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Making an Inventory | Configuring Tools and Settings | |
This chapter describes SmartFind Plus metering.
SmartFind Plus is metered on a line-of-code basis, which means that the code has to be metered before you can process it. However, only one person needs to meter the code and then everyone can process the code without further cost.
The code is metered by means of a usage counter, sometimes referred to as a dongle, that is credited with a number of lines of code. When someone meters code, the usage counter must be attached to the back of that person's PC and then the counter is debited by the appropriate number of lines.
Each line of code needs to be metered only once, and so a record is kept of which code has been metered in a metering control file. When you want to process some code, the metering control file is checked to confirm that the code has been metered.
To meter code you need to be authorized. You need an enabled usage counter and write access to a metering control file. To acquire these, someone in your organization needs to have Metering Administration, which is a separately purchasable product.
For more information see the Administration Guide, if you have the Metering Administration product.
If the code is already metered, you can use both the analysis tools and worksheet, and start working on that code.
If SmartFind Plus can not confirm that the code is metered, the Metering Wizard starts up and guides you through the metering process. This also happens if you edit the source and want to process it again, since the edited source files need to be loaded into the database, and the new lines need to be metered.
We recommend that the number of users authorized to meter code is kept to a minimum. In some organizations, one person takes responsibility for the metering control file, for metering all the code and securing the usage counter.
The Metering Wizard first requires you to point to the metering control file that the administrator has set up for you to use. Then:
After metering the code, we recommend that you remove the usage counter and keep it under lock and key since it is valuable. If you have finished metering for the time being, we recommend that you return the usage counter to the administrator for temporary disabling.
Note: If you have problems with a usage counter not being recognized, you might need to reboot your PC to re-enable the drivers. Look up usage counter in the index of the help for other suggestions on how to solve this.
The metering control file is valuable. Every time you meter code, it becomes more valuable, because it gives you access to all the metered code. Eventually, it will be more valuable than the usage counter itself. If you lose or damage, or corrupt it, you will not be able to process the metered code. You will need to meter the code again using the usage counter.
To ensure the security of the metering control file, only the metering administrator can create metering control files and set the security protection on them.
Warning: There is a risk that you could meter code that has already been metered in another file. This could happen if you are authorized to meter code and you have both a usage counter and write access to several metering control files.
If you have write access to any metering control files, we strongly recommend that you:
The usage counters are valuable. They have a direct monetary value, since they contain line-of-code credits that you have paid for. Only the administrator can activate usage counters.
If you have a usage counter, we recommend that you:
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Making an Inventory | Configuring Tools and Settings | |