Theory
A licence is needed to start
Every installation needs a licence issued for its computer: a 30-day trial or a paid licence. Without a usable licence (none installed, the trial or licence has ended, the licence does not cover this version, or it is for another computer) the program shows only the licence window at start: request a licence, enter a licence code, install a licence file, or quit. Nothing else opens until a valid licence is installed. Your project files stay on your disk and open again once a licence is installed. A solve that is already running when a licence ends is never stopped.
Two modes
| Mode | When | Solving | Result data and reports | Pictures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | a valid licence (monthly, yearly, perpetual, student / academic) | yes | yes | as shown |
| Trial | a valid 30-day trial licence | yes | not available | watermarked "Trial" |
"Result data" means copying or saving result tables and chart data (CSV, Excel), the acoustic workbook, VTK files of the 3-D plots and opening the solution in ParaView. "Reports" means generating, viewing and saving the HTML / PDF report. Pictures of charts and of the 3-D view can always be saved; with a trial licence they carry a diagonal watermark.
Requesting a licence or a trial
Help > Request a licence makes a request code (and a request file) from your details and this computer's identifier. Nothing is sent automatically: you send the code to your contact for the program. You receive the licence by e-mail, as a file (.lic) and as a licence code (SSL2-...): install the file with Help > Licence > Install a licence file, or paste the code into Help > Licence (also offered in the licence window shown at start). The program then reloads. The program itself never connects to the internet: nothing is sent or checked online.
Several licences can be installed side by side (for example a trial and the licence bought afterwards); the best one is used, so installing an older or lesser licence never takes away a better one. A newer revision of the same licence (a renewal, a corrected name) replaces the older one; an older revision cannot replace a newer one.
A trial licence is bound to the computer it was requested on, and one trial is issued per computer and per e-mail address. A paid licence is not bound to a computer unless agreed.
A student / academic licence is for teaching and research at a university or school. It runs 3 months unless agreed otherwise and is requested with an educational e-mail address: an address whose domain ends in .edu, or has "ac" or "edu" before a two-letter country code (ox.ac.uk, unimelb.edu.au), or belongs to a university on the vendor's list. The request window refuses an academic request from any other address. An academic licence can be renewed with a new request; when it ends, the program shows only the licence window at start, and, unlike a paid licence, result data and reports cannot be exported until a licence is installed again.
When a licence ends
- A trial ends after its last day; the program then shows only the licence window at start until a licence is installed.
- A student / academic licence ends after its last day, with no grace period.
- A yearly or monthly licence keeps working for 7 more days (grace period) after its last day, with a warning; then the program shows only the licence window at start.
- The status line shows the days left during the last 14 days of a licence and during a trial.
- If the computer's date is set back before a date the program has already seen (more than 2 days), the program cannot be used until the date is right.
- A licence the vendor has withdrawn (for example after a reversed payment) stops working once the vendor's revocation list is installed: it comes by e-mail (install it like a licence file) or with a program update.
Which versions a licence covers
Version numbers have two parts, *major.minor* (for example 1.4). Every licence, of every type, is for one major version: a licence for 1.x covers 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 and so on, and a new major version (2.0) needs a new licence. Your request code carries the version you request from, so the licence is issued for that major version.
Minor releases of your major version are covered while maintenance runs: a release dated on or before the licence's maintenance date (Help > Licence, "Minor releases up to") works. For a yearly or monthly licence the maintenance date is its last day; for a perpetual licence it is 12 months after purchase and is extended each time maintenance is renewed (you then receive a new revision of the same licence). A perpetual licence never stops working on the releases it covers.
A release the licence does not cover, a later minor release after maintenance ended or another major version, shows only the licence window at start and says why; your project files stay on your disk. Keep using the release you had, renew maintenance (minor releases) or buy the new major version.
Support
The licence file is signed: editing it makes it invalid. Help > Licence lists the licence, its dates, this version's release date and this computer's identifier; give these when you contact support.