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Getting US Standard date value?

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    Getting US Standard date value?

    I am looking for an xbasic way to get the "real" current date value. That is to say, NOT THE SYSTEM DATE but the real date.

    I am trying to negate the possibility of the user changing the system date with the intent of back dating to negate an expiration date.

    Every command I have seen is influenced by the system settings. Anyone know of a date function that is not influenced by the system date settings?

    Thanks,

    Gene

    #2
    Re: Getting US Standard date value?

    I am trying to negate the possibility of the user changing the system date with the intent of back dating to negate an expiration date.
    i am not an expert in these, but here is some food for thought.
    1) when the system is installed you could create a start_table with the installation date and total valid days. installation date will be obvious and total number of days is an integer number of days from the installation date.
    then create a script that calculates the expiration date like
    expiration_date = jtodate(jdate(installation_date) + total_valid_days)
    if expiration_date <> date() then
    msgbox("ALERT", "System date is wrong, software is deactivated, call me right away!")
    deactivate
    end if.
    2) this will require internet connection.
    create a simple a5w page in your computer or a licensing computer and the page only contains this code
    <%a5
    ?date()
    %>
    call it a5_date.a5w publish it to be available from outside and you can host it in your computer
    and then in the customer computer create a call to this page like
    dim cP as p
    cP = http_get(your_computer:port/directory/a5_date.a5w")
    dim current_date as d
    current_date = cP.body.
    that will give you the current date.
    then you can do action for licensing.

    these seems so convoluted way, as far as i know there is no way to beat the system clock. even going back to epoch depends on the system clock as far as i can tell.

    edit: on second thought, the first method also is dependent on system clock and not desirable for the question on hand.
    there was an article in learn alpha.com about licensing method by someone other than peter. if i find the link i will post it here later. may be that will help.
    Last edited by GGandhi; 04-08-2017, 09:12 AM.
    thanks for reading

    gandhi

    version 11 3381 - 4096
    mysql backend
    http://www.alphawebprogramming.blogspot.com
    [email protected]
    Skype:[email protected]
    1 914 924 5171

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Getting US Standard date value?

      Thanks for trying Gandhi but as you noted, still relying on the system clock. There is a national time standard available but I do not know how to get that information into Alpha using xbasic. That's the challenge I am putting out there in "creative land"....

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Getting US Standard date value?

        you could use my second suggestion, if you like.
        just like calling any service, but your own service.
        thanks for reading

        gandhi

        version 11 3381 - 4096
        mysql backend
        http://www.alphawebprogramming.blogspot.com
        [email protected]
        Skype:[email protected]
        1 914 924 5171

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Getting US Standard date value?

          The attachment resets the system date/time via internet server. You might be able to modify it to just get the internet data/time.

          reset system time.txt
          There can be only one.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Getting US Standard date value?

            I also replied Gene, but my entry seems to have been deleted.
            The essence of the comment was that I would not worry too much, as changing the system date causes a whole lot of other issues with virus checkers, SSL's and reporting.
            Like Govindan, I sort of suggested a table to count the number of start up's of the application. You could also set a free monthly update procedure so each month a new licence key would be sent. Then you could see who wasn't renewing.
            As Stan pointed out ( at least I think he did ) be wary of changing system dates on someone else's machine. Capture the date only if possible.
            See our Hybrid Option here;
            https://hybridapps.example-software.com/


            Apologies to anyone I haven't managed to upset yet.
            You are held in a queue and I will get to you soon.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Getting US Standard date value?

              INET::TimeCheck::NTPTime will give you the current date and time based on pool.ntp.org. There is also INET::TimeCheck::NISTTime which does the same thing using NIST servers, but their service is much less reliable so it sometimes errors out.

              Lenny Forziati
              Vice President, Internet Products and Technical Services
              Alpha Software Corporation

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Getting US Standard date value?

                For the :: challenged, would you expand on how to implement INET::TimeCheck::NTPTime on the desktop?
                There can be only one.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Getting US Standard date value?

                  Thanks for that Stan. I am one of the "challenged".
                  I must presume that anyone changing the system date will also figure out that an I/net connection will probably need to be disabled, and if they did that, the application could be prevented from launching?
                  See our Hybrid Option here;
                  https://hybridapps.example-software.com/


                  Apologies to anyone I haven't managed to upset yet.
                  You are held in a queue and I will get to you soon.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Getting US Standard date value?

                    From the Interactive Window:

                    Code:
                    ?INET::TimeCheck::NTPTime
                    = 04/11/2017 12:37:50 84 pm
                    But I just noticed this question is in the V11 area, and this is Alpha Anywhere functionality. I'm sorry for the confusion.

                    Lenny Forziati
                    Vice President, Internet Products and Technical Services
                    Alpha Software Corporation

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Getting US Standard date value?

                      Well that dampened the fireworks, for sure!
                      See our Hybrid Option here;
                      https://hybridapps.example-software.com/


                      Apologies to anyone I haven't managed to upset yet.
                      You are held in a queue and I will get to you soon.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Getting US Standard date value?

                        Thanks, Lenny.

                        Still good to know for AA use and something to explore.
                        There can be only one.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Getting US Standard date value?

                          Originally posted by Lenny Forziati View Post
                          From the Interactive Window:

                          Code:
                          ?INET::TimeCheck::NTPTime
                          = 04/11/2017 12:37:50 84 pm
                          But I just noticed this question is in the V11 area, and this is Alpha Anywhere functionality. I'm sorry for the confusion.

                          I am using Alpha Anywhere V3.11 and I get "ERROR: Property not found" So it was added sometime after that.
                          Last edited by turbojack; 04-11-2017, 03:54 PM. Reason: Updated full version name

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Getting US Standard date value?

                            I believe Lenny pointed out............


                            this is Alpha Anywhere functionality
                            As in A5V12.
                            There can be only one.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Getting US Standard date value?

                              Lenny, This is a really nice feature! Thanks.

                              Is this an undocumented feature that will not be removed anytime soon? I cannot find it in the online help documentation.

                              Thanks again,
                              Scott

                              Comment

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