You can use the GrapeCity License Manager utility to license ActiveReports during installation or if you already have a trial version installed. This topic gives an overview of all aspects of licensing in ActiveReports.
See ActiveReports Editions to learn which features are exclusive to the Professional Edition.
License Type | Description |
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Evaluation |
Trial key is required. Evaluation banners display on all reports and controls, and the product stops functioning after 30 days from the date of installation. The first key is already activated when you download the trial. If needed, you can request a new key from the Sales department for an additional 30 day trial. |
Standard |
Standard Edition product key is required. Evaluation banners appear only on features that are exclusive to the Professional Edition. You receive this key by email when you purchase ActiveReports Standard Edition or upgrade from a previous version of ActiveReports Standard Edition. |
Professional |
Professional Edition product key is required. All reporting functionality and controls appear without any evaluation banners. You receive this key by email when you purchase ActiveReports Professional Edition or upgrade from a previous version of ActiveReports Professional Edition. |
If you cannot find your email with the product key, please contact activereports.sales@grapecity.com to have it looked up.
Note that any machine on which ActiveReports are opened in Visual Studio or on which ActiveReports projects are compiled in Visual Studio must be licensed.
To license a machine with ActiveReports during installation or to license a trial without reinstalling
To license ActiveReports on a machine without an internet connection
To activate a license for ActiveReports on multiple machines
You can only activate a single developer license key for ActiveReports on three machines for use by one developer.
If you have used all three of the license activations and you want to license a fourth machine, for example, a virtual machine for use by the same licensed developer, you must deactivate the license key from one of the other machines. For more information, drop down the section below titled "To deactivate an ActiveReports license."
After you have deactivated licensing on one of the machines, you can activate ActiveReports on another machine.
To deactivate an ActiveReports license
To use your ActiveReports license on another machine for your own use when you have used up all three of your activations, you can deactivate it on one machine.
To upgrade or downgrade a license
If you want to change your ActiveReports license type you need to do one of the following:
Upgrade from a Standard to a Professional License:
Downgrade from a Professional to a Standard License:
Note: You can upgrade a license only if you buy an upgrade from Standard Edition to Professional Edition.
To determine whether a machine is licensed
Note: To check for Professional Edition licensing, open a sample from the Professional folder, run it, and look for evaluation messages.
Tips:
To license Windows Forms projects made on the trial version
These steps assume that you already have an ActiveReports licensed edition installed on your system.
The executable application is now licensed, and no nag screens or evaluation banners appear when you run it. You can distribute the application to unlicensed machines and no nag screens or evaluation banners appear.
Required references in the licenses.licx file (for Standard and Professional Editions)
The licenses.licx file must contain the following references to ActiveReports if you were using both Section and Page reports, and both Windows and WPF viewers. See the table below for the references to the ActiveReports version and the reference to the Viewer control.
Paste INSIDE the licenses.licx file. |
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GrapeCity.ActiveReports.SectionReport, GrapeCity.ActiveReports GrapeCity.ActiveReports.PageReport, GrapeCity.ActiveReports GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Viewer.Win.Viewer, GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Viewer.Win GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Viewer.Wpf.Viewer, GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Viewer.Wpf |
Here are all of the license strings that you may need:
Component | License String |
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Section report engine | GrapeCity.ActiveReports.SectionReport, GrapeCity.ActiveReports |
Page and RDL report engine | GrapeCity.ActiveReports.PageReport, GrapeCity.ActiveReports |
WinForms viewer control | GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Viewer.Win.Viewer, GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Viewer.Win |
WPF viewer control | GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Viewer.Wpf.Viewer, GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Viewer.Wpf |
PRO (some features) PDF export | GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Export.Pdf.Section.PdfExport, GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Export.Pdf |
PRO ONLY: WebViewer, HTTP handlers, Web service | GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Web.WebViewer, GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Web |
PRO ONLY: End-user designer | GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Design.Designer, GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Design.Win |
Note: When using the PDF export filter in your project, make sure you check the licenses.licx file for reference to the PDF Export Assembly.
To license Web Forms projects made on the trial version
Follow these steps after you license ActiveReports on your machine.
To license Web Site applications
Follow these steps after you license ActiveReports on your machine.
The web site application is now licensed. You can distribute the web site application to unlicensed machines and no evaluation banners appear.
To license medium trust projects
To provide licensing for medium trust projects with ActiveReports, you can generate a web key using the Web Key Generator utility on a machine with licensed ActiveReports.
XML code. Paste INSIDE the Web.config file |
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<configuration> <appSettings> <add key=" ActiveReports 13 License" value="Generated Web Key" /> </appSettings> </configuration> |
To license a class library project
Follow these steps after you license ActiveReports on your machine.
To license ActiveReports when you cannot compile the calling application or the calling application is COM
When you are not able to compile the calling application in .NET, whether because you don't have access to build a third-party project, or because the calling application is COM, you can still license ActiveReports using the Application License Generator utility.
Definition: A calling application is the root-level application that the user initiates to eventually access your compiled assembly. This could be an executable, a web page, a COM executable, etc.
IMPORTANT: This is the ONLY reason you should ever use the Application License Generator.
Follow these steps after you license ActiveReports on your machine.
Here are some common licensing errors and their causes.
Error | Cause |
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Application cannot run because it was built with no license. | Licensing is not present in the application or the calling application. See below for information on how to license the calling application. |
License for XXXX (control name) could not be found. | Extra lines for components that you do not use are in the licenses.licx file. Delete unnecessary information and Rebuild the project. |
Licensing has not been correctly applied to the application. | Check the three key points below. |
Exception (LicenseException) | Check the three key points below. |
The licenses.licx file is automatically generated in the project where ActiveReports is used. But if your application is composed of multiple projects and another project calls the reports defined in your class library, you need to register it in the calling project rather than just in your report project.
When you add an ActiveReports web service to a Page report, RDL report, or XML-based Section report project, the licenses.licx file is not created automatically, and the license strings are not added. You also need to manually add licensing to your application if you want to create a control at run time or use the HTTP handlers.
To manually add licensing to the calling application
1. In your application that contains ActiveReports components, check that the proper licensing strings are in the licenses.licx file. (See the table of license strings below.)
2. Copy the ActiveReports strings from the file into the licenses.licx file in the calling application.
a. If there is no license file, from the Project menu, select Add New Item.
b. From the listed templates, select Text file and change the name to "licenses.licx."
c. In the Solution Explorer, double-click the newly created licenses.licx file to open it, and paste in the licensing strings for all components you use.
3. From the Build menu, select Rebuild Project to embed the licensing.
Note: If your project is a web site, the bin folder has the licenses embedded in the App_Licenses.dll file.
Depending on which features of ActiveReports you use in your application, the license file may need to contain multiple license strings.
You will find a full list of license strings that you may need in the Required references in the licenses.licx file (for Standard and Professional Editions) section above.
1. In the Solution Explorer, select licenses.licx (you may need to click the Show all files button to see it).
2. In the Properties window, ensure that the Build Action property is set to Embedded Resource.