ImageGear for .NET
Licensing Glossary
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All licenses are assigned a unique identifier known as an Access Key. Access Keys are associated with the organization that purchased the license.
An Accusoft product may be licensed with either a Toolkit License or a Runtime License.
Activation is the process of selecting a previously registered Toolkit license. Licenses may be paid (Toolkit) or evaluation, and may be for one of many product editions, for products with multiple editions.
An assigned Access Key is one that is assigned to a specific user or users. The assignment of Access Keys to specific users can be done using the Licensing Development Kit (LDK).
Runtimes may be licensed in one of two ways: automatic reporting or manual reporting. With automatic reporting, you do not need to worry about royalty reporting; it is handled by the licensing layer.
Customers are simply any person who has purchased an Accusoft product. Developers are customers who possess a license for a Toolkit. Users are typically the customers of Accusoft's customers who use applications built around Accusoft components and are assigned a Runtime license.
Some Accusoft products have multiple editions. Editions may offer multiple levels of product speed or product features, allowing customers to find a price-performance mix that is appropriate for them. Products that support multiple editions register multiple Toolkit licenses at installation time, one Toolkit license per edition. Developers must select an edition to activate using the License Manager.
An Evaluation license is a Toolkit license that is unpaid. When an Accusoft Toolkit is installed, Evaluation licenses for all applicable product editions are installed and registered, and the edition with the most features is activated. Evaluation licenses can be used to try out products. However, the product behavior is limited by trial dialog pop-ups or timeouts. When you determine the product is a good fit, you can purchase a Toolkit license to eliminate trial dialog pop-ups or timeouts.
When a license is activated for a product, the system information that identifies the installation hardware is contained within an encrypted string and is used to generate the license key for the product. The string containing the encrypted hardware information is known as the Hardware Key.
When a Toolkit or an Automatically Reported Runtime (Node-Locked) license is purchased, a configuration file is provided that contains information about the license that was purchased. This file is used by the licensing utilities (License Manager, Server Licensing Utility (SLU), and Licensing Development Kit (LDK)) to install a license on the system.
The Licensing Development Kit (LDK) is an ActiveX component that may be used for Runtime Licensing. The LDK is one mechanism for Automatically Reported Runtime (Node-Locked); the Server Licensing Utility (SLU) is the other.
Each product license has a unique key associated with it that uniquely identifies the customer, product, version, edition, and platforms, and, in some cases, the hardware for which the license is valid.
The License Manager is a GUI application that is used by a developer to register and activate Toolkit licenses on their development system.
Runtimes may be licensed in one of two ways: automatic reporting or manual reporting. With Manually Reported Runtime (Non-Node-Locked), you embed all of the licensing information directly into your application. You must manually provide royalty reporting to Accusoft for the actual licenses deployed. This model will be the best choice for you if you are not connected to the Internet at runtime, as might be the case in an defense or financial application.
Another name for Automatically Reported Runtime (Node-Locked).
Another name for Manually Reported Runtime (Non-Node-Locked).
A paid license is a Toolkit license that you have purchased from Accusoft. It is ready to be used in production, with no trial dialog pop-ups or timeouts. If you wish to test other editions of the Accusoft product for which you have purchased a Paid License, you may activate an Evaluation license for that edition; a complete set of Evaluation licenses for all editions is registered at installation time.
Registration is the process of informing the License Manager about a new Toolkit license you have purchased. It uses this information to create a license key on your system; this allows you to activate the product for development with no restrictions, such as trial dialog pop-ups or timeouts.
When deploying an application, a Runtime License is also required for each user's installation. You must purchase Runtime licenses, which are consumed as licenses are registered. There are two Runtime Licensing models: Automatically Reported Runtime (Node-Locked); and Manually Reported Runtime (Non-Node-Locked).
The Server Licensing Utility (SLU) is a small GUI application that allows you to request a license key from the Runtime licenses you have purchased. The SLU is one mechanism for Automatically Reported Runtime (Node-Locked); the Licensing Development Kit (LDK) is the other.
Each Toolkit is assigned to a specific developer who has a registered account with Accusoft. When the developer installs the Toolkit, it is not fully functional until they have activated the Toolkit license through the use of the License Manager application. When the developer starts the License Manager, they are required to provide login credentials that identify and allow them to activate their license on a development system.
When a license is registered, information that uniquely identifies the customer's or user's hardware is passed along with the license information over the Internet to a web service. The web service validates the licensing request, generates a key that includes the hardware information, and returns the new license key to the application that made the licensing request. The license key is then stored on the requested system and used by the component when it is executed. It is also possible to register systems that are not directly connected to the Internet through the use of removable media and a different system that is connected to the Internet.