"Evaluation version" problem

[jrolston]

Hi,

I recently upgraded to Measurement Studio 8.5 from 8.1 and from Visual Studio 2005 to 2008.  After converting my 2005 projects to 2008, I'm getting an "Evaluation version" notice on my ActiveX graphs.  I tried the License Fixer Utility, but this didn't help.  I also uninstalled Measurement Studio 8.1, and this didn't help either.  Lastly, I deleted all the controls, deleted the references, re-added the references to the ActiveX libraries, and reinserted the controls.  Still no help.  How can I get my ActiveX controls properly licensed?

Thanks,

John

[JonathanN]

Hi John,

Perhaps you can elaborate some more on what software you had installed before and after upgrading to Measurement Studio 8.5. Questions I have are:

1. I assume you are using some .NET language like C# or VB.NET and just hosting the ActiveX controls on a Windows Form?
2. What package of Measurement Studio do you have?
3. How did you get those ActiveX controls onto your development system? You could have either installed the Visual Studio 6 Support CD which contains the ActiveX controls or installed C++ support and also gained these ActiveX controls. If you did the first option, I assume you have either Measurement Studio Professional or Enterprise?
4. Do you see the evaluation message on all ActiveX UI controls?
5. Did you happen to install any evaluation version on that systems at any given time?
6. If you go back to your Visual Studio 2005 project, do the controls on your WinForm display eval?

If re-adding the controls to your existing project still caused the controls to be in evaluation mode, my feeling is that you have gotten the evaluation versions of cwui.ocx on your system. Can you use these controls in a brand new Visual Studio 2008 project without seeing the behavior?

Lastly, are you saying that simply upgrading a project that contains ActiveX controls from Visual Studio 2005 to Visual Studio 2008 caused this issue. I almost feel like there is something else going on.

Best Regards,

[jrolston]

Thanks for the quick response, Jonathan.  Below are answers to your questions.

I assume you are using some .NET language like C# or VB.NET and just hosting the ActiveX controls on a Windows Form?

Yes, C#

What package of Measurement Studio do you have?

Professional

How did you get those ActiveX controls onto your development system? You could have either installed the Visual Studio 6 Support CD which contains the ActiveX controls or installed C++ support and also gained these ActiveX controls. If you did the first option, I assume you have either Measurement Studio Professional or Enterprise?

I didn't do anything special to load them.  They were present after the default install.

Do you see the evaluation message on all ActiveX UI controls?

I've only tried the 2D graphs.

Did you happen to install any evaluation version on that systems at any given time?

Never

If you go back to your Visual Studio 2005 project, do the controls on your WinForm display eval?

Haven't tried this yet.

I'm currently trying to uninstall all Measurement Studio products, then reinstall them, to see if that works.

[JonathanN]

Hi jrolston,

1. What specific version of Measurement Studio 8.1 did you have before (8.1, 8.1.1, 8.1.2)?
2. Did you ever install the Visual Studio 6.0 Support CD?
3. When you ran the ActiveX Licenser Utility, did it showed you have valid licenses?

This information is kinda important as I want to be able to reproduce the issue since what you are seeing should not have happened. 

Thanks

Best Regards,

[jrolston]

What specific version of Measurement Studio 8.1 did you have before (8.1, 8.1.1, 8.1.2)?

8.1.2

Did you ever install the Visual Studio 6.0 Support CD?

I first installed Meas. Studio a couple of years ago, so I can't say for sure.  But I highly doubt that I would have done so (I never used Visual Studio 6.0).

When you ran the ActiveX Licenser Utility, did it showed you have valid licenses?

Only 1 license showed up, for 3D graphs.  It was on the left (I forget the title of that box).

Thanks again,

John

[jrolston]

One more thing that's probably relevant: The upgrade I got for Meas. Studio 8.5 came with a new serial number.  Could that be the problem?

[jrolston]

Alright, I uninstalled all National Instruments products, then reinstalled only Measurement Studio 8.5.  The graphs are still labeled "Evalutation Copy."

[jrolston]

I also checked the project in Visual Studio 2005--this now says Evaluation Copy as well.

[JonathanN]

Hi jrolston,

That serial number doesn't have anything to do with evaluation mode for those ActiveX controls. The most common scenario is that at some point, the evaluation software was installed and those controls remained in evaluation mode for some reason.

This doesn't seem to be the case you are running into and after thinking more about your setup, I have a hunch what might be the problem. As I mentioned earlier, the only ways to get copies of the ActiveX controls onto your system are by either installing the separate CD that comes with Measurmeent Studio Pro and later that contains Visual Studio 6 support or by selecting Measurement Studio Visual C++ support in the main installer dialog. Now, the catch to remember is that for Visual Studio 2008, we don't have support for C++ and thus you won't have this option in the installer dialog.   My thinking is that maybe our installer is removing the necessary registry keys that enable licensing for ActiveX controls.  If you loked in your Windows\System32\ directory, I bet you have the cwui.ocx file which houses the 2D graph ActiveX control. However, I bet you either don't have the necessary registry keys or they are just plain incorrect. Can you please check the SaveAs registry keys located under HKLM\Software\National Instruments\ComponentWorks\CWUI\CWSaveAs\...  You should see several keys where each key is a GUID. Select each one and look at the Version value. What are these values? Alternatively you could export that registry file and post it here on the forums for me to look at.

Now, as a possible fix, try the steps below:

1) After exporting the SaveAs registry key, delete that key

2) Unregister the cwui.ocx control

3) Run the Visual Studio 2008 installer

4) Run the Visual Studio 2005 installer (with C++ support enabled). By running the 2005 installer after 2008, the appropriate registry keys should be added

Try this and let me know what you find

Best Regards,

[jrolston]

Thanks, Jonathan.

I do indeed have the cwui.ocx file in my Sys32 dir.  The registry keys aren't there, however.  The only ones in the ComponentWorks tree are CW3DGraph and CWDS.  CW3DGraph has a CWSaveAs key with Version = 524289.  CWDS has CurrentVersion with Reg_SZ = 4.1.2.3 and CWSaveAs with Version = 262144. 

I actually just uninstalled Visual Studio 2005, so I'm now reinstalling so Measurement Studio will let me install the C++ support.  I'll let you know how that goes.