License Manager
The License Manager command allows you to review ProVal license usage, update licenses, and select a license to use.
There are 3 different ways to obtain a ProVal license:
Connect to a ProVal License Server (“PVLS”) – usually via your company’s network,
Check out a commuter license from a PVLS, or
Attach a single-user hardware key to the parallel port on your computer.
The License Manager displays the PVLS and commuter licenses that are currently in use. (ProVal users with single-user keys are not included in this list.) The columns in the spreadsheet are:
Name: This is obtained from the [User] Name= entry in the user's PROVAL.INI file.
License: Shows the type of license the user currently has checked out.
Full: allows use of any command in any mode
Pension: allows use of any command in the pension modes
OPEB: allows use of any command in OPEB mode
Input: allows use of commands on the File, Database, and Input menus
Last Checkin: When the user was most recently issued a license.
The Refresh button updates the display with the latest information.
License Limits
The licenses associated with a PVLS or single-user key have expiration dates. (Commuter licenses have expiration dates too; see below). Click the Limits… button to review the expiration dates for your PVLS and single-user keys. To see the number of licenses associated with selected keys, press the Details button. For example, a PVLS might allow 3 full, 2 pension, 1 OPEB, and 2 input licenses to be used concurrently. Similarly, a single-user key might allow 1 pension license.
If your license is about to expire, Winklevoss can provide encrypted data that will extend your license. The Update and New buttons are used to enter this data. The Erase button removes information for selected keys; it should be used only after returning a key to Winklevoss.
Note: The license limit data is stored in the PVLIMITS.DAT file in the ProVal directory. If you install ProVal on a new computer (such as a laptop), you may need to copy PVLIMITS.DAT to that computer.
Usage Tracking
ProVal can optionally record information about the amount of time that licenses were in use. Click the Usage button and select the Accumulate usage statistics check box. (You must be a ProVal SuperUser to do this; see below.) Wait a few days to accumulate some usage data, then return to the Usage button and click the Table button. The rows of the table indicate the number of concurrent users (N), the columns indicate the type of license and the numbers in the table give the number of times the license count reach a peak of N simultaneous users. For example, in the table below, the number of times the Pension license count reached a peak of 3 simultaneous users is 226.
|
N |
Pension |
OPEB |
Input |
All |
|
1 |
100 |
522 |
3,967 |
282 |
|
2 |
363 |
30 |
3,109 |
341 |
|
3 |
226 |
5 |
2,343 |
449 |
|
4 |
213 |
1 |
1,399 |
567 |
|
5 |
1,546 |
1 |
558 |
1,864 |
|
6 |
1,181 |
1 |
379 |
2,259 |
|
7 |
1,313 |
79 |
454 |
4,098 |
|
8 |
950 |
11 |
299 |
2,863 |
|
9 |
421 |
|
152 |
2,124 |
The last column ("All") gives the total number of active licenses.
Some things to keep in mind when reviewing usage statistics (and considering your firm’s licensing needs): ProVal will “upgrade” a license if
A “lower level” license is unavailable – for example, if no Input license is available, a Pension or OPEB license might be sought, and used, instead.
A “higher level” license is needed to perform the current operation in ProVal – for example, if you switch from working in an Input menu command to working in an Execute menu command, ProVal must look for (at least) a Pension or OPEB license and thus will not use an available Input license.
The Graph button in the ProVal Usage dialog box is not currently implemented.
Commuter Licenses
A Commuter License allows users to check out a license from the PVLS. Once the license is checked out, the user may hit the road without needing to either lug around a ProVal hardware key or worry about being connected to a network license server. The commuter license is a software solution that maintains the same functionality as being attached to the PVLS.
Before you check out a license, make sure you are in the same copy of ProVal you intend to use the license in (to avoid problems because, for example, a commuter license is version-specific). Thus, for instance, if you will use a copy of ProVal that resides on your local hard drive, open this copy to check out the license (not a copy that resides on the network or on someone else’s PC). To check out a commuter license, click the Commuter button (only one such license is available at any one time) and select the type of license. The numbers of licenses available for checkout are displayed to the right of each license type. Enter a number of days and click Check Out. Tip: If you get a message that no license is available, kill any "stranded" session (see the "Killing Licenses" section below); if this does not eliminate the message, go to the Shortcuts pane, move the cursor to the Databases command (if it is not already there), then close and reopen ProVal.
Checking out a license creates a file (“Commuter.Dat”) in the ProVal working directory (as defined in the ProVal License Server Installation Guide – or see your IT professional). The information contained includes the type of license checked out, the expiration date and a fingerprint of the computer the license was checked out on. Because of this computer fingerprint, the Commuter.Dat file may not be moved from one machine to another one.
A commuter license may be checked out for any number of days from 1 to 30. During this period, the PVLS will maintain a record of the checked out commuter license. One less license will be available to other users until the commuter license is checked back in or until it expires. Once the expiration date is reached, the commuter license will become inactive automatically.
Checking in a license is just as easy. Click the Commuter button; the commuter license type and expiration date are displayed. Click the Check In button and the Commuter.Dat file is deleted and the license is released to the PVLS. (Note: To check in the license, you must be connected to the same PVLS that was used to check out the license.)
Warning! Do not tamper with the Commuter.Dat file, as this may cause the file to become corrupted. Once the file is corrupted, the commuter license will no longer be valid and there will be no way to check the license back into the license server. The license will remain checked out from the PVLS until its normal expiration time.
Killing Licenses
If ProVal crashes, the license that was checked out by the crashed user out may be "stranded" (left active). You must manually kill stranded licenses so they can be reused. Click the Kill button to do this. Stranded sessions are easily identified by the date of last activity: if the date is more than a few days ago, it's probably a stranded session. Each user is allowed to kill off his or her own stranded sessions; SuperUsers are allowed to kill off any sessions.
Super Users
The ProVal administrator at a site is given SuperUser status and is allowed to kill any sessions, manage usage tracking, and erase license limit entries. Contact Winklevoss for instructions on how to designate a SuperUser.