We use InstallShield extensively for all installations, and it allows a GUID
of the application, along with a version number, etc. that is a part of the
file resources being installed, to be policed. We have been including
hundreds of web pages, etc. with our software for years, and because of
InstallShield, we have been able to keep support costs very low, etc. for
this. Consequently its become a critical part of our business model.

PHP files, under this arrangement, can be set to be updated if their version
changes, or if the file dates are newer in the installer than the ones on
disk. The only problem typically occurs when the PHP code is a part of the
HTML file, and the client has decided to change the look & feel of the page
to make it fit in with their own web styles. In those cases, we can't
warrant the PHP code.

Also we are considering using some encryption software (e.g. Zend sell one -
not cheap), that will encrypt the PHP code and its decrypted on the web
server so that the client doesn't gain access to our source however we are
yet to complete the exploration of these options.

For us, we have everything working great and I want to make sure that the
move to Firebird has all of the support issues covered before we roll out
the updates.

Myles

===========================
Myles Wakeham
Director of Engineering
Tech Solutions Inc.
Scottsdale, Arizona USA
Phone (480) 451-7440
Web: www.techsol.org

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lester Caine [mailto:lester@...]
> Sent: Monday, August 02, 2004 9:23 AM
> To: firebird-support@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [firebird-support] Looking for some suggestions...Vertical
> market apps
>
> Myles Wakeham wrote:
>
> > OK, but if your customer lost all the data in the database (including
> these
> > records), how would you ever know what to upgrade from again? I guess
> I'm
> > kinda answering my own question here - put this information somewhere
> > outside of the database, but be sure to include a copy of it somewhere.
> I
> > guess this could be stored redundantly with the application (ie. 'Last
> DB
> > Version used' or something like that).
>
> All our applications have always had the version details in the file
> name so there is no doubt which version is running. ( Don't you hate
> downloading setup.exe and not knowing what version it is, or worse still
> forgetting when you downloaded it ;) )
>
> The new web based stuff IS becoming a problem. It's too easy to fix a
> PHP file and not propagate that change to the master copies. I've had to
> get CVS working to manage things where a simple zip of the project
> folder worked fine with Builder.
>
> --
> Lester Caine
> -----------------------------
> L.S.Caine Electronic Services
>
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