Saving a standalone

[Raymond E. Griffith]

>>Since they can't view the
>>scripts, this will keep most people from viewing the cards that contain the
>>data, and only the most determined hackers will be able to figure out what's
>>going on and get around it.
>>
>>Ken Ray
>>Sons of Thunder Software
>
>
>Bingo!  They are the very people I most wish to foil!  Perhaps I 
>should have worded my questions better :-)
>
>I never distributed a plain old stack in Hypercard, always 
>standalones and I had my own security system.  Obviously I am porting 
>the system to Metacard, but as some of the architecture is different, 
>I want a thorough understanding of the changes so that I can create 
>the best security system possible in the new environment.
>
>As a shareware author, hackers are a problem that you think about 
>BEFORE distribution.  I've heard many authors say their sales dropped 
>50% when a hack came out.  Other authors have different opinions.  I 
>err on the side of caution.
>
>Shari C
>-- 
>--Shareware Games for the Mac--
>http://www.gypsyware.com
>
Another way you can help is to set the visible of the data file to false. 

This would be enhanced by an "on resumestack" routine that sets the visible
of the stack to false whenever the stack is put on top. Imagine getting the
stack visible, then you click on the visible window -- and away it goes! Of
course, you could handle your stack simply by transferring information to
and from it in the background. 

You can also put in to its preopenstack handler a condition that if the
stack is not opened by your standalone that it is to quit MetaCard. 

Since stacks can be accessed by other stacks without necessarily having to
open them first, it might be a good idea to routinely encrypt your data in
your fields. If you would like to discuss encryption/decryption algorithms,
we could do that offlist. Let me know by private email if you would like to
do this. There are some simple, but effective techniques that can be
exploited. 

Yes, I have a sneaky mind. 

Cheers,

Raymond