obfuscation questions

[GEORGE]

I am just experimenting with obfuscation and I have the following issue.

My app works perfectly fine in its unobfuscated version. But when I
obfuscate the jar files with yGuard (a version of RetroLogic) and run it,
the app doesnt start and I just get the command prompt back. I don't have
the slightest clue as to where to start with resolving this. I do use a lot
of this.getClass().getResource() statements. Other than that in one place I
use the reflection API to get some method names from
java.sql.DatabaseMetaData.

Any help will be appreciated. Also, is obfuscation worth the trouble? Is
it really THAT easy to reconstruct source code from byte code?

George

[Kevin Dean [TeamB]]

Is it really THAT easy to reconstruct source code from byte code?

Yes. I personally don't use it, as most of my intellectual property is in
the server side, which should be well protected from hackers.

http://members.fortunecity.com/neshkov/dj.html
--
Kevin Dean [TeamB]
Dolphin Data Development Ltd.
http://www.datadevelopment.com/

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[GEORGE]

Sigh. One more thing to learn.

If any one here has used yGuard please let me know. Or maybe some one can
recommend another obfuscator?

George

Post by Kevin Dean [TeamB]

Is it really THAT easy to reconstruct source code from byte code?

Yes. I personally don't use it, as most of my intellectual property is in
the server side, which should be well protected from hackers.
http://members.fortunecity.com/neshkov/dj.html
--
Kevin Dean [TeamB]
Dolphin Data Development Ltd.
http://www.datadevelopment.com/
NEW WHITEPAPERS
Team Development with JBuilder and Borland Enterprise Server
Securing Borland Enterprise Server
http://www.datadevelopment.com/papers/index.html
Please see Borland's newsgroup guidelines at
http://info.borland.com/newsgroups/guide.html

[Lori M Olson [TeamB]]

Post by GEORGE
Sigh. One more thing to learn.
If any one here has used yGuard please let me know. Or maybe some one can
recommend another obfuscator?
George

If you want to pay for one, the Cadillac of obfuscators is Zelix
Klassmaster.

http://www.zelix.com/klassmaster/

If you are looking for something free, the most commonly used obfuscator
is ProGuard, a SourceForge project.

http://proguard.sourceforge.net/
--
Regards,

Lori Olson [TeamB]

------------

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[George]

Thank you. I tried the GUI version of ProGuard. But no luck.

After obfuscation, the JVM Launcher says it cannot find the main class. I
looked in the jar file and I do find the main class name has been preserved.

I've seen "cannot find the main class message" before when there is an
incompatibility between the java version used to compile the code and the
one used to run the code. But in this case, there is no difference. My
code has been compiled in 1.5 and Proguard is also using the rt.jar for 1.5.


George

Post by Lori M Olson [TeamB]

Post by GEORGE
Sigh. One more thing to learn.
If any one here has used yGuard please let me know. Or maybe some one can
recommend another obfuscator?
George

If you want to pay for one, the Cadillac of obfuscators is Zelix
Klassmaster.
http://www.zelix.com/klassmaster/
If you are looking for something free, the most commonly used obfuscator
is ProGuard, a SourceForge project.
http://proguard.sourceforge.net/
--
Regards,
Lori Olson [TeamB]
------------
Save yourself, and everyone else, some time and search the
newsgroups and the FAQ-O-Matic before posting your next
question.
Google Advanced Newsgroup Search
http://www.google.ca/advanced_group_search
http://www.borland.com/newsgroups/ngsearch.html
http://www.visi.com/~gyles19/fom-serve/cache/1.html

[GEORGE]

Never mind. I was trying to obfuscate the jar files after they were signed.
Rearranged the order of the tasks in the ant file and all is well now.
Thanks folks.

Post by George
Thank you. I tried the GUI version of ProGuard. But no luck.
After obfuscation, the JVM Launcher says it cannot find the main class. I
looked in the jar file and I do find the main class name has been preserved.
I've seen "cannot find the main class message" before when there is an
incompatibility between the java version used to compile the code and the
one used to run the code. But in this case, there is no difference. My
code has been compiled in 1.5 and Proguard is also using the rt.jar for 1.5.
George

Post by Lori M Olson [TeamB]

Post by GEORGE
Sigh. One more thing to learn.
If any one here has used yGuard please let me know. Or maybe some one

can

Post by Lori M Olson [TeamB]

Post by GEORGE
recommend another obfuscator?
George

If you want to pay for one, the Cadillac of obfuscators is Zelix
Klassmaster.
http://www.zelix.com/klassmaster/
If you are looking for something free, the most commonly used obfuscator
is ProGuard, a SourceForge project.
http://proguard.sourceforge.net/
--
Regards,
Lori Olson [TeamB]
------------
Save yourself, and everyone else, some time and search the
newsgroups and the FAQ-O-Matic before posting your next
question.
Google Advanced Newsgroup Search
http://www.google.ca/advanced_group_search
http://www.borland.com/newsgroups/ngsearch.html
http://www.visi.com/~gyles19/fom-serve/cache/1.html