The Developer License

Licensed components require the presence of a Developer License in order to create a valid runtime license resource. Developer Licenses are specific to the user's development machine, and to the version of the Dart assembly used.

Obtaining a Developer License

After purchase of the product, the developer is furnished with a Product Key (Serial Number) that licenses development for a single user on up to two machines.

To obtain the Developer License, run the included DartActivateLicense utility and enter the Product Key. This utility opens a web browser and navigates to the Dart Customer Center, where a zip file containing the Developer License file is available for download. If an Internet connection does not exist, the utility provides a URL for downloading the Developer License file at a later date.

Subscription customers can obtain a Product Key for a product that has been upgraded by visiting the "My Products" page of the Customer Center and clicking on the listed current license.

Location of the Developer License

The Developer License file should be extracted from the downloaded zip file and saved to the following location:

Program Files \ Dart \ PowerWEB LiveControls for ASP.NET \ <Version Number> \ bin

where <Version Number> is a placeholder for the product version number associated with the license.

This location is also accessible from a shortcut added to the Start menu:

Start \ All Programs \ Dart \ PowerWEB LiveControls for ASP.NET \ <Version Number> \ Binaries Folder

At runtime, the component will search this location for the Developer License. No trial messages are subsequently seen.

The Developer License should never be deployed with an application.

Versioning

Developer Licenses are version-specific. Each minor version of the product (for example, 4.0 and 4.1) requires a separate Developer License. Build updates to the product (for example, 4.0.0 and 4.0.1) do not require a new Developer License. Version upgrades are available to developers with an active subscription.

Developer License Filename

The Developer License filename has the following format:

Dart.LiveControls.developer.dartlic

Important!!!

A machine must have a Developer License to license runtime use.

The .licenses Resource

An <appname>.licenses resource file is linked into the developed assembly during compilation. This file contains either the Product Key or a trial expiration date. This resource is read at runtime to confirm that the topmost managed assembly is licensed. A LicenseException is thrown if no license is found. To license intermediary assemblies, see the "Extended and ISV Licensing" section below.

The licenses.licx File

When a licensed control or component is added to a Visual Studio project using the designer, a licenses.licx text file is created (if one does not already exist) and added to the project. A single-line entry is added to the file, which includes the licensed Class (for example, "Dart.LiveButton"), the Assembly name (for example, "Dart.LiveControls"), and some optional information such as Version Number. This file can be found in the Solution Explorer.

The presence of this licx file triggers the Microsoft license compiler utility (lc.exe) to create the .licenses resource during compilation.

Manual Creation of the licenses.licx

If the licenses.licx file is not automatically updated (such as when a licensed component is created in code or when the target platform is a device), the licenses.licx entry must be added manually. If it does not already exist in the project, a new text file named "licenses.licx" must be added to the Project. It is not enough for the file to exist in the working directory, or for it to be added to the Solution. The entry for the licensed component is a single line that includes the name of the component and the assembly name, separated by a comma. For example:

Dart.LiveButton, Dart.LiveControls

Web Site Projects

Web Site projects include an App_Licenses.dll that must be rebuilt when changes are made to the licenses.licx file, or when a new Developer License has been installed. This is accomplished by right-clicking on the licenses.licx file in the Solution Explorer, and selecting the "Rebuild Runtime Licenses" option.

Compilation Environments That Do Not Support the licenses.licx File, Like MONO

For environments that do not recognize the licenses.licx file, Dart has its own License Compiler application. This utility can be used to generate the <appname>.licenses resource file, which can then be added to the project as an embedded resource, or linked during compilation using the appropriate resource switch. Please contact Dart Support for help with compilation in environments that do not recognize the licenses.licx file.

Scripting Environments

A Developer License can be used in place of the license resource for environments without compilation.

Troubleshooting

LicenseExceptions thrown by the executing application should provide detailed information regarding the problem causing the exception.

In addition, the product utilizes the system's Application Event log, under the "Dart Components" source (or the ".NET Runtime" source, if the "Dart Components" log could not be created).

Important!!!

• The license resource must be for the Entry (topmost managed) Assembly (exe or dll).
• Cases in which the Entry Assembly is not the topmost executing application are considered "Plug-In" scenarios and require a Plug- In Distribution License or an ISV Distribution License (see below for more details).

Extended and ISV Licensing

Please contact Dart Sales to further explore the Extended and ISV licensing options.

Extended Distribution License

The Extended Distribution License is available for the development of software to be used by an executing assembly that does not contain a Dart license resource. This is typically a dll that exposes a programming interface and can therefore be used as a development tool. This includes, but is not limited to, the following scenarios:

• Creation of a dll that can be used by other software developers as a development tool
• Creation of a plug-in dll that can be used by existing 3rd-party application(s)
• Creation of a dll that provides a COM interface to a VB6 application
• Creation of an exe that exposes a class that is used to access product functionality

ISV Distribution License

For Independent Software Developers (ISVs) or Enterprises who wish to bypass all licensing mechanisms, Dart offers the ISV Distribution License. The ISV license permits the tight integration of Dart source code directly into a library or application.

During Development

A trial message is displayed when a component is drawn on a form or a project referencing a trial component is compiled.

When the trial message is displayed, the 'OK' button is initially disabled for a time period proportional to the number of days since the trial was installed.

The message will automatically disappear if the 'OK' button has not been pressed 20 seconds after a countdown completes and the button is enabled. 

A 7-Day Trial runtime license is created when an application referencing a trial component is compiled (see the "At Runtime" section below).

At Runtime

Components used by applications running in trial mode will occasionally show a trial message and expire after seven days of operation.

7-Day Trial

An application compiled with a trial license can be deployed to other platforms for testing, but the license expires after 7 days.

• No messages are shown during the Trial License's first 4 days.
• After 4 days, the user is informed of the number of days until the trial license expires.
• After 7 days, the user is informed that the application has expired. The application will cease functioning and throw a License Exception when used.
• The trial license can be reset by recompiling the application.

Trial Messages

• Trial messages and exceptions will always appear in the system's Application event log under the "Dart Components" source (or the ".NET Runtime" source, if the "Dart Components" log could not be created).
• A trial message or exception will also appear in a MessageBox, if the environment is capable of showing MessageBoxes.
• Components used in ASP.NET applications will show trial messages or exceptions in client-side alert boxes when possible.

Important!!!

For environments without an active desktop (for example, under some Windows service and web application scenarios), examine the Application event log for trial messages and exceptions.

With the exception of the trial messages and instance expiration exception, runtime trial operation is the same as licensed operation. The same dll is used for both trial and licensed operation.