Stonefield Query is licensed on a per-user basis. That means each user who wants to create and/or run reports in Stonefield Query requires a license. Here's how licensing works:

  • Until Stonefield Query has been activated, it runs in "unactivated" mode. The user is prompted each time they run Stonefield Query if they want to activate it. If they choose to do so, the License Manager appears. They click the Add button to add a license. The registration number that appears is based on several factors, one of which is information about the system where Stonefield Query is installed (not necessarily the workstation it's running on, but the system where the program resides). They enter the serial number they were given when they purchased Stonefield Query and click Online to activate it. The activation code that appears is also based on several factors, including the registration number, serial number, and number of licenses purchased. Licensing information is stored in a file named SFQuery.lic in the Data subdirectory of the program folder. For an unlimited license file, the file is named Unlimited.lic.

  • The same holds true for Stonefield Query Studio; the only difference is the name of the license file, SQConfig.lic.

  • Users in the Administrators user group (such as the ADMIN user) are the only ones who have access to the Maintain Users and Groups dialog in Stonefield Query. In that dialog, an administrative user can only define as many user names as there are licenses. They can also specify which users use which licenses if more than one type of license is installed. For example, if there are two Ultimate and five Basic licenses, they can define up to two Ultimate users and five Basic users.

  • When a user logs in, Stonefield Query does two checks. The first is how many users are currently running Stonefield Query. If all licenses are currently in use (for example, five users are currently in Stonefield Query and there are five licenses in total), the user is informed of this and Stonefield Query terminates. The second check is whether another user is logged in with the same user name. If so, the user is informed of this and Stonefield Query terminates. So, Stonefield Query licensing is a combination of named users (they can only define as many user names as there are licenses) and concurrent use (only as many users as there are licenses can be logged in at the same time).

License types—Stonefield Query Studio

There are two types of licenses of Stonefield Query Studio:

  • Pro: this is a less expensive license intended for consultants, IT staff, or technical people creating a reporting solution for internal use or a single customer who does not need to create a branded version of Stonefield Query and who needs fewer features.

  • Ultimate: this has the full feature set of Stonefield Query Studio and is designed for developers creating reporting solutions for their customers.

The following table shows the features available to each type of license:

FeatureProUltimate
Create setup executableXX
Support calculated fieldsXX
ScriptingXX
Create branded version X
Customized help files X
Support for application views X
Export data dictionary to Microsoft Excel X
Import data dictionary from Excel or XML X
Find possible relationships between tables X

License types—Stonefield Query

There are two types of licenses of Stonefield Query:

  • Basic: Also known as Report Viewer, Basic users cannot create or edit reports and cannot schedule reports.

  • Ultimate: Also known as Report Designer, Ultimate users have full functionality.

There is one other type of license: an Unlimited Report Viewer license allows an unlimited number of users to run reports but not create a new report or copy or edit an existing report. This license allows you to distribute Report Viewer licenses to as many clients at as many sites as you wish without paying individual license fees.

In the case of the usual two license types, a license file named SFQuery.lic is created when the user activates the application. For an unlimited license, you install a file named Unlimited.lic you were provided by Stonefield Software in the Data subdirectory of the Stonefield Query program folder on the user's system (this is normally done as part of the installation).

Managing licenses

The License Manager in the Tools menu, which is only available for users in the Administrators user group, can be used to add or remove Stonefield Query licenses or see the currently installed licenses.

Licensing reports

You can license certain reports so only authorized users can import them. This allows you to protect reports that you charge customers for so only those customers who've paid for the report can use it.


© Stonefield Software Inc., 2024 • Updated: 06/15/21
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