Frequently asked questions
Accounts, trial, machine fingerprint, updates, and what becomes of your license if the publisher stops.
Do I need to create an account?
No, at no point. The trial asks for no sign-up, the purchase creates no customer area, and the app signs you in to nothing. What you receive after buying is a piece of text to paste, not a login.
What happens after the 30 days?
Your 30-day trial period is over. Enter a license key to keep using Debug XML Tool.
The app stops opening until a key is entered. Nothing is deleted: your files are yours and stay where they are, in formats other tools can read.
Can my license expire?
No. Nothing is checked online, so there is no server whose shutdown would change anything: an activated license keeps working indefinitely on the machine it sits on, whatever becomes of this site.
Your machine clock is not part of the equation either: update entitlement is compared against the build date of the installed version, which is frozen inside the file. Setting the system date back unlocks nothing, and breaks nothing.
What do the twelve months of updates cover?
Every version released during those twelve months, at no extra cost. You keep them forever. After that the app keeps working; only installing a newer version shows:
Genuine key, but this version is newer than your included updates (…). The key is kept: it will be valid again on the version you own.
The key is not rejected for all that, it is kept: reinstall the last covered version and everything is back to normal. So you never lose what you bought — you reach a boundary.
Renewal is not open yet
[TO BE COMPLETED: renewal offer and price.] The app already offers "Renew my updates", but this site has nothing to answer it with yet. Write to us in the meantime: it is safer than buying a fresh license.
What is the machine fingerprint?
A string of letters and digits identifying your machine, something like A1B2C3D4-E5F6A7B8-C9D0E1F2. It is what binds your key to your computer, and it is asked for at purchase.
- It is computed on your machine and leaves it only if you paste it yourself.
- It rests on three elements and tolerates one changing: repairing your machine does not cost you the license.
- It holds no personal data: no hardware address, no user name, only truncated digests that cannot be traced back.
Does the app send anything over the network?
No. No license check, no update check, no usage statistics. It runs on a machine with no network access at all, which is what makes it usable behind a corporate firewall.
That also explains two things: you will only learn that a new version exists if you leave your address, and a problem you hit reaches us only if you send it.
I lost the email containing my key.
If the machine is still activated, the key is still there, in your home folder:
%USERPROFILE%\.debugxmltool\license.key
Otherwise, write to us with the holder name and the purchase date: the key can be found on our side.
Is there a Linux version? macOS?
Windows today. Linux is in the works, with no date announced: the download page lets you leave an address to be told when it exists, and that is also what tells us how many people are waiting for it. macOS is not planned for this version.
If the publisher stops
The question comes up for any tool bought from an independent publisher, and it deserves better than silence. Here is what is true today, verifiable in how the product works.
Would a license already issued stop working?
No. Nothing is verified online, so there is no server whose shutdown would change anything. A license placed on a machine stays valid there, indefinitely, including offline. That is a property of how the software is built, not a commercial promise.
Where would the installer be found?
This answer is not written yet
[TO BE COMPLETED: where the installer would stay reachable, and who would see to it.] In the meantime, keep a copy of the installation file you downloaded, together with your key. That is the gesture that makes the question moot.
And moving to another computer?
That is the weak point, and it is better known in advance: a reissue requires the publisher's private key. With no publisher, no reissue is possible. Your existing installations would keep working; a machine fully replaced would no longer be served.
And the twelve months of updates?
They are dated and bounded: the date up to which you are entitled is written in your license, readable in the About window. It is therefore the only one of the four points that can be costed exactly.
What this text is, and what it is not
These four answers describe how the product works today. They are not a contractual undertaking and do not stand in for one: a continuity clause promising an escrow or a successor that do not exist would be worth less than nothing.
A question that is not here
The manual covers using the tool, chapter by chapter. For anything else, write: one person reads and answers.