Caphyon, the maker of Advanced Installer, provides code samples and documentation on licensing integration for C++ and C# applications. To use this feature, the application must make a call into an Advanced Installer library and handle its return code.

The library is a gatekeeper to the rest of the application, effectively deciding whether or not the application is allowed to run. It determines the software’s trial status and displays a registration dialog, terminates the application, or returns a code, accordingly. The Java implementation of this feature works a little differently.

For those using the Java Launcher, integrating the licensing feature is easy: simply add the Java Product on the Licensing Options tab. But, what about those who don’t use Java Launcher? Or those that wish to enable users to register from within the application?

There is no official documentation which answers these questions, but based on a discussion following a request for help I posted on the Advanced Installer forums, I was able integrate AI’s licensing feature into my Java application without using the Java Launcher.

My solution mirrors the C++ implementation and is remarkably simple. Thanks to Cosmin, a member of the Advanced Installer support team, for sending me in the right direction.

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public class LicenseChecker {
    private static final String LIBRARY_KEY = "Replace this String with the Trialware/Registration Library Key";
 
    public static void main(String args[]) {
        int i = TrialLibrary.INSTANCE.ReadSettingsStr(LIBRARY_KEY, null);
        switch (i) { //http://www.advancedinstaller.com/user-guide/qa-trial-using.html
        case 0:
            System.out.println("Thank you for registering this program.");
            break;
        case 2:
            System.out.println("Thank you for trying this program.");
            break;
        default:
            System.exit(i);
        }
        System.out.println("Program will continue.");
        // ...
    }
 
    interface TrialLibrary extends Library {
        final TrialLibrary INSTANCE = (TrialLibrary) Native.loadLibrary("Trial", TrialLibrary.class); // loads Trial.dll
        int ReadSettingsStr(String keyCode, HWND hwnd);
        int DisplayRegistrationStr(String keyCode, HWND hwnd);
    }
}

Note: The above uses Java Native Access (JNA) to invoke the Advanced Installer library.

At work, we use Advanced Installer to create easy-to-use Windows installers for internal and external customers. I wrote a short Ant script for building the installer to save time and minimize mistakes.

If you use Advanced Installer with your Java projects, be sure to read my post on using the Advanced Installer licensing feature within a Java application.

Here is a partial Ant script for executing Advanced Installer builds. It’s not fancy, but it gets the job done. Notice the script has two parts — one for setting the version number of the product and another for doing the actual build.

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<property name="installer.command" location="C:/Caphyon/Advanced Installer/AdvancedInstaller.com"/>
<property name="filename" location="C:/build/product.aip"/>
 
<exec executable="${installer.command}" failonerror="yes">
    <arg value="/edit"/>
    <arg value="${filename}"/>
    <arg value="/SetVersion"/>
    <arg value="${installerVersion}"/>
</exec>
 
<exec executable="${installer.command}" failonerror="yes">
    <arg value="/build"/>
    <arg value="${filename}"/>
</exec>

In the next snippet, which should be executed first, I’ve made the version number dynamic based on the current time, day, and month (but not year)! (The pattern may seem a little odd; it conforms to what Windows Installer expects.) Of course, this is completely optional and can be overridden using Ant command-line properties.

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<tstamp>
    <format property="installerVersion" pattern="MM.dd.HHmm"/>
</tstamp>

When this script is combined with continuous integration, we have a repeatable, consistent, fully automated build of our software and its installer. And that rocks.