As you say VBA code protection is minimal but perhaps enough to keep out
casual users.

The simplest way to protect would be to port to a VB6 ActiveX dll, and/or
adapt that to a Com addin. By 'simple' most of the vba code might work
pretty much 'as is' subject to fully qualifying absolutely everything, ie
all excel type objects and excel-vba functions. How much work is involved
would depend on how the vba was written rather than what it does. It is a
learning curve, particularly VB6 Forms which may need to be completely
re-written, though you can use your original Office (vba) userforms.

Although VB6 currently works in Vista it is no longer supported by MS who
would prefer you to use dot.net, even more of a learning curve.

Compatibility with future Excel versions is not directly related, your VBA
would need to do that anyway. As for Vista, AFAIK, the main issue is where
you can write to file and registry permissions.

You might want to weigh to potential loss of revenue of your code being
accessed against the cost of your time with learning curve or commissioning
someone to do it. Most casual users probably won't bother to break in.
Perhaps of more concern is the possibility of others distributing your work
as their own, either freely or commercially.

Regards,
Peter T

"alan57" wrote in message
...

I've developed a 2d sketch package for floorplans and calculating areas
using Excel VBA and the native Excel drawing functions. I would like to
distribute the addins and protect the code from other users. My
understanding is Excel VBA addins have only a password protection which
can
be easily broken and VBA addins cannot be protected.

Since Excel VBA addins are not protected, what other options do I have? I
want the distribution, installation, uninstall and possible licensing to
be
as simple as possible and also secure. I'm looking for info which
describes
the entire conversion and usage process.

I have several VBA addin files with approx 10k lines of code. I could
convert this to another format but it would be a non trivial task.

I am currently using XP with Excel 2003. I'm not concerned with earlier
versions of the OS or Excel. I want to be compatible with Vista and
future
versions of Excel/Office.

Any suggestions or links would be appreciated.

thanks.