Creating a Stonefield Query project can be quite time-consuming, especially for an application with many tables and fields. You may want to protect your investment in time, especially if you've created a customized version of Stonefield Query for a commercial application, from other people who also have a copy of the Configuration Utility. To do that, you can encrypt your project. The configuration files for an encrypted project are encrypted using a password you specify so they cannot be used from outside Stonefield Query or the Configuration Utility. When someone tries to open the project in the Configuration Utility, they are prompted for the password; the project files cannot be opened without the correct password.

To encrypt your project, click the Project Encryption button () or choose Project Encryption from the File menu or shortcut menu. You are prompted whether the project is encrypted or not (uncheck this option if you want to decrypt an encrypted project) and if so, what the password is (you are asked to confirm the password to ensure you typed it correctly).

Be sure to remember the password or record it somewhere, or else you won't be able to open your own project in the future!

The password is stored as an encrypted value in the Encryption section of SFQuery.INI; that's required so Stonefield Query can open the project files without prompting the end-user.