Cleaning A Development Machine

SoftwareShield System Feature Guide > Testing and Debugging Support > Cleaning A Development Machine

## Cleaning A Development Machine

The SoftwareShield License Manager provides a "Clean License" function. This function, when invoked correctly on a license project, essentially deletes all the Alias Files (if any) and the Virgin Registry Data (if any) from the machine and reports the outcome of the operation to you.

In the case of steganographic Alias Files, the clean function removes the licensing data itself from the bitmap, but does not delete the bitmap file.

Performing the clean function is a necessary part of developing licenses. As you develop your licenses and integrate their functionality into your software, you will need to repeatedly test various scenarios and evolutions of your implementation. However, every time you execute the StartUp function of the ClientProtector, the state of the license will change, Alias Files will be written, the registry may be altered and you will eventually need to "start fresh" as though the application had be run for the first time. While it is completely possible to manually find and delete all the Hidden Alias Files, all the Registry Alias Files, recreate any Steganographic Alias Files and the Virgin Registry Data, it is much simpler and faster to use the License Manager to do this for you and reduces the chance you will make an error.

In order to "start fresh" you must perform two steps:

1. You must "clean" your development machine.

2. The second step to restore your distributed license file is to simply recompile (or re-copy) your license. This is covered in the sub-section Compiling A License.

Cleaning your development machine is quite simple. The SoftwareShield License Manager provides a function that automates this process. All you have to do is open the license project and invoke the function, pointing at the Main License File Folder where the ClientProtector is manipulating the file.

### More Information

Cleaning a test machine is somewhat different since you will not have the SoftwareShield System DRM Kit installed on the machine and will not have access to the SoftwareShield License Manager. See Cleaning A Test Machine for more information.

For help on actually performing the Clean License function, see Clean License in the SoftwareShield License Manager Reference.