Questions & Answers

This chapter answers some of the most common questions posed about the License Service API.

How do licenses get distributed and installed?
The license is separate from the application binary. The possibility of a single license install API will be explored at a later date and as a separate issue.

Should an iconized application in a windowing environment release its license?
There is a risk that the license may not be available when the user decides to reopen the minimized application.

What happens if an application terminates unexpectedly? Is the license lost?
Many license systems are capable of detecting this situation and will recover the license properly. This is a good criteria to bear in mind when selecting license systems to support/issue licenses under.

What do licenses look like?
This depends upon the particular license system. They may simply be a paper certificate with some information that is manually entered, or they may be a binary file, or a combination thereof.

Which licensing system should I issue licenses for?
It is not within the scope of this specification to answer such a question. Each of the currently available systems has its own merits on which to be evaluated (e.g., reliability, security, market penetration, flexibility of license policies, etc.). You may choose to issue licenses for more than one license system if business needs dictate.