Infralution Support Forum Index Infralution Support
Support groups for Infralution products
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

EvaluationMonitor issue on Vista

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Infralution Support Forum Index -> Licensing Support
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
RobT



Joined: 09 Apr 2007
Posts: 12

PostPosted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 1:21 pm    Post subject: EvaluationMonitor issue on Vista Reply with quote

I'm building some test projects to gain a detailed familiarity of ILS prior to releasing an ILS-protected update of an existing app and I seem to

have understood all the features that I need to make use of.

I've now tested these projects on XP and on Vista (Ultimate) and it looks as if ILS 3.4.0.0's EvaluationMonitor isn't managing well on Vista.

Both before and after the projects have been licensed, I am always getting the following:

- EvaluationMonitor.UsageCount = 0
- EvaluationMonitor.FirstUseDate = 01 January 0001
- EvaluationMonitor.DaysInUse = 732774 or 732775 etc.
- EvaluationMonitor.Invalid = True

I've been getting this from three different test projects, each with a unique productID and LicenseParameters, tested on Vista under both Admin

and Standard user accounts. On XP, these same projects always report back the correct EvaluationMonitor properties.

Am I alone in this or are there issues with ILS's EvaluationMonitor on Vista?

Rob
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Infralution



Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Posts: 5027

PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 1:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've just tested a modified version of the Licensed App sample project on Vista Business with both standard and admin users without any issues (both days in use and the Invalid flag are correct).

Are you evaluating ILS (and using the Infralution.Licensing.dll) or have you purchased and integrated the source code into your application?

If you have integrated the source code into your application have you updated this source code to the latest version (downloadable from our site). There were some issues with versions prior to 3.3 that could cause these type of symptoms with EvaluationMonitor.

Is the FirstUseDate correct the first time you run the software on a clean installation of Vista?

The Invalid flag being set may indicate that there was a problem reading the registry key containing the evaluation data. The first time you run an application however there will be no registry key and the FirstUseDate is set directly to the current date/time eg

Code:
_firstUseDate = DateTime.UtcNow;


Thus if the FirstUseDate is incorrect in this case it indicates something is probably amiss with your Vista installation.
_________________
Infralution Support
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
RobT



Joined: 09 Apr 2007
Posts: 12

PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 10:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks. I appreciate the swift response.

I have purchased ILS but at this stage am using the Infralution.Licensing .dll, version 3.4.0.0.

I reckoned I was getting a FirstUseDate of 01 January 0001 the first time the software was installed, but that was on a Vista installation a few weeks old. To verify this, I have re-installed Vista (yawn!) and re-run the software. The FirstUseDate now shows correctly. I have verified this on Ultimate with standard and admin users.

So far so good. Your hunch that there was something "probably amiss with" my "Vista installation" seems to have been spot-on.

However, it's pretty likely that I shall have to deal with end users who encounter similar anomalies with EvaluationMonitor on Vista and telling them that there may be something amiss with their Vista installation will not be much appreciated! Are there any particular routines that I should be coding here to trap for these sorts of scenarios?

This is a difficult one, I appreciate, but the arguably nebulous, although justified, case of pointing a finger at an OS installation is not something us developers like to deal with!

Regards,

Rob
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Infralution



Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Posts: 5027

PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 11:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
This is a difficult one, I appreciate, but the arguably nebulous, although justified, case of pointing a finger at an OS installation is not something us developers like to deal with!


I agree in general. However there are some cases where if something is screwed up in the OS there is nothing you can do to workaround it. In this case it looks like the system clock may have been returning a rubbish value (via DateTime.UtcNow).

The first step is to be able to discover what the problem is/was and replicate it. On your new installation of Vista does your application get the correct evaluation data on subsequent runs?

If it does then it does seem to indicate an environmental factor at work. Tracking this down may be somewhat difficult. Did you happen to copy the OS image before reinstalling?

We have already done testing on Vista with factors which we know can cause these kind of issues eg changing the Regional Locale, using Limited User accounts etc
_________________
Infralution Support
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
RobT



Joined: 09 Apr 2007
Posts: 12

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 5:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

On the new Vista installation, the evaluation date is correct on subsequent runs. (I didn't copy the OS image prior to reinstalling it.)

Am reluctant to defer to the view that the OS was perhaps returning a rubbish value, but it looks as if this may have been the case...for unexplained reasons.

All seems fine now, so let's hope this happens rarely if ever in the field.

Rob
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Infralution



Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Posts: 5027

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 10:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

We haven't had this issue reported before, which I would have expected given our user base, if the problem was not an isolated one.
_________________
Infralution Support
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Infralution



Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Posts: 5027

PostPosted: Thu May 24, 2007 11:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

We think we have got to the bottom of this issue - and it has nothing to do with Vista after all.

The problem arises if you run your application from a Network shared drive. In this case the .NET framework trust level is not set to "Full Trust" by default. This means the application can't access any registry resources or access the local file system. For most windows forms applications this would be a major problem. Since the EvaluationMonitor is one of the first bits of code in an application to run it encounters the issue first.

There are two solutions:

1. Run the application from a local drive.
2. Increase the .NET level of trust for the intranet zone. You do this by using the Control Panel->Administrative Tools->.NET Framework 2.0 Configuration option to "Adjust Zone Security".

Your code should check the Invalid property of the EvaluationMonitor and if it is true warn the user that they need to run from a local drive.
_________________
Infralution Support
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Infralution Support Forum Index -> Licensing Support All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group