Visual Studio 2015 and License Building (yet another need for side by side installations)

[esben]

Hi

We recently upgraded to VS 2015, and in order for dotconnect for oracle to work we had to install a new version as well (8.5.521 to be specific).

Previously when upgrading dotConnect we only had to remove the policy files in GAC in order to build and run older versions of our application, because said applications had copies of their respective dotConnect DLL version in the source tree.

For some reason this stopped working with VS 2015 (worked fined with vs2013 and the older dotConnect version). The licensing tool complaints and the the application fails runtime. The only thing that works reliably is to upgrade dotConnect references in our old source (which we would rather not).

Any suggestion on how to get around this?


The license is applied at the hosting application btw (winformsapp.exe) but its a set of class libraries that uses dotConnect.

[Pinturiccio]

For some reason this stopped working with VS 2015 (worked fined with vs2013 and the older dotConnect version)

Please provide us the version of dotConnect for Oracle you have before 8.5.521.

Probably the following post will be useful for you: http://forums.devart.com/viewtopic.php?p=112872#p112872
This post is about dotConnect for MySQL, but it is also correct for dotConnect for Oracle. You just need to compile the license resource for dotConnect for Oracle instead of dotConnect for MySQL. For more information, please refer to https://www.devart.com/dotconnect/oracl ... ml#compile

[esben]

The previous version (our latest version in production) is 8.4.379.

I am aware we can build the license manually, but we didn't have to before.

Just to be sure, if we build the license manually, can we be sure we won't have to build a new license once we upgrade (for our old branches that is)?

And second, can I build a license for the old version having only installed the new version? If so - why isn't your licenseprovider doing just that :p

[esben]

Okay, I just tested building a license for the old version with the new one installed and it works.

But again, why oh why isnt this done by the license provider implementation?

[esben]

Building the license manually works for the hosting application. However my integration tests (run using mstest) still fail me.

I'm guessing I could add the license manually to my test projects, but I have quite a few of those and would prefer not to have to go through that maintenance hell each time we upgrade dotConnect.

[Pinturiccio]

Just to be sure, if we build the license manually, can we be sure we won't have to build a new license once we upgrade (for our old branches that is)?

Yes, you need to compile license resource once, then add it to you project with corresponding Devart assemblies. When you upgrade dotConnect for Oracle, just delete policy.*.Devart.* files from the GAC. After this your application will be built with old Devart assemblies, and the license resource of the corresponding dotConnect for Oracle version, with which it was compiled, will be embedded to your application every time you build the project.

And second, can I build a license for the old version having only installed the new version?

It would be incorrect. The dotConnect for Oracle version that is installed on the computer is used when compiling a license resource. If your application uses Devart assemblies from dotConnect for Oracle 8.4.379, you need to install dotConnect for Oracle 8.4.379 and compile the license resource with it.

Okay, I just tested building a license for the old version with the new one installed and it works.

As we understood, you have compiled the license resource with dotConnect for Oracle 8.5.521, and the application works correctly using the Devart assemblies from dotConnect for Oracle 8.4.379. Yes, everything should work in this case, but not for every version. We sometimes change the key for checking the license resource. dotConnect for Oracle of versions 8.4.379 and 8.5.521 use the same key, but in some future version the key will be changed, and if you compile the license resource with the new key and will use it with the assemblies from dotConnect for Oracle 8.4.379, your application will not work.

However my integration tests (run using mstest) still fail me.

Please provide the message and stack trace of the exception. Please also send us the command line which you used for compiling the license resource.

[esben]

Regarding the test thing, Im pretty sure no amount of stack trace is going to help you because its obviously missing the license information (since my applications hosting project is not the one hosting the integration/unittests, but mstest is).

Ill just have to script a solution for this, so I guess its "okay" for now.

Please consider allowing us to install multiple dotConnect versions side by side. It would immediately fix most of the licensing issues and allow users to maintain "old" code.

[Pinturiccio]

because its obviously missing the license information

Please make sure that 'MyApplication.exe.licenses' file (for a project with executable result file) or 'MyApplication.dll.licenses' file (for a project with a class library result file) respectively were added to the project as an embedded resource, and that you have cleaned and rebuilt the project after this.

Please consider allowing us to install multiple dotConnect versions side by side. It would immediately fix most of the licensing issues and allow users to maintain "old" code.

Yes, it is a good suggestion, but our installer is not designed for this, and we cannot change it at the moment.

[esben]

I am well aware, of your "installer issues", I've brought up this case before
I am just hoping that complaining enough will make you prioritise it.