Use the DashO GUI

The PreEmptive Protection™ DashO™ graphical user interface (GUI) is where you create, configure, and build your DashO projects. This article explains the parts of the GUI, how to create a project with the New Project Wizard, and how to set the options that apply across your projects: startup behavior, user preferences, Customer Feedback options, user properties, and global processing exclusions. 

Prerequisites

• DashO installed and activated. For more information, see Installation and Activation.

GUI Layout

When you launch DashO, it displays the main GUI. It shows the Standard Mode GUI by default, and the Android Mode GUI when you open an Android Mode project. 

The GUI has five areas:

Standard Mode GUI

Android Mode GUI

Note: Some menu items and toolbar buttons aren't available in Android Mode. The tables below mark the ones that are limited to one mode.

Toolbar Actions

The toolbar provides quick access to core project management tasks:

Icon	Button	What it does	Availability
	New Project	Creates a new project with the New Project Wizard.	—
	Open Project	Opens an existing project.	—
	Save Project	Saves a new or changed project.	—
	Project Save As	Saves the project with a different name, location, or both.	—
	Reload Class List	Refreshes the class list after you add new inputs.	—
	Build Project	Protects the project.	Standard Mode only
	Cancel Build	Cancels a build in progress.	Standard Mode only
	Help	Opens the user guide.	—

Navigation Tree

The navigation tree organizes the project's settings pages. Select a page to show it in the configuration area. In the Standard Mode GUI, the tree contains:

Configuration Area

The configuration area shows the page you select in the navigation tree. It takes up most of the window, and is where you configure all project settings.

Console

The console has two tabs:

Note: In Android Mode, the console shows only issues with loading and saving the project. It has no Problems tab and doesn't show message counts.

Understanding Standard vs. Android Modes

The DashO user interface is dynamic. While it provides a comprehensive set of features in Standard Mode, it automatically simplifies the interface into a streamlined Android Mode when you open a project configured with the DashO Gradle Plugin for Android.

Create Your First Project

The New Project Wizard is the most efficient way to start a new configuration. It examines your application, determines the appropriate protection settings, and generates a DashO project file automatically.

How to Use the Wizard

1. Select the New Project icon in the toolbar or select File > New > Project....
2. Select Next.
3. Choose the application type that best characterizes your project: Android, Android Artifacts, Library, Desktop App, or Web. You can also migrate an existing project.
   
4. Follow the prompts to specify your input files and output destination.
5. Review the generated settings in the Configuration Area.

Application Types

Set Startup Options

Choose what DashO shows when it starts:

1. Go to Window > Preferences….
2. Go to the General tab.
3. Select an option for On startup, open. 

Set User Preferences

User preferences configure parts of the DashO GUI, and pass options to the obfuscation engine. DashO doesn't save them in project files. They apply to every project DashO loads.

1. Go to Window > Preferences.... On macOS, go to PreEmptive Protection DashO X.y > Preferences....
2. Set the general and DashO Engine options.
3. Select OK to save the preferences.

General Options

DashO Engine Options

Note: Verbose and Debug logging can increase build time.

Set Customer Feedback Options

DashO reports application usage through the Customer Feedback Program. PreEmptive uses this data to guide the development of new and existing features. DashO gathers only high-level usage data. It doesn’t collect configuration details.

If you don’t specify a feedback option, you’re opted in by default.

Change Your Feedback Option in the GUI

1. Go to Help > Customer Feedback Options....
   
2. Choose your feedback option:
   • Yes, I am willing to participate in the Customer Feedback Program
   • No, I choose to not participate

DashO saves your choice in your user preferences. You can change it at any time.

Change Your Feedback Option with an Environment Variable

Set the PREEMPTIVE_TELEMETRY_OPT_OUT environment variable:

Note: If you set a feedback option in both the GUI and the environment variable, DashO uses the environment variable.

How DashO Chooses Your Feedback Option

1. If PREEMPTIVE_TELEMETRY_OPT_OUT is set, DashO uses it.
2. Otherwise, if your user preferences specify a feedback option, DashO uses it.
3. Otherwise, you’re opted in.

Define User Properties

User properties are named values you can reference anywhere in your project. They let you create a project that works as a template. A property can:

• Be defined in terms of other properties.
• Change the value of other properties.
• Provide default values.

A property value can contain one or more property references, including references to environment variables. References can include default values, indirection, or substitution syntax. See Property References.

1. In the navigation tree, select Properties. The User Properties page opens.
2. Select New to add a property.
3. Enter its name and value. For a file path, you can click the file browser button to select the file.
   
4. Select OK.
5. Save your project.

Warning: Recursive property definitions aren't allowed. See Error: Recursive definition.

For how DashO stores properties in the project file, see the <propertylist> element.

Exclude Classes from All Processing

Use the Global Processing Exclusions page to exclude classes or packages from most or all processing. The page uses the DashO rules editor. For details on creating, editing, and previewing rules, see Graphical Rules Editor.

1. In the navigation tree, select Global Exclude.
2. Create rules for the classes or packages to exclude.
3. For each rule, set Update References to choose whether DashO excludes the matched classes from all processing, or still updates their references to classes, methods, and fields it processes.
4. Save your project. Then reload the class list to update the other pages.

Classes that match these rules are also excluded from:

• Being a string decrypter candidate.
• The Constant Pool Tag and SourceFile Tag additions. See Configure the Output Format.

Note: After you reload, the class lists on other pages don't show globally excluded classes.

For details, see the <globalProcessingExclude> element.

Examples and Use Cases

Limitations and Troubleshooting

Related Articles

• Manage Inputs
• Graphical Rules Editor
• Property References
• Using the Command Line Interface