Question

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Where and how should I save license related information?

I create a license file for my application in order to distribute to users. But I have no idea where should I store the license file in a user computer.

Any suggestion?
thanks

Answer 1

If the licensing is per user, store it in the %APPDATA% directory. If it is a per computer license, store it in the %PROGRAMDATA% directory or the program’s installation directory.

%APPDATA% is a shell variable (you can view them by typing set in a command window) that points the directory where the current user’s application data should be stored. It is often something like C:\Users\MyUser\AppData\Roaming. When specifying a path for opening a file, it is possible to use the %APPDATA% variable directly, e.g. %APPDATA%\MyCompany\LicenseFile.dat. As @cdhowie points out in his comment, it is better to use the .NET Environment.GetFolderPath() function than using the environment variables.

%PROGRAMDATA% works the same way, but maps to a directory that is common for all users on the system.