[AccessD] Hiding Back End Design

jwcolby jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Wed Jun 23 15:59:05 CDT 2004


>As long as people are trying to make a buck, it will be virtually
impossible to get them to do stuff simply for the  betterment of society.

See the framework article series on my web site.

;-)

John W. Colby 
www.ColbyConsulting.com

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of DWUTKA at marlow.com
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2004 1:30 PM
To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com
Subject: RE: [AccessD] Hiding Back End Design


'Open source' should pervade into all areas of the information age.  Music,
programming, videos, etc.  Unfortunately it will take a complete change in
humanity's driving force....the accumulation of wealth.  As long as people
are trying to make a buck, it will be virtually impossible to get them to do
stuff simply for the betterment of society.

Drew

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com]On Behalf Of Arthur Fuller
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2004 10:15 AM
To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
Subject: RE: [AccessD] Hiding Back End Design


I'm in late on this thread, but it seems to me that this requirement for a
hidden database design should have been in the project specs right from the
start, and that its presence there should have signalled a warning that
Access was the wrong database for this job, and the wrong front end too.
Something like VB with a RAIMA back end would IMO have been a wiser choice.
Of course, if this requirement were not in the project specs from the
beginning, who would know? This is one of those classic examples of how
major changes to the specs introduced late in the game cost 20 times as much
as they would have if introduced early.

On the subject of open-source, way back when in the days of Clipper I had a
company that sold 6 libraries for Clipper developers. We included all the
source code to each of them. Most of the code was in Clipper, but some was
in C and some in assembly language. No doubt some people did things with it
that were not covered in the license, but on the other hand a small cadre of
"believers" formed around us, and some of them submitted significant
enhancements to our original code. We credited them in the comments on the
relevant source files and mentioned them in the documentation, and sent them
an Artful sweatshirt. That was payment enough for them.

This is hardly the Linux open-source model, I realize. I wish that the
open-source model would "infect" the Windows world more than it has so far.
Access developers are among the most willing to share, I find, but there is
lots of VB and C and C++ code out there too. Most of the time these free
offerings are components or gussied-up controls and so on. It would be cool,
IMO, if it went up a notch, to the application level. For example, apps
vaguely like the application wizard can create in Access. Unfortunately,
most of these wiz-generated demo-apps don't reflect good design principles,
IMO.

While on this subject, does anyone know how to interface with this
wiz-generator? I.e., suppose I want to create (let's keep it simple for the
discussion) a General Ledger app with a Chart of Accounts, General Journals
etc., can I do so in such a way that the wizard will detect its presence and
automatically add it to the list of apps you can generate?

If memory serves, old versions of this wizard offered to populate the
resulting app with sample data, but new versions don't. Anyone have any idea
why this feature was dropped?

Arthur

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of ACTEBS
Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 10:20 PM
To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
Subject: RE: [AccessD] Hiding Back End Design


Gustav,

"Personally, I think the time for proprietary systems has passed - customers
need systems they can drag data from to be used elsewhere."

Never a truer word said. 

With the decision by the Munich government to migrate to Linux, France
looking to do the same and Brazil on the verge, it seems as though the end
is nigh for the proprietary software/business model. 

Hmmm, sorry I went a bit off topic there..... ; )

Rocky - if a cracker wants to crack your software he will. There are teams
of these people out there who see it as a challenge. Why waste your time?  

Vlad

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Gustav Brock
Sent: Tuesday, 22 June 2004 4:02 AM
To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
Subject: Re: [AccessD] Hiding Back End Design


Hi Rocky

No, you cannot open or attach tables from the BE without the correct
password. But as stated from several already, you can google up at least
three password crackers.

Next step would be Access security as mentioned by Drew, and the next would
be to apply field encryption which is a major step.

By why not turn it completely around: make the design open and documented as
"this is the way to build a database for an application like this"? Then you
are the master and everyone else is the replicant - following the "Rocky"
standard. Personally, I think the time for proprietary systems has passed -
customers need systems they can drag data from to be used elsewhere.

Also, I really doubt someone can figure out the intelligence of your app
just by watching the table design. One can watch what is going on when data
have been entered or updated but not _how_, and if someone can figure it
out, he will already know how to build a similar app without knowing your
table design.

/gustav


> If I'm reading the help file correctly, encryption does not hide the 
> objects, just the data, yes?  I need to hide the design of the back 
> end. Password protection is too weak.  I'll be up against 
> professionals.

> Rocky

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gustav Brock" <gustav at cactus.dk>
> To: "Access Developers discussion and problem solving"
> <accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
> Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 9:41 AM
> Subject: Re: [AccessD] Hiding Back End Design


>> Hi Rocky
>>
>> You can encrypt the database. Not bulletproof, of course, but keeps 
>> the average user away.
>>
>> /gustav
>>
>> > Is there a way to easily hide the back end design?  My distributor 
>> > in
> Taiwan feels that if the back end design is not hidden then the 
> product
can
> be easily knocked off.

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