in the author's distribution restric- tions? o I am a mail-order disk vendor and I already have the author's written permission to distribute this product by mail-order catalog. I am now negotiating deals for retail-store rack distribution and for a CD-ROM aimed at end users. May I include PACKAGE.ZIP in either or both of these ventures? o I am constructing a CD-ROM intended for sale to BBS Sysops. I want to be sure not only that I have permission to include this package, but also that the author allows unlimited distribution to users by BBSes, so that there will be no license violations when the CD-ROM is used. Are all the necessary conditions satisfied? For each such question, possible answers might be: o All necessary conditions have been satisfied, and the dis- tribution may be made without further contact. o The basic conditions match the author's allowed distribution methods, but written permission is still required. o This form of distribution is not allowed by the author under VENDINFO Approach -3- 5/8/93 any circumstances. o Such a distribution is allowable, provided you satisfy the following additional conditions... 2. The accomplishment of the primary goal implies the existence of a formal data structure within each participating product package, containing information about the product's distribution permissions and restrictions. (We'll call this structure VENDINFO.DIZ, just to allow concrete discussion.) This leads rather directly to our second goal, which is to use this structure to convey a good deal more than just distribution restrictions, including such things as product name and version, descriptions, author contact information, membership in trade associations, registration benefits, etc. There are two or three good reasons for expanding the effort to include such information. First, the existence of a formal author-to- distributor information structure is simply too good an opportunity to miss. Second, there's Ramsey's Law. About twenty years ago, the author played the tongue-in-cheek academic game of "find a useful truth that hasn't been claimed yet, and name it after yourself to amuse and impress your friends". Thus, the name of Ramsey's Law is probably subject to dispute. Few would argue about the correctness of the law itself, though. The relevant form of Ramsey's Law states that Every necessary participant in a system must have predominantly positive incentives for its use, or the system will fail. This "law" is related to psychology, economics, the "rational man", and various other familiar areas and ideas. It is easy to find an almost arbitrary number of real-world system failures, from the U.S. welfare system to computer-based logistics systems, which can be traced to a failure to understand and implement this idea. We wish to avoid such a failure here. In this case, it is necessary to motivate participation by both authors and (various classes of) distributors. Goal two is intended as a way of increasing the value of the system, for both authors and distributors, sufficiently that each class will be so rewarded as to participate quite voluntarily. By providing means of reliable and automatic extraction of these common types of product-related information, we can reduce the workload for all types of distributors, in some cases by very large amounts. 3. Goal three, which is also related to this "beef up the incen- tives for voluntary use" idea, is to provide automated tools that make use of the system easy for all classes of user. As you'll see VENDINFO Approach -4- 5/8/93 below, we imagine a specialized editor for use by authors in con- structing the VENDINFO structure, and a fairly "smart" tool for use in batch files to extract both decision information ("yes, I have permission to post this product on my BBS") and specific informa- tion fields (e.g., the author's mailing address). 4. Goal four is tentative, but valuable if we can find ways to accomplish it. This goal is to allow a subset of the VENDINFO information to be appended to executable programs, and used by the VENDINFO program or even by the executable program itself, to make decisions about the distributability of the program. Such a feature might, at the very least, allow the detection of illegally uploaded commercial software on a BBS, detection of inadvertent inclusion of registered-user-only utilities in a distribution package uploaded by a user, etc. 5. Goal five (back to incentives) is to provide, to all affected user classes, substantial access to both the design process and the resulting system, while maintaining a single point of management so its evolution can be controlled and any security features can be maintained. This goal has implications for both the design process (phased, with adequate opportunities for feedback) and the form of distribution of the result (primarily a mix of freeware and low- cost shareware). It is important that the file format standard be public. It is also important to insure that the entire system, including source code, reverts to some reliable institution if the authors cease to be able and willing to maintain it. 6. Goal six is a possible additional goal, not yet fully inves- tigated. This is the possibility of developing a centralized registry service, allowing authors to provide just the VENDINFO.DIZ files for their products, and allowing vendors to obtain and scan the resulting data collection for the purpose of updating their product offerrings. 7. Goal seven was not in the original draft of this paper, but the need for it was pointed out by the very first reviewer (a shareware vendor). Just as "cobbler's children have no shoes", it is easy to overlook the application of basic principles to oneself. If this system is to be successful in the long term, it is necessary that the developers/maintainers of the system have the appropriate incentives to continue their own effort (see Ramsey's Law, above). While this is primarily a labor of love, which started as a volun- teer effort to improve the shareware industry, it will fail if the overall scheme lacks a mechanism to make the necessary effort at least financially tolerable. Accordingly, we intend that the software tools have appropriate, relatively small registration fees, in order to motivate a serious, sustained, long-term ap- proach. It is very important to balance this goal against goal VENDINFO Approach -5- 5/8/93 five, and not allow any registration fees to be a serious disincen- tive to use of the VENDINFO system. Since this effort is motivated mainly by genuine altruism, the revenues required to motivate its continuation will not be as great as if this were a primarily profit-making activity. BASIC APPROACH The proposed approach begins with a standard for the encapsulation of product information in the form of a small, compressed file. The public standard will include sufficient information to allow anyone to construct tools for reading the information in the file, and for checking the file for errors (by CRC check, for example). This standard may exclude details of a second layer of security neces- sary to produce valid records. This exclusion is intended to allow users to have reasonable confidence that an author's VENDINFO information has not been altered. Ideally, this second layer would take the form of a public-key authentication mechanism, but ques- tions regarding the legal status of such mechanisms may render that impossible. As a minimum, this layer will include a private-key encryption of a CRC code, so that a central site can verify the authenticity of such records. The proposed approach includes two primary computer programs: o VENDEDIT -- a specialized editor for the distribution information (if you're familiar with it, think of Rob Rosenberger's ASP catalog entry editor). VENDEDIT may also import information from relevant sources into the distribu- tion data structure (e.g., from Rob's just-mentioned catalog database). This program will edit an intermediate form of the data, and will, on request, export the actual VENDINFO.DIZ file. If any information is written to an executable, this program will probably also perform that function. o VENDINFO -- a simple DOS program for evaluating particular distribution situations (returning different DOS error codes depending on the result), and for extracting in- dividual data fields from the data structure. VENDINFO can also scan any executables for distribution information. These two programs, along with the file format standard and all appropriate documentation, will be packaged as a separate, freely available product. They will not be included redundantly in product packages that make use of the VENDINFO system, though information about their acquisition should be so included. VENDINFO Approach -6- 5/8/93 A third program, VENDINFO PLUS, may be available only as a non- shareware version (NSV). It will allow management of a collection of VENDINFO files for multiple products, and will provide more convenient features for querying single or multiple product records, and for extracting information suitable for catalog or file-list construction. A fourth program, VENDVIEW, may be made available -- at no cost -- to end users, to allow them to view user-relevant portions of the VENDINFO record. The approach also includes one data file, VENDINFO.DIZ. This file is constructed (in accordance with the standard) using VENDEDIT, evaluated using VENDINFO, and is the only artifact of the VENDINFO system that needs to be included in individual product packages. There may also be an abbreviated form of this record for use in multipart packages, in the second and subsequent parts of the package. There may also be an abbreviated data record, similar in structure to VENDINFO.DIZ but much briefer, that can be made a part of any or all executable programs to "brand" them with program name/version, distribution restrictions, and perhaps author contact information. If so, such records will be appended by VENDEDIT or, optionally, output by VENDEDIT in source-includable form. Since the records will be encrypted (at least by a standard compression program) and CRC-validated, a layer of security is present. By doing this brand- ing before calculating the CRC of the executable for distribution purposes, the author's own run-time CRC check on the executable can provide an additional layer of security that encompasses the VEN- DINFO record, if desired. Programs that brand themselves as regis- tered should be able to make the appropriate change to this record as well, without causing failures of any CRC or validity checks (details of this mechanism have not yet been worked out). VENDINFO will probably also require a standard approach to package names. Likely legal forms of such names are AAAAAVVV.*, AAAAAAVV.*, and AAAAAVVP.*, where "A" is an alphabetic field representing the product name, "V" is a numeric field representing a version number, and "P" is an alphabetic character (in order, as "A", "B", "C", etc.) designating a particular part of a multipart package. As usual, the filename extension corresponds to the particular com- pression program, such as "ZIP", "LZH", "ARJ", etc. Thus, INCXT11A.ZIP is a compressed ZIP package containing part one of the multipart InContext product, version 1.1. VENDINFO Approach -7- 5/8/93 VENDINFO.DIZ FILE CONTENT Below is a first cut at the possible content of the VENDINFO data structure. The details of this structure almost surely need work, and comments will be most appreciated. It seemed appropriate to provide this level of detail both in order to solicit such comments and in order to fully convey the idea. When considering this file structure, it is important to note that it needs to allow an author to express any reasonable distribution restrictions, even if they're ill-advised. Otherwise, substantial numbers of authors might find the system unworkable, defeating its purpose. Thus, for example, it allows an author to prohibit BBS distribution. This does not imply that many authors would choose this option, and it is expected that the VENDEDIT program would advise against such choices, even while allowing their selection. It is also important to keep in mind the power that a specialist editor can provide. This looks like an intimidating information structure, but most authors won't even have to consider most of the information, because their "all" or "none" choices will render many of the more fine-grained choices irrelevant. With the exception of product descriptions -- which may be imported -- we would expect that authors could prepare a VENDINFO record in 5-10 minutes. We hope our non-US participants won't be offended, but it is neces- sary to express some prices in a common currency, because automated comparisons are necessary. For example, if the author allows shareware rack distribution so long as the price does not exceed a given amount, VENDINFO must be able to compare that amount with the distributor's proposed price. We have chosen US dollars for this purpose, and will try to provide appropriate assistance for conver- sions in VENDINFO, using author-provided conversion factors. In the file structure shown below, fields like the following repre- sent text fields of appropriate but limited length: Other registration incentives: ____ An asterisk (*) indicates information used to brand EXEs. Human-readable header (not compressed) Appropriate information automatically generated by VENDEDIT Brief information describing VENDEDIT record, telling how to obtain necessary tools, etc. Full product name and version, version date, etc. Required platform Brief product description, keywords, etc. More, to be determined Optionally, content of author-specified file NOTE: this is intended to allow total replacement of VENDINFO Approach -8- 5/8/93 VENDOR.DOC, since this header section is human- readable. It is hoped that this section will eventually become quite brief, containing only the most basic license information, and incorporating the following data record by reference. Thus, the entire record should wind up substantially shorter than most of today's VENDOR.DOC files. Any special distribution requirements, not covered by VENDINFO, would also appear here, and would be referenced by selection of "must see attached text for further information" in the relevant section below. Control-Z, to terminate readable section of VENDINFO.DIZ VENDINFO information (* some portions included in EXE) Identifying string VENDINFO record version number VENDINFO record date/time prepared VENDINFO record compressed length VENDINFO record uncompressed length VENDINFO record CRC Secondary security key Author/publisher information Author contact information Author personal name(s) \_____ at least one present* Author corporate name / Mailing address Orders phone FAX phone Queries phone* Electronic addresses CompuServe GENIE Prodigy Internet FidoNet RIME Others: ____ Credit cards accepted Author is member of ASP STAR ASAD ... Product information Product name Brief name (e.g., InContext)* Full name (e.g., InContext Work Environment Manager) VENDINFO Approach -9- 5/8/93 Version number* Version date* Reason for version: ____ Filename prefix for this entire package (e.g., INCXT11) Filename prefix(es of parts) of the package (e.g., INCXT11A INCXT11B) Filename prefix of this particular part (e.g., INCXT11A) Approximate compressed size of this part Prefixes of old versions replaced (e.g., INCXT10A INCXT10B) Technical support information Mailing address Voice phone FAX phone Support BBS name Support BBS phone Electronic addresses, forum support? CompuServe GENIE Prodigy Internet FidoNet RIME Required platform CPU Minimum, recommended (list, like ASP catalog editor) Descriptions (implies consent for catalog use) 1-line 2-line Short \ author chooses length, tools Intermediate -- extract longest description Long / that fits specification Product categories (ASP catalog categories?) Product keywords (possibly list-aided?) Allied NSV/Retail products, and registered-version sales by distributors (how represent this information?) Product pricing information Registration information, if shareware Minimum registerable package Registration price (allow non-US currency?) Registration incentives A - Additional data or subscriptions to data files B - BBS or other online support C - Commissions and/or contests D - Disk with latest version E - Expanded version or additional related programs F - Additional unrelated programs or merchandise VENDINFO Approach -10- 5/8/93 G - Lifetime moneyback guarantee (or ____ months?) H - Additional documents, hints, cheat codes, etc. I - Tutorials and/or sample data K - Elimination of regis. reminders, watermarks L - LAN or site license M - Printed manual N - Update and/or bug notices P - Periodical newsletter R - Complete retail package S - Source code T - Elimination of time limits or record limits U - Next major update free (or ____ months?) V - Voice telephone support Z - Registration license covers all future versions Text for any additional: ____ Maximum registerable package, if different Registration price Registration incentives Codes for each major category, as above Text for any additional: ____ Shipping and handling costs (probably multiple, perhaps min/max or geographic) Site licenses available? See attached text for applicable discounts? Dealer discounts available? See attached text for applicable discounts? Royalties for shareware distribution? NOTE: applicable only where explicitly selected, below. Minimum royalty, per copy: ____ Circumstances: ____ Maximum royalty, if different: ____ Circumstances: ____ Royalties negotiated in all cases? See attached text for further information? Royalty collection agent: ____ NOTE: included here as pure speculation. Does anyone else foresee this as an industry development? Distribution permissions and restrictions (*, abbreviated) Nature of Product "Commercial" software, not distributable as shareware? Registered version, not distributable as shareware? Shareware, subject to distribution restrictions? Shareware, freely distributable by all channels? Bannerware (free shareware), dist. by all channels? Public domain, freely distributable by all channels? Retired product, removal from distribution requested? Out-of-date checks, if applicable to all channels VENDINFO Approach -11- 5/8/93 Must contact author for new version after <date>? Distribution of this version prohibited after <date>? Distribution allowed only in the United States? Packaging Requirements Only the following internal package changes allowed: Package must be distributed without modification? All the original files must be included unchanged? BBS/vendor ads/help allowed in separate file? BBS/vendor ads/help may be appended to document files? Distributor may substitute own installation procedure? Additional requirements for replacing install:___ Must see attached text for further requirements? May be repackaged using other compression program? Additional requirements for repackaging:___ Must see attached text for further requirements? Other allowed changes: ____ May be packaged together with other, similar products? (as in disk vendor's category multidisk) Written permission required? Additional requirements for multi-packaging:___ Must see attached text for further requirements? May be packaged together with other, dissimilar products? (as in hardware dealer initial installation) Written permission required? Additional requirements for multi-packaging:___ Must see attached text for further requirements? Vendor upgrade policy: ____ NOTE: the remaining information is only obtained from the author, and included in the VENDINFO record, if the author picked the "Shareware, subject to distribution restrictions" catagory, above. Distribution to End User by BBS Such distribution is prohibited? Who may distribute: "Qualifying" distributors are: any BBS? any receiving package from author? any ASP BBS? any User Group BBS? But they are "disqualified" if: they charge users at all? subscription more than $____ per year? download fees > $____ per program? download fees > $____ per 100K bytes? (NOTE: this includes per-hour services, such as CompuServe; calculated per 100K VENDINFO Approach -12- 5/8/93 bytes to handle variable baud rates) Qualifiers must also have written permission? Others may distribute with written permission only? Others may not distribute? Other requirements Must contact author for new version after <date>? Distribution of this version prohibited after <date>? Additional requirements for such distribution: ____ Must see attached text for further requirements? Distribution to BBSes by File-Distribution Networks Such distribution is prohibited? Who may distribute: "Qualifying" distributors are: any such network? any receiving package from author? But they are "disqualified" if: distributing by CD-ROM? by other mass media (eg, diskette, tape)? Qualifiers must also have written permission? Others may distribute with written permission only? Others may not distribute? Other requirements Must contact author for new version after <date>? Distribution of this version prohibited after <date>? Additional requirements for such distribution: ____ Must see attached text for further requirements? Distribution to End User by Mail-Order Disk Vendor Such distribution is prohibited? Who may distribute: "Qualifying" distributors are: any mail-order vendor? any ASP mail-order vendor? any receiving package from author? But they are "disqualified" if: charging > $____ per program? charging > $____ per 360K diskette or equivalent? Qualifiers must also have written permission? Others may distribute with written permission only? Others may not distribute? Other requirements Royalty required? (see "pricing" for amounts) Must contact author for new version after <date>? Distribution of this version prohibited after <date>? Additional requirements for such distribution: ____ Must see attached text for further requirements? VENDINFO Approach -13- 5/8/93 Distribution to End User by CD-ROM Such distribution is prohibited? Who may distribute: "Qualifying" distributors are: any vendor? any ASP vendor member? any receiving package from author? But they are "disqualified" if: charging > $____ per CD-ROM? charging > $____ per program? charging > $____ per 360K diskette equivalent? Qualifiers must also have written permission? Others may distribute with written permission only? Others may not distribute? Other requirements Royalty required? (see "pricing" for amounts) Must contact author for new version after <date>? Distribution of this version prohibited after <date>? Additional requirements for such distribution: ____ Must see attached text for further requirements? Shareware Distribution to End User by Single-Site Rack NOTE: this category includes "racks", "bins", vending machines, etc., whenever the "distributor" is not an entity separate from the retailer, and only a single site is involved. Thus, it includes an independent computer store managing its own shareware bin, a user-group librarian, a flea-market vendor, etc. See below for distribution involving multiple sales sites. Such distribution is prohibited? Who may distribute: "Qualifying" distributors are: any vendor? any ASP vendor member? any non-profit user group? any receiving package from author? But they are "disqualified" if: charging > $____ per program? charging > $____ per 360K diskette or equivalent? Qualifiers must also have written permission? Others may distribute with written permission only? Others may not distribute? Other requirements Royalty required? (see "pricing" for amounts) Must contact author for new version after <date>? Distribution of this version prohibited after <date>? Additional requirements for such distribution: ____ Must see attached text for further requirements? VENDINFO Approach -14- 5/8/93 Shareware Distribution to Seller by Rackware Distributor NOTE: this category includes "racks", "bins", vending machines, etc., provided to multiple sites by a single distributor. It is assumed in this case that the distributor, and not the seller, is responsible for satisfying the author's distribution requirements, and for insuring that the seller does so. See above for distribution involving only a single sales site. Such distribution is prohibited? Who may distribute: "Qualifying" distributors are: any vendor? any ASP vendor member? any receiving package from author? But they are "disqualified" if: charging > $____ per program? charging > $____ per 360K diskette or equivalent? Qualifiers must also have written permission? Others may distribute with written permission only? Others may not distribute? Other requirements Royalty required? (see "pricing" for amounts) Must contact author for new version after <date>? Distribution of this version prohibited after <date>? Additional requirements for such distribution: ____ Must see attached text for further requirements? Shareware Distribution to End User in Book Enclosure Such distribution is prohibited? Who may distribute: "Qualifying" distributors are: any publisher? any receiving package from author? Qualifiers must also have written permission? Others may distribute with written permission only? Others may not distribute? Other requirements Royalty required? (see "pricing" for amounts) Must contact author for new version after <date>? Distribution of this version prohibited after <date>? Additional requirements for such distribution: ____ Must see attached text for further requirements? Distribution to End User by Subscription Service NOTE: this category includes "disk-of-the-month" type services. Such distribution is prohibited? Who may distribute: "Qualifying" distributors are: VENDINFO Approach -15- 5/8/93 any distributor? any ASP vendor member? any receiving package from author? But they are "disqualified" if: charging > $____ per month? charging > $____ per program? charging > $____ per 360K diskette or equivalent? Qualifiers must also have written permission? Others may distribute with written permission only? Others may not distribute? Other requirements Royalty required? (see "pricing" for amounts) Must contact author for new version after <date>? Distribution of this version prohibited after <date>? Additional requirements for such distribution: ____ Must see attached text for further requirements? Distribution to End User by Magazine Cover Disk Such distribution is prohibited? Who may distribute: "Qualifying" distributors are: any distributor? any receiving package from author? Qualifiers must also have written permission? Others may distribute with written permission only? Others may not distribute? Other requirements Royalty required? (see "pricing" for amounts) Must contact author for new version after <date>? Distribution of this version prohibited after <date>? Additional requirements for such distribution: ____ Must see attached text for further requirements? Distribution to End User by 1-900-type Service Such distribution is prohibited? Who may distribute: "Qualifying" distributors are: any service? any ASP BBS or vendor member? any receiving package from author? But they are "disqualified" if: charging > $____ per program? charging > $____ per 360K diskette or equivalent? Qualifiers must also have written permission? Others may distribute with written permission only? Others may not distribute? Other requirements Royalty required? (see "pricing" for amounts) Must contact author for new version after <date>? VENDINFO Approach -16- 5/8/93 Distribution of this version prohibited after <date>? Additional requirements for such distribution: ____ Must see attached text for further requirements? Product Installation by Distributor on End-User's Machine NOTE: this category is concerned with consultants, value-added resellers (VARs), hardware vendors, etc. who may wish to install products on equipment owned or purchased by the end user, as part of the services provided by the distributor for compensation. Such distribution is prohibited? Who may distribute: "Qualifying" distributors are: any such distributor? any whose paid service is only software consulting? any whose paid service involves hardware sale? any receiving package from author? Qualifiers must also have written permission? Others may distribute with written permission only? Others may not distribute? Other requirements Royalty required? (see "pricing" for amounts) Must contact author for new version after <date>? Distribution of this version prohibited after <date>? Additional requirements for such distribution: ____ Must see attached text for further requirements? Dealer discounts available if registered version used? Distribution by substantially different means Such distribution is prohibited? Who may distribute: "Qualifying" distributors are any distributor? any receiving package from author? Qualifiers must also have written permission? Others may distribute with written permission only? Others may not distribute? Other requirements Royalty required? (see "pricing" for amounts) Must contact author for new version after <date>? Distribution of this version prohibited after <date>? Additional requirements for such distribution: ____ Must see attached text for further requirements? Issues to be addressed Sublicensing (e.g., disk vendor franchising) How list allied NSV/retail products, registered-version sales by distributor, etc. Possible restrictions on repackaging from, say, 720K to VENDINFO Approach -17- 5/8/93 multiple 360K or reverse? The public standard will indicate details of these records, as well as a specification for appending the minimal "branding" information onto an executable. Provisions should be made in this scheme for "rebranding" an executable as registered, as a result of an author action by the executable itself. Such rebranding must not break any validation checks. It will also be appropriate to specify a format for an abbreviated record to be included in companion parts of a multipart package. The full VENDINFO record should appear only in the first part of the package. VENDEDIT PROGRAM This program is a specialized interactive editor used to generate VENDINFO.DIZ records. It will allow creation and editing of an intermediate record (perhaps VENDINFO.DB), and export (but not import) of the VENDINFO.DIZ record itself. This is a security feature intended to help users insure that validated VENDINFO.DIZ records, and EXE brands, have come from the original author. It is currently imagined that VENDEDIT will also perform EXE branding, if so directed, or will output the VENDINFO record in source- includable form. If you're familiar with Rob Rosenberger's ASP Catalog Entry editor, this program will probably be similar in general appearance. It will be implemented using the C++ version of the same TurboPower package Rob used in his program. One of the advantages of a specialist editor is its ability to perform error checking, and to require user verification of any questionable or important actions. It is expected that VENDEDIT will perform a good deal of this, in order to reduce errors, guide inexperienced authors, and increase the confidence of distributors in the VENDINFO data. As a (perhaps overdone) example, "You've indicated that all BBSes, regardless of affiliations, and presence or absence of user fees, are free to distribute this product without further permission or payment of royalties. That's fine, and is in fact what most shareware authors allow. Just to be sure, though, please verify that this was your intention." VENDINFO PROGRAM This is a command-line-driven program intended to assist the dis- tributor who is (perhaps automatically) reviewing a single product VENDINFO Approach -18- 5/8/93 at a time. It allows a distributor to fully characterize a proposed form of distribution via command-line switches. It processes the indicated VENDINFO.DIZ file (and, if desired, any executable programs in the package), and it returns an errorlevel representing conformance of the proposed distribution method with the author's distribution permissions. At least the following cases will be distinguished by different error levels: o Distribution is approved without further conditions or per- mission. o Proposed form of distribution satisfies author requirements, but written author permission is required, and the selected command-line switches did not indicate that such permission has been obtained. o Proposed form of distribution is allowed, provided the fol- lowing additional requirements are satisfied (listed to stdout). o Proposed form of distribution is allowed, provided the fol- lowing additional requirements are satisfied (listed to stdout). Written permission is also required, and the selected command-line switches did not indicate that such permission has been obtained. o Proposed form of distribution is prohibited for this product (list of violated author conditions is written to stdout). o Incomprehensible or internally inconsistent command-line flags were selected (errors listed to stdout or stderr). o The package contains an unvalidated (or unregistered) VEN- DINFO record and so cannot be "guaranteed" to come from the original author. A command-line switch can be used to sup- press this test. o (if selected) Package contains executable programs which are branded with VENDINFO restrictions that are violated by the proposed form of distribution (list of programs, violations written to stdout or stderr). In addition, VENDINFO will allow the user to specify individual information fields via command-line flags, and will extract the content of those fields to stdout, for use in product lists, catalogs, etc. At least the following outcomes will be distin- VENDINFO Approach -19- 5/8/93 guished by separate error levels: o Query successful, field content written to stdout. o Query unsuccessful, requested information not provided in record. o Query contained incomprehensible or inconsistent command-line flags (error list to stdout or stderr). One special case of information extraction deserves notice. To extract a description, the user will be able to specify a maximum description size in terms of lines and columns. Using word-wrap, VENDINFO will extract the longest author-provided description that satisfies the request. Consider, for example: VENDINFO -Xd10,45 > FILE_ID.DIZ VENDINFO -Xd1,60 > DESC.SDI Example batch files will also be provided, to illustrate how VEN- DINFO might be used for various purposes. No detailed examples will be provided here, since no command-line syntax has yet been specified for VENDINFO, but it's easy to imagine a batch file that does something like: if OK-for-proposed-form-of-disk-vendor-distribution if written-permission-required if compuserve-address present build script for compuserve permission request else if internet-address present build script for internet permission request else build complete permission-request letter place package in holding area else perform virus check using other tools copy VENDINFO record to collection area, by product name extracting information as desired, build reviewer sheet extracting information as desired, build catalog entry move package to reviews area else reject VENDINFO Approach -20- 5/8/93 VENDINFO PLUS PROGRAM This program, a non-shareware-version (NSV), will include all the capabilities of VENDINFO. It is intended to provide a more con- venient approach to the functionality of VENDINFO, but its more important distinguishing features will be its support for product searching, given a database of VENDINFO.DIZ files, such as that obtainable from the VENDINFO Product Registry. VENDINFO PLUS will be an interactive (rather than purely command- line driven) program. It will allow the user to specify proposed distribution methods via interactive query construction, and will be capable of scanning multiple VENDINFO.DIZ files for products satisfying the conditions of the query. It may allow the construc- tion of scripts to be used for extracting desired information from a collection of VENDINFO records in a form appropriate for produc- tion of catalogs or file lists. VENDINFO PLUS may allow the user to construct VENDINFO files for use in this process, so that the distributor could maintain a list of *all* products in VENDINFO form, even though the VENDINFO files were not provided by the author. Such VENDINFO files would contain only information deemed relevant by the distributor, and be so constructed that they would fail author validity tests if actually distributed with a product, but would otherwise work satisfactorily with VENDINFO and VENDINFO PLUS. This capability is intended to provide an easy migration path to fully automated catalog construc- tion based on VENDINFO records. VENDVIEW PROGRAM This program, which is under consideration, would be provided at no cost. It would be targeted mainly at users, and would allow them to view selected, user-relevant portions of the VENDINFO.DIZ record, as well as the human-readable text at the beginning of the record. This might allow the VENDINFO record to serve some of the functions of today's READ-ME files, though the human-readable portion of VENDINFO.DIZ may already be enough. Again, this program is tenta- tive. PRODUCT REGISTRY The Product Registry is a proposed centralized database of VENDINFO.DIZ files (actually named to match the preferred product filenames, as INCX110.DIZ). It will be maintained on a BBS (already in existence). Mechanisms will be provided for author submission of their VENDINFO.DIZ files by E-mail, BBS file transfer, upload, and VENDINFO Approach -21- 5/8/93 (with a small handling fee) by ordinary mail on diskette. Record validation will be performed automatically for all submitted records. Interested distributors may access the BBS to download individual files, monthly update files, or the complete, current database. Alternatively (or in addition), distributors may sub- scribe to a monthly update service which provides a complete, current database each month, on diskette. In addition, individual reports will be produced on request, for a fee, by searching the entire database for products whose distribution permissions (and perhaps other attributes) match a specified query. It is possible that a mechanism will be developed to allow sub- scribing distributors to perform on-line queries while logged into the Product Registry BBS. VENDINFO SOFTWARE DEVELOPER LIBRARY To assist software developers (especially developers of BBSes and related utilities) who may wish to reliably read the contents of VENDINFO.DIZ files, the relevant functions will be packaged as a library and made available for a relatively small fee. It is im- agined that source code will be provided as well, though there is one security issue to be resolved. This library will be available at least in C++ form, and possibly in other forms, as well. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? This concept document was released for public comment on May 8, 1993. Comments will be solicited especially through June 30, 1993. Development of the VENDINFO toolset is already underway, and prototype tools should be available for demonstration at the Summer Shareware Seminar in Indianapolis, June 18-20. We hope to issue a public file format standard in July. We will request endorsement of the standard by the relevant industry trade groups. We hope to have the basic toolset in beta test by August and ONEB- BSCON, and to release them shortly thereafter. VENDINFO Approach -22- 5/8/93