You can easily download an evaluation version of Aspose.Grid from its download page . The evaluation version provides absolutely the same capabilities as the licensed version of Aspose.Grid. Furthermore, evaluation version simply becomes licensed when you purchase a license and add a couple of lines of code to apply the license.

 

Evaluation Version Limitation

Evaluation version of Aspose.Grid (without a license specified) provides full product functionality except that an extra Evaluation Copyright Warning sheet is added in the control as shown in the figure below:

 

 

Figure: Evaluation Watermark

 

Note: If you want to test Aspose.Grid without evaluation version limitations, you can also request a 30 Day Temporary License.

 

About the License

The license is a plain text XML file that contains details such as the product name, number of developers it is licensed to, subscription expiry date and so on. The file is digitally signed, so don't modify the file. Even inadvertent addition of an extra line break into the file will invalidate it.

You need to set a license before utilizing Aspose.Grid if you want to avoid its evaluation limitations. It is only required to set a license once per application (or process).

 

Setting a License in Aspose.Grid

In Aspose.Grid, license can be loaded from a file, stream or an embedded resource.

Aspose.Grid tries to find the license in the following locations:

• Explicit path
• The folder that contains the dll of the component (included in Aspose.Grid)
• The folder that contains the assembly that called the dll of the component (included in Aspose.Grid)
• The folder that contains the entry assembly (your .exe)
• An embedded resource in the assembly that called the dll of the component (included in Aspose.Grid)

Note: If you are using Aspose.Grid.Desktop control then the license class will be used as Aspose.Grid.Desktop.License but if you are using Aspose.Grid.Web control then Aspose.Grid.Web.License class will be used to set the license.

There are two common methods to set the license, which are discussed below:

 

1st Method (Using File or Stream)

The easiest way to set a license, is to put the license file in the same folder as that of the dll of the component (included in Aspose.Grid) and specify just the file name without its path.

 

Example:

[C#]

 

 

//Instantiate an instance of license and set the license file through its path

Aspose.Grid.Desktop.License license = new Aspose.Grid.Desktop.License();

license.SetLicense("Aspose.Grid.lic");

 

 

[VB.NET]

 

 

'Instantiate an instance of license and set the license file through its path

Dim license As Aspose.Grid.Web.License = New Aspose.Grid.Web.License()

license.SetLicense("Aspose.Grid.lic")

 

Note: When you call SetLicense method, the license name should be same as that of your license file name. For example, you may change the license file name to "Aspose.Grid.lic.xml". Then in your code, you should use the modified license name (that is Aspose.Grid.lic.xml) for the SetLicense method.

It is also possible to load a license from a stream.

Example:

[C#]

 

 

//Instantiate an instance of license and set the license through a stream

Aspose.Grid.Web.License license = new Aspose.Grid.Web.License();

license.SetLicense(myStream);

 

 

[VB.NET]

 

 

'Instantiate an instance of license and set the license through a stream      

Dim license as Aspose.Grid.Web.License = new Aspose.Grid.Web.License()

license.SetLicense(myStream)

 

2nd Method (Using Embedded Resource)

Another neat way of packaging the license with your application and making sure it will not be lost, is to include it as an embedded resource into one of the assemblies that calls the dll of the component (included in Aspose.Grid). To include the license file as an embedded resource, perform the following steps:

• In Visual Studio .NET, include the license (.lic) file into the project using the File | Add Existing Item... menu

• Select the file in the Solution Explorer and set Build Action to Embedded Resource in the Properties window

 

 

To access the license embedded in the assembly (as embedded resource), it is not needed to call GetExecutingAssembly and GetManifestResourceStream methods of System.Reflection.Assembly class of Microsoft .NET Framework. All is needed to do, is to just add the license file as an embedded resource to your project and pass the name of the license file into SetLicense method. The License class will automatically find the license file in the embedded resources.

Please review the example given below to understand this method of setting license (embedded) in your applications.

Example:

[C#]

 

 

//Instantiate the License class

Aspose.Grid.Desktop.License license = new Aspose.Grid.Desktop.License();

 

 

//Pass only the name of the license file embedded in the assembly

license.SetLicense("Aspose.Grid.lic");

 

 

[VB.NET]

 

 

'Instantiate the License class

Dim license As Aspose.Grid.Desktop.License =  New Aspose.Grid.Desktop.License()

 

 

'Pass only the name of the license file embedded in the assembly

license.SetLicense("Aspose.Grid.lic")

 

Special Notes of Setting a License in Aspose.Grid.Desktop for a WinForm Application

It's recommended that you should put your licensing code before your application starts and place it only one time. For example, for a windows C# application, you may put the licensing code in the Main method.

Example:

[VB]

……..

public class Form1 : System.Windows.Forms.Form

{

private Aspose.Grid.Desktop.GridDesktop gridDesktop1;

/// <summary>

/// Required designer variable.

/// </summary>

private System.ComponentModel.Container components = null;

public Form1()

{

//

// Required for Windows Form Designer support

//

InitializeComponent();

//

// TODO: Add any constructor code after InitializeComponent call

//

}

/// The main entry point for the application.

/// </summary>

.

.

.

.

[STAThread]

static void Main()

{

Aspose.Grid.Desktop.License lic = new Aspose.Grid.Desktop.License();

//Use this line if you are using an explicit path for the license file.

lic.SetLicense(@"C:\Aspose.Grid.lic");

//Or use the line below if you are using the license file as an embedded resource.

//lic.SetLicense("Aspose.Grid.lic");

Application.Run(new Form1());

}

private void Form1_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)

{

Aspose.Grid.Desktop.Worksheet sheet = this.gridDesktop1.Worksheets.Add("MySheet");

sheet.Cells["A1"].SetCellValue("Hello");

gridDesktop1.ActiveSheetIndex = 1;

}

 

}

 

[VB]

Public Class Form1

    Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form

 

#Region " Windows Form Designer generated code "

 

    Public Sub New()

       

        MyBase.New()

 

        Dim lic As Aspose.Grid.Desktop.License = New Aspose.Grid.Desktop.License

        'Use this line if you are using and explicit path for the license file.

        lic.SetLicense("C:\Aspose.Grid.lic")

        'Or use the line below if you are using the license file as an embeded resource.

        'lic.SetLicense("Aspose.Grid.lic");

       

 

        'This call is required by the Windows Form Designer.

        InitializeComponent()

 

'Add any initialization after the InitializeComponent() call

 

      

 

   End Sub

 

   

 

.

.

.

 

#End Region

 

    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

 

        Dim sheet As Aspose.Grid.Desktop.Worksheet = Me.GridDesktop1.Worksheets.Add("MySheet")

        sheet.Cells("A1").SetCellValue("Hello")

        GridDesktop1.ActiveSheetIndex = 1

 

 

 

 

    End Sub

End Class

 

Special Notes of Setting a License in Aspose.Grid.Web

It's recommended to put the licensing code in the Global.asax.cs of your web application(this license file is assumed to be put on the " d:\ "):

[C#]

 

 

protected void Application_Start(Object sender, EventArgs e)

  {

   Aspose.Grid.Web.License lic = new Aspose.Grid.Web.License();

   lic.SetLicense(@"d:\Aspose.Grid.Web.lic.xml");

  }

 

 

[Visual Basic]

 

 

Sub Application_Start(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)

   Dim lic As Aspose.Grid.Web.License =  New Aspose.Grid.Web.License()

   lic.SetLicense("d:\Aspose.Grid.Web.lic.xml")       

End Sub

The following example shows how to load a license from a stream:

[C#]

 

 

protected void Application_Start(Object sender, EventArgs e)

  {

   Aspose.Grid.Web.License lic = new Aspose.Grid.Web.License();

   lic.SetLicense(myStream);

  }

 

 

 

 

[Visual Basic]

 

 

Sub Application_Start(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)

  Dim lic As Aspose.Grid.Web.License =  New Aspose.Grid.Web.License()

  lic.SetLicense(myStream)

End Sub