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A floating (roaming) license allows multiple users to share use of an application.

With a floating license, if one user is using the software, all other users will be rejected with a warning message. When the user finishes using the software, another user can begin using it.

The floating license can be configured for 1 or more simultaneous users. Access is controlled by a license server - which monitors active licenses and resets them when the software closes (or even when the computer is rebooted or crashes).

The license server is included with the price of the floating license, and is quite different to the Server edition also offered.

Note

You only need to purchase a single copy of the software, which is installed on each client computer and on the server. The server copy is invoked with parameters that makes it run as a server, and the other copies run as the client. The key that we send on purchase determines the maximum number of copies that can be run simultaneously.

Note 2

You must login to download the full copy of the software first - it is different to the evaluation copy.

About these examples

For the examples below, we will use TextPipe.exe as the example, but this equally well applies to WordPipe.exe and ExcelPipe.exe.

Entering your key

To start the server and enter your license key, run

C:\Program Files\TextPipe\TextPipe.exe SERVER REGISTER

The very first time you do this you will be prompted for a key. Enter your key now. The key can be found when you login under the 'Downloads...' link for the product you have purchased.

How to start the server

Choose one computer as the server.

To start the server, run

C:\Program Files\TextPipe\TextPipe.exe SERVER

Now the server is running you can start up client applications.

 

Note: There are several alternative forms of the SERVER command-line option:
  • You can use SERVERX to start it up without a timeout, so that the window will remain on the screen until the user dismisses it.  
  • You can use SERVERDOWN to programmatically shut down the server.

Starting a client

Once the server is running, you can start each client (on the same computer or different computers) as per normal e.g.

C:\Program Files\TextPipe\TextPipe.exe

It will start searching for the server, and if not found, it will abort with an error message. It requires a working TCP/IP network to find the server.

 

You can run the client and server on the same computer. To do so, run:

C:\Program Files\TextPipe\TextPipe.exe SERVER
C:\Program Files\TextPipe\TextPipe.exe

Specifying the server location - .INI file

You can optionally specify the TCP/IP address where TextPipe should look for the server, or change the time-out value, using an INI file setting. Note that this is seldom necessary, it's needed only if the server cannot be automatically found using UDP broadcasts.

Create the file TextPipe.INI in the same folder as TextPipe.exe (usually C:\Program Files\TextPipe) and enter the following text:

[LICENSE]
Server=192.168.0.1
Timeout=3

Server=<IP address> This overrides the UDP broadcast that is used to locate the server, and will let it work on networks that block UDP broadcasts, or over the Internet. Note that this does NOT eliminate the need for UDP, only the need for broadcasts.

Timeout=<seconds> This overrides the amount of time the client waits for a response. The default value is three seconds, and should be sufficient for most purposes.

Working with the Windows XP SP2 firewall

Windows XP Service Pack 2 introduced the Windows Firewall. Although far better than no firewall at all, it leaves something to be desired in the realm of compatibility. Here is the way to open the proper UDP port and make client/server Network Licensing work:

  • First, run the software in server mode, and note the UDP port number that it is listed on the server message window. It will be on the line saying something like "Locator started on UDP port XXXXX", where XXXXX is the number.
  • Go to your Control Panel and click on the Security Center icon.
  • Click on Windows Firewall.
  • Select the "exceptions" tab on the dialog that will appear.
  • Click on the button labeled "Add Port". It will ask for a program name and a port number.
  • Enter the full path and filename for the program file, and the port number you found in the first step, into the edit boxes on that dialog. Also, press the UDP radio button, to change it from TCP to UDP. Then click the OK button.

That should let the client copies locate the server and work as designed.

Upgrading the Server or Client

The server and client use the same executable file but started in different manners. In order to upgrade the client, you also need to upgrade the server at the same time.