You probably ought to post some more information like the version of PerlApp that was used. Perhaps also the encoded script. Make a judgement call on whether it's too big to post or not and be sure to encode it somehow. A normal hex-encoding might be nice I suppose. Or just a first K maybe.

Seeking Green geeks in Minnesota

you may not modify, reverse engineer, decompile, decrypt, extract or otherwise disassemble the Software.

MJD says you can't just make shit up and expect the computer to know what you mean, retardo! ** The Third rule of perl club is a statement of fact: pod is sexy.

Note that "Software" there is defined as "ActiveState Perl Dev Kit, the License Key (as hereinafter defined) and other applicable software". I do not think that includes the output of the program -- though, arguably, it may be "other applicable software", esp as those are later explicitly covered under "works". In any case, there's an old Roman saying "where there are no police, there are no laws" (presumably, it sounds better in Latin). You're probably fine, on a legal basis.

---

Warning: Unless otherwise stated, code is untested. Do not use without understanding. Code is posted in the hopes it is useful, but without warranty. All copyrights are relinquished into the public domain unless otherwise stated. I am not an angel. I am capable of error, and err on a fairly regular basis. If I made a mistake, please let me know (such as by replying to this node).

The liscencing issue was covered in another post in regards to the previous link i posted and it was determined that the EULA or applicable federal laws did not apply to a person decompiling a perlapp program for the sole purpose of recovering a program legitamtly written by that person. I am not trying to pirate or steal anything here, i am merely wanting to recover my own intellectual property.

The total encoded file would be to big to post here, but i would be happy to email any information to anyone who would help.

Here is the first 100 lines of the encoded program:

73,76,28,16,28,12,71,89,84,2,
253,69,94,94,85,68,99,46,14,25,
8,24,1,54,6,79,17,29,69,118,
101,76,79,3,96,76,81,83,13,96,
76,83,90,81,74,68,75,87,3,138,
3,17,19,19,19,3,98,64,87,74,
85,70,112,87,66,87,70,3,119,76,
76,79,3,96,76,81,83,13,96,76,
83,90,81,74,109,75,87,0,137,116,
90,89,67,16,102,40,15,17,73,23,
11,55,84,0,24,9,0,50,6,3,
9,83,99,11,23,6,75,47,0,0,
28,22,73,1,7,6,0,253,69,94,
94,85,68,0,97,67,87,74,124,70,
112,84,65,84,69,0,116,79,79,76,
0,0,0,31,29,79,45,11,21,11,
82,8,21,13,84,84,193,69,18,89,
94,68,69,45,15,17,10,2,16,50,
24,65,84,69,0,116,79,79,76,0,
96,76,120,83,13,99,79,80,89,82,
73,71,72,84,112,219,79,66,85,66,
68,89,97,12,18,73,36,10,49,17,
19,0,69,104,122,79,43,13,86,42,
28,82,57,103,99,79,80,89,82,73,
71,72,84,0,138,3,56,19,19,16,
0,97,67,84,73,86,69,115,84,65,
84,69,0,116,43,14,24,69,121,79,
56,5,64,38,79,66,78,94,73,85,
88,68,17,137,0,18,16,16,16,0,
97,67,84,73,86,69,115,84,66,87,
111,3,119,79,79,76,0,22,1,19,
5,90,43,0,2,16,8,12,3,72,
1,83,204,0,93,86,16,68,72,40,
16,84,10,25,1,54,84,8,7,69,
83,32,29,6,15,75,47,22,82,80,
14,99,76,83,115,81,74,71,72,84,
0,207,79,64,82,89,84,68,36,13,
84,30,31,17,59,27,20,0,69,84,
60,10,79,9,88,51,3,27,19,71,
55,79,0,28,0,4,14,27,7,73,
198,78,18,16,16,16,3,98,105,87,
74,86,69,115,84,65,84,69,79,50,
79,27,4,69,99,14,20,31,92,38,
79,29,28,28,29,14,7,26,0,192,
78,70,85,92,92,69,34,23,1,8,
26,69,115,84,65,84,69,0,116,79,
76,79,42,96,76,82,80,14,99,79,
80,89,82,73,71,72,84,0,137,0,
18,16,16,64,82,46,19,17,27,2,
28,115,27,22,26,0,82,122,79,79,
76,0,99,79,82,80,14,99,79,80,
89,82,73,71,75,87,42,138,3,18,
16,16,16,0,97,67,84,73,86,69,
115,32,4,24,11,69,32,79,44,3,
77,46,14,28,20,75,49,79,38,89,
64,71,87,70,71,0,137,0,18,16,
16,16,0,97,67,84,73,86,70,112,
126,66,87,70,3,119,76,76,79,3,
96,76,81,83,13,96,76,83,90,81,
74,68,75,87,3,138,3,17,19,19,
19,3,98,64,87,74,85,70,112,87,
66,87,70,3,119,76,76,79,3,96,
76,81,83,13,73,101,83,93,2,8,
21,9,25,83,242,16,111,16,13,16,
114,32,13,16,6,27,69,18,23,2,
17,22,83,116,57,14,30,73,34,13,
30,21,36,96,75,0,24,0,8,10,
27,47,17,244,0,15,16,89,94,73,
97,5,29,5,19,69,61,21,12,17,
111,3,112,31,14,30,65,46,28,41,
66,115,99,82,80,10,23,5,2,11,
0,69,205,0,80,89,68,93,65,49,
67,26,8,27,0,89,87,69,4,4,
82,53,2,28,55,19,30,79,79,80,
91,45,28,21,21,23,10,19,13,16,
0,203,73,70,93,81,64,0,47,2,
25,12,124,70,119,4,0,6,4,77,
39,52,91,49,0,126,79,2,2,65,
36,29,17,20,82,0,4,7,26,0,
199,65,95,85,58,19,4,49,2,6,
8,27,22,8,65,60,84,88,0,36,
29,0,11,82,34,2,82,19,91,48,
0,2,89,28,8,10,13,126,3,141,
80,83,66,81,93,83,26,85,41,73,
75,69,32,0,0,6,17,0,57,6,
1,5,77,42,21,23,20,14,37,3,
17,30,82,6,9,71,27,70,207,0,
3,31,0,58,3,101,19,21,27,23,
8,32,47,86,41,69,29,116,0,31,
24,73,44,1,1,80,93,38,12,4,
16,29,7,71,6,21,77,204,42,17,
20,64,81,82,32,14,7,50,78,56,
115,73,65,16,0,86,61,12,10,31,
0,48,10,17,4,71,44,1,80,23,
19,4,2,98,87,4,217,65,64,81,
93,67,123,120,62,84,84,86,55,50,
26,5,27,8,0,21,12,12,9,83,
48,79,36,17,92,42,14,18,21,23,
99,68,76,4,65,219,65,95,67,107,
1,16,28,67,73,73,36,4,61,16,
[download]

Here is a 'control file that i made. The control file consists of:

#!"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@
#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`
#abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}~
#!"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@
#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`
#abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}~
#!"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@
#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`
#abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}~
print "Show me the encoding!\n";
[download]

I looked at this code before running it through PerlApp and it looks like this:

35,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,
42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,
52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,
62,63,64,13,10,35,65,66,67,68,
69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,
79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,
89,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,13,10,
35,97,98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105,
106,107,108,109,110,111,112,113,114,115,
116,117,118,119,120,121,122,123,124,125,
126,13,10,35,33,34,35,36,37,38,
39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,
49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,
59,60,61,62,63,64,13,10,35,65,
66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,
76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83,84,85,
86,87,88,89,90,91,92,93,94,95,
96,13,10,35,97,98,99,100,101,102,
103,104,105,106,107,108,109,110,111,112,
113,114,115,116,117,118,119,120,121,122,
123,124,125,126,13,10,35,33,34,35,
36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,
46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,
56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,13,
10,35,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,
73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,
83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91,92,
93,94,95,96,13,10,35,97,98,99,
100,101,102,103,104,105,106,107,108,109,
110,111,112,113,114,115,116,117,118,119,
120,121,122,123,124,125,126,13,10,112,
114,105,110,116,32,34,83,104,111,119,
32,109,101,32,116,104,101,32,101,110,
99,111,100,105,110,103,33,92,110,34,
59,13,10,
Count 343
[download]

Then i ran this 'control' file through perlapp and extracted the encoded script out of it and it looks like this:

73,76,28,16,28,12,71,89,84,2,
202,79,92,68,66,95,76,111,6,12,
12,84,111,112,85,67,87,65,5,114,
72,71,69,10,104,67,95,94,1,115,
94,66,74,70,92,81,95,76,25,147,
27,14,13,14,15,96,75,64,53,43,
53,33,22,50,38,60,44,106,31,35,
34,34,111,19,62,32,35,122,22,57,
39,33,43,51,60,52,41,126,246,64,
56,19,81,82,67,37,6,18,14,30,
12,57,31,13,25,11,79,36,30,29,
31,84,54,25,5,8,87,57,20,12,
4,12,99,68,73,86,3,141,5,20,
23,24,25,10,106,79,89,71,89,85,
98,70,82,64,80,22,99,87,86,86,
27,127,82,76,79,110,73,76,49,59,
49,45,34,46,51,104,224,106,121,124,
125,126,111,17,50,38,58,34,48,5,
35,57,45,63,123,8,50,49,51,64,
73,76,19,18,77,39,10,22,30,26,
0,13,3,24,77,199,79,66,65,66,
67,84,52,21,3,17,15,31,40,8,
28,10,111,3,117,77,76,72,5,101,
72,90,89,4,104,67,93,87,93,89,
86,90,71,20,156,22,5,8,9,10,
27,125,94,74,86,54,111,112,53,35,
55,33,101,18,40,39,37,106,8,35,
63,62,97,19,62,34,42,38,60,49,
63,44,121,243,123,110,109,110,111,64,
75,64,21,11,21,1,54,18,6,28,
12,74,63,3,2,2,79,51,30,0,
3,90,54,25,7,1,11,19,28,20,
9,94,163,80,64,89,94,68,0,99,
48,28,6,1,69,62,17,65,0,13,
69,116,10,1,15,79,39,6,28,23,
15,31,1,82,66,120,
Count 356
[download]

As you can see there is a 343:356 ratio to this file. It does not seem to be merely a XOR operation against the string "Copyright © 2000 ActiveState Tool Corp." witch is:

67,111,112,121,114,105,103,104,116,32,169,32,50,48,48,48,32,65,99,116,
+105,118,101,83,116,97,116,101,32,84,111,111,108,32,67,111,114,112,46
[download]

This is about as much as i have now, i can also post a encode and unencoded snippit of another 'control' file that contains just a repeating string '#A'. If anyone can help, it would deeply appreciated.

Many Thanks

Muzzii

Ok gang, NM on the post, i figured it all out. It is a XOR againt the ActiveState Copyright string.

For future reference to others who may have this problem, my version of perlapp is 2.0, and i have discovered that the current version (5.0) does not use the simple XOR against the key string algorithm. 5.0 seems to be using a random key that is encoded into the code itself and it also stuffs the script with alot of other information that may obscure the script itself.

Many thanks to those who helped out and special thanks to all those who participated in A real challenge.<\p>