Using the LicenseControl

The LicenseControl is used to initialize an application with a suitable license(s) in order for it to run successfully on any machine it is deployed on to. The LicenseControl will configure the licenses at application start time when the form or dialog containing the LicenseControl is loaded. Use the LicenseControl to automatically perform license initialization within simple graphical user interface applications using the MapControl, PageLayoutControl, GlobeControl, SceneControl, TOCControl, ToolbarControl or SymbologyControl. If greater control is required over license initialization, particularly when checking out and in extension licenses (the LicenseControl will check out extension licenses for the duration of an application's life) use the AoInitialize object in the System library to programmatically perform license initialization.

The LicenseControl is visible within a visual design environment, but is invisible at runtime, so unlike the other controls the LicenseControl does not provide any user interface in an application. In design time the LicenseControl property pages must be used to configure the application with product and extension licenses. The LicenseControl is only available with the COM (ActiveX Control) and .NET (Windows Control) APIs.

Select at least one product license the application can be initialized with. By default the LicenseControl will try to initialize the application with the ArcGIS Engine product license. If the product you require is not licensed you may optionally initialize the application with a higher product license. For example, if you select the ArcGIS Engine license and the ArcView license, the LicenseControl will initially try to initialize the application with an ArcGIS Engine license (the lower license). If that license is not available the LicenseControl will try to initialize the application with an ArcView license (the next higher level license selected). If no product licenses are available then the application will fail to initialize. Note, that once an application is initialized with a product license it is not possible to re-initialize the application for the duration of the applications life.

Select the extension licenses required by the application. Not every extension license is available with every product license, as such the list of available extension licenses will change as different product licenses become selected. If the ArcGIS Engine product license is selected and an ArcGIS Desktop product is selected, only the ArcGIS Engine extension licenses will display. The availability of each extension license is checked in conjunction with the product license that the application will ultimately be initialized with. If any of the selected extensions are not available the application will fail to initialize. The LicenseControl will check out extensions directly after the application is initialized and will check in extensions when the application is shutdown.

If a GlobeControl or SceneControl (requiring the 3D Analyst extension) is embedded within the same container as the LicenseControl, the 3D Analyst extension will automatically be checked.

Set whether the LicenseControl will automatically shut down the application if license initialization fails. If the LicenseControl handles license initialization failure a 'License Failure' dialog box will be displayed to the user before the application is shutdown. If the developer handles license initialization failure the ILicenseControl interface members can be used to obtain information on the nature of the failure before the application is programmatically shut down.