When an UltraLite database is created (using Sybase Central for example), an optional encryption key may be specified. The encryption key is used to encrypt the database. Once the database is encrypted, all subsequent connection attempts must supply the encryption key. The supplied key is checked against the original encryption key and the connection fails unless the key matches.

Choose an encryption key value that cannot easily be guessed. The key can be of arbitrary length, but generally a longer key is better, because a shorter key is easier to guess. Including a combination of numbers, letters, and special characters decreases the chances of someone guessing the key.

Do not include semicolons in your key. Do not put the key itself in quotes, or the quotes will be considered part of the key.

The following procedure is generally used to connect to an encrypted UltraLite database:

You can change the encryption key for a database. The application must already be connected to the database using the existing key before the change can be made.

Supply the new key as an argument of the ULChangeEncryptionKey method.

An alternative to using database encryption is to specify that the database is to be obfuscated. Obfuscation is a simple masking of the data in the database that is intended to prevent browsing the data in the database with a low level file examination utility. Obfuscation is a database creation option and must be specified when the database is created.

• ULChangeEncryptionKey method [UltraLite Embedded SQL]
• UltraLite database creation parameters