Configuration for multiple developers and build server - Docking/MDI for WPF Forum

Posted 15 years ago by Nate Hekman

Version: 9.2.0511

Hello. This is a general question about using any of the Actipro products--if there's a better place to ask it please let me know. (I don't see a "General" forum?)

I am a new Actipro user, and just trying to figure out how best to set things up. We have a team of seven developers and a build server, so I've bought eight licenses of WPF Studio (eight licenses were cheaper than seven). We use TFS for source control and for automated builds.

In particular I'm wondering:
1. Do we have to run setup to install the Actipro libraries on every developer's computer? Or can I just install it on mine, set up the project's licenses.licx file properly and copy the Actipro assemblies to TFS--next time the other developers do a Get from TFS, should they be all set?

2. In my project, how do I add a reference to an Actipro assembly? Do I have to reference them at c:\program files\actipro\etc.? Or can I copy the Assemblies folder up to where the rest of our code lives and reference it there?

3. What do I do on the build server? Do I need to run setup there too?

Ultimately my confusion comes down to not understanding the licensing. If customers can use the software I write without needing an Actipro license, then what is it that setup is doing?

Hope someone can educate me to clear up my confusion! Any other tips about working with Actipro in this kind of environment would be welcome too.

Nate
GEO-SLOPE International Ltd.
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Comments (2)

Posted 15 years ago by Nate Hekman

After some additional testing I've come up with some answers for myself:

1. We must run setup on every computer that builds the project. If it's built on a computer that didn't have WPF Studio installed, there will be compile-time errors about not being able to find the licenses. Once a project is built on a licensed computer, the licenses are embedded and thus it will run anywhere.

2. Setup installs the assemblies in the GAC. The simplest is to reference them from the GAC, especially since (#1) we've had to run setup on every build machine anyway. But it also works fine to reference them in the filesystem using a relative path.

After building a project, if you want to run it on a computer that does not have WPF Studio installed, you'll have to ensure the assemblies are in the same folder as the exe. In our case we have a "redist" folder in TFS where we'll store the assemblies, and when we build our setup it will grab copies of the assemblies from the redist folder in order to install them along with our app on the client's machine.

3. Yes, setup will have to be run on the build server in order for it to embed the licenses.

Hope this helps others down the road trying to figure out how to share Actipro libraries with a team.

Nate

Posted 15 years ago by Actipro Software Support - Cleveland, OH, USA

Hi Nate,

Sorry about not replying sooner. For some reason I don't believe we received a notification email about your original post.

1) Yes you should run setup on any computer that builds the project because that puts the license data on that computer. And the rest of yor findings are correct here.

2) Correct.

3) Yes, and for build machines you can install and choose minimal options (no docs, samples, etc).

Actipro Software Support

The latest build of this product (v24.1.4) was released 30 days ago, which was after the last post in this thread.

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