How to Secure an EA

Hope I can figure this one out.

Several things I would like to get to work.

First would like to know if there is a way to get an EA to stop working after a set time. For example 15 days or 30 days.


Better still is there a way to get an EA to talk to a registration txt file on a remote server and if the EA registration number is not in the remote file it will not work.

I have an EA that I would like to lease out, not sell and need a way to restrict it from being used if the lease payment is not made on time.

The demo would simply time out after the 15 day or 30 day period.

The timeout is pretty easy to do. If current datetime >= expiry datetime, do nothing.

The server file is more complex, but there's an additional consideration. MetaTrader is designed to function in a sandbox, it can't read to or write from files outside of the metatrader directory, etc. To accomplish what you're looking to do, you need to make use of a dll. Once you start hooking into dlls, there's no limit on what you can do to the client machine. You'll probably scare off customers trying to explain why your EA needs that type of functionality.

Thank you very much for the quick response here.

Using this now to time out the EA

int start()
{
string expire_date = "2006.31.06"; //<-- hard coded datetime
datetime e_d = StrToTime(expire_date);

if (CurTime() >= e_d)
{
Alert ("The trial version has been expired!");
return(0);
}
// your normal code!
return(0);
}


Also I do understand the problem with the useage of a dll however these are my clients and have been for more than a year now. We are looking at them using my EA to manage their own accounts instead of me doing it from here.

Ok lets really make this a difficult project.



The EA is going to be used by my current clients so that they can manage their account instead of me doing it from here.

The EA is not all that complicated but here is what I really need.

The EA reads a txt file from the clients server located in their /file directory.

I need to put an include in the EA for a verify_account.mgh and an update.mgh

The verify_account.mgh will call a dll function that will call to my server and read a text file that will have their registration number in it. If the number is there the EA will work , if not then it will not,

I understand the law suit thing so the EA will always work until Friday and will close all trades on Friday evening. All client have signed an agreement that all trades are exited on Friday closing so I do not see an issue here.

When the client turns on their machine on Sunday to get ready for the next weeks trades the EA or dill will call to my server and verify that they are paid as agreed. If so then the EA will call to my server using the update.mgh and whatever dll is required and it will download an updated txt file and place it on there machine in the /file directory overwriting the old file. Would be better still if the update.mgh did not have to download a txt file at all but would read the file located on my server and give the information to the EA live..

So what we have here is paid as agreed then file is updated and EA works. DO not pay and no update and EA gives a Alert that they should call support or something like that.

Anyone ready to try for this one.

Yes there will be a fully working Demo that has made 600 -1000 pips plus a month consistantly since the beginning of the year.

Bernard

Again thank you for the interest here and your input.