Q. What is a Client Engine?
A. Visual DataFlex Client Engine is the software that runs applications developed with a Visual DataFlex Studio. The Client Engine includes the components that execute the application software, database utilities, the embedded database and, optionally, drivers to connect the application to well known database servers such as Microsoft SQL, IBM DB2, Pervasive.SQL and others. A Visual DataFlex Client Engine license is the entitlement to use the Client Engine. The formal terms and conditions to use the software are defined in the Software License Agreement.
Q. What is an annual subscription?
A. An annual subscription provides Studio, Web Application Server or Client Engine customers with all of the updates, bug fixes and feature enhancements released by Data Access for their particular software product for a period of one year. No additional maintenance or update fees are applicable to Visual DataFlex licenses covered by an annual subscription.
Q. Do purchase prices include an annual subscription?
A. Yes! New VDF Studio, Web Application Server and Client Engine Licenses include a one-year subscription at no additional charge. The annual subscription starts on the date that the license is purchased. Customers may choose to renew the subscription annually.
Q. When a Client Engine or Web Application Server subscription is about to expire, what are customers’ options?
A. Customers with Client Engines have two alternatives when the subscription that accompany’s their new license is about to expire:
1. They can renew their subscription and continue getting new software releases for another year without interruption. To accomplish this, the subscription renewal must occur prior to the expiration of the existing subscription.
2. Alternatively, if the subscription is not renewed and a newer deployment version of VDF is needed in the future, customers can buy an update at then current prices. As of January 2004, the price of deployment licenses is 75% of the price of the original license.
Q. Can revision updates to VDF Studio be purchased?
A. No. Studio Licenses differ from deployment licenses (Client Engine and Web Application Server) in this regard. Studio customers must renew their subscriptions without interruption to maintain entitlement to new releases; Studio updates are not available. If a Studio subscription expires, a new license must be purchased to acquire the latest version.
Q. If a company has 5 Studio Licenses, how many subscriptions are required to keep all of the licenses current?
A. Each Studio License must be individually subscribed to maintain entitlement new releases. A company with 5 Studio Licenses must have 5 subscriptions.
Q. Does Visual DataFlex software stop working when a subscription expires?
A. No. The continuing entitlement to use Visual DataFlex as defined in the License Agreement is independent from the expiration of the subscription. As long as the terms of the License Agreement are followed, customers have a perpetual right to use the last revision of VDF delivered before their subscription expired.
Q. Who buys and maintains Client Engine and Web Application Server Licenses?
A. Licenses and subscriptions for application deployment licenses can be managed by the developer or by the end user of the application. The developer will typically define for his customers how Client Engine and Web Application Server licenses will be managed. For pre-packaged software products, Client Engine licenses are often supplied by the developer as part of the application. In this scenario, the price of the Client Engine license can be transparently bundled into the price of the developer’s application. Subscriptions can also be bundled into the developer’s maintenance or subscription fees for the application. Some application developers have their customers purchase Client Licenses and subscriptions directly from Data Access worldwide, a distributor or channel partner.
Q. Aren’t bug fixes often provided without cost?
A. Bug fix revisions or "Service Packs" are sometimes offered for free. Service Packs typically contain only priority bug fixes and no new features or enhancements. Visual DataFlex subscription releases include major revisions with new features, user suggested enhancements as well as bug fixes so customers get all of the bug fixes that they would normally get, plus the incremental release of new features that they had to wait for and pay for before.
Q. When a major revision to VDF is released (e.g. 9x to 10), is it included in the subscription?
A. Yes. When a major revision occurs, Studio, Web Application Server and Client Engine licenses with active subscriptions have full entitlement to the new revision at no additional cost.
Q. If a developer wants to install VDF applications for a company with 500 users at ten different locations, what kind of licenses are required?
A. This scenario would require a license for the appropriate Number of Clients at each of the 10 locations. While the size of the individual licenses may vary, the essential point is that each site must be uniquely licensed. In some cases, special license terms may be appropriate and DAW often works with developers and their customers to provide customized license agreements for unusual requirements or particularly large scale deployments.
Q. What is a Location License?
A. A Location License is a special form of Client Engine License that provides flexibility and low administration for businesses and organizations with large numbers of Visual DataFlex Clients Engines at one physical location. The Location License provides entitlement for all end users at one legal business entity at one physical building with a unique postal address (the Location) to concurrently use Visual DataFlex Client Engines with application software in server based, shared resource environments. There are restrictions as to when Location Licenses can be used: business entities with multiple locations must have a license for each Location. A Location License provides entitlement to only one business entity; each entity at a Location must have a license. Multi-building facilities and campuses (e.g. Heathrow Airport or the University of Miami) do not qualify as a Location. Neither remote facilities (e.g. branch offices) nor remote employees of the licensed business entity qualify for any entitlements under a Location License. Traveling employees that routinely work at a Location are granted entitlements to use Client Engines on notebook computers. A Location License is not a corporate license. A Location License is not an unlimited license.
Q. If data is exported from a VDF application on a stand alone, single user PC to a host system, what Client Licenses are required?
A. In this specific export-import scenario, so long as there is no direct connection to databases on the host system, a Single Client License is sufficient on the exporting system provided that the host is not running Visual DataFlex. If the host "importer" is also running a VDF application, Client Engine licenses are required for the number of users sharing its resources.
Q. What ultimately defines how many Clients are entitled to use VDF in a particular application environment or scenario?
A. The ultimate control - or perhaps "controlling authority" for software usage is its License Agreement regardless of the presence or functionality of any mechanisms embedded in the software to control or restrict the number of users. Customers are responsible for compliance with the terms and conditions in the License Agreement.
Q. Is customized software licensing available for Visual DataFlex and other Data Access Worldwide products?
A. Yes. Since application software is used in so many different business and deployment models, standard-licensing policies cannot cover all possible requirements. Customers with large numbers of end users or unusual application or business needs should contact either their application developer or Data Access Channel Partner or their regional Data Access office to discuss custom licensing options.
For more information about VDF and VDF licensing, contact your UK Data Access Worldwide reseller, ASCKEY Data Services Ltd or send an e-mail to Sales@Asckey.com.
Visual DataFlex Licensing FAQ