1) Trial version

Double-click the downloaded Windows Installer .exe file, it starts the install. By default, it works in a mode known as "trial version". The package includes a COM component, a developer documentation, 14 samples in 7 languages, and additional tools. When using the trial version, a "trial version" label is inserted in each worksheet.

The first time the product is run, it requires the creation of a trial license file (.lic) otherwise you will get a "Missing license file" error message. This step is done by running the License Tool which connects to a special web page of the xlsgen website.

Buying a license puts an end to the trial version messages.

2) License

When the trial version is expired (after 15 days) or you'd like to make a purchase of a license upfront, there is a License Tool installed as part of the software that takes you to the xlsgen website. Purchasing a license involves a third-party payment processing company (PayPro Global). The third-party payment processing company accepts a number of payment methods including credit cards and other means, and supports many currencies.

Once the product is ordered, an email is sent by the payment processing company, along with the license number that lets you register the product. Just like the trial license file, you need to go to a special webpage on the xlsgen website, in order to create an appropriate license file (.lic).

Note that you need not download any new product binary. The licensed version happens to be an "activated" version of what you have downloaded already.

3) License model

There is one license model : the deployment license which as the name implies makes it possible to deploy the run-time on other machines. It includes 12 months of free updates.

4) Upgrade license

Product upgrades are available on a per year basis. Purchasing upgrades means that product improvements (features and performance) and bug fixes are available to you for 12 months.

5) Free bug fixes

Bug fixes for the current version are freely available and downloadable. Bug fixes are not patches : whenever a bug fix is produced, you need to download the product and reinstall it. The product version available is always the latest release available, cumulating all bug fixes for the current version. Bug fix notifications are posted on the RSS feed associated to the website.