RE: Securing the Database Structure

Hussain

   I think Joe and Dick both make excellent points. The key to understanding your product probably doesn't lie with your database structure. Most vendors do this well enough just by having obscurely named tables and columns. Most sites buy Oracle because they expect to use it on an enterprise scale. If your application will be used in a very closed manner (no reason for the customer DBA to maintain it), then perhaps you should consider providing an embedded database with your application. This would also save you and your customer a lot of money.

Dennis Williams
DBA, 80%OCP, 100% DBA
Lifetouch, Inc.
dwilliams_at_lifetouch.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Joe Testa [mailto:jtesta_at_dmc-it.com] Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 10:20 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L Subject: Re: Securing the Database Structure

I wouldnt be concerned with hiding the db structure, look at peopleslop(aka peoplesoft), the structure is there for all to see but how its implemented is all on program code, yes you can eventually figure out how its all related(took me 6 months on one of the versions but I figured out all of those PS tables and how there were inter-related).

joe

Hussain Ahmed Qadri wrote:

>Hi all,
>When you develop a software and you intend to sell it, are there any ways
of saving your database structure. Because obviously we don't give the fmb's, we only give the executable. But to run the software we need to have the database and there are ways by which the database structure can be seen, imp/exp is an example for one. I know by getting the database structure it would be very difficult to interpret the system, but structure is the core of the whole thing. So I wanted to ask what are the steps that are followed when you are packaging your software to sell and what are the security measures to protect your application, forms, database structures, etc.
>Plus any good method/utility to encrypt the contents of a batch file but at
the same time allowing it to be executed.
>
>Thanks and regards,
>
>Hussain
>
>
>
>

-- 
Joseph S Testa
Chief Technology Officer 
Data Management Consulting
p: 614-791-9000
f: 614-791-9001


-- 
Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.net
-- 
Author: Joe Testa
  INET: jtesta_at_dmc-it.com

Fat City Network Services    -- 858-538-5051 http://www.fatcity.com
San Diego, California        -- Mailing list and web hosting services
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message
to: ListGuru_at_fatcity.com (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in
the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L
(or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from).  You may