Understanding licensing

[JamesCoast]

Hi all and thanks for reading,

I'm trying to figure it out how the developement licensing works.

Can I use VBA with the 9.3 version for free?, do I need a license?
If I have to use Visual Studio to extend ArcMap, what kind of license do I need, the EDN subscription?, if I buy the annual EDN subscription, I'll be licensed to develop in any ESRI platform (Server, Mobile and Desktop)?.

Thank you very much!

James

[AlexanderGray]

For 9.3, you do not need a license for VBA.  For ArcGIS 10, you need a VBA license from esri but license is free, you just have to request it.
To develop ArcGIS desktop in 9.3 or 10 with Visual Studio (2005 or 2008 for ArcGIS 9.3, 2008, 2010 for ArcGIS 10), you do not need an EDN license.  You can just install the developer kit.  To develop server or Engine applications, you need an EDN license.  EDN is not so useful to develop desktop applications because it doesn't include a license ArcGIS desktop, which you need for testing, etc.

I would advise against developing anything new with VBA since it's on its' way out.

[JamesCoast]

For 9.3, you do not need a license for VBA.  For ArcGIS 10, you need a VBA license from esri but license is free, you just have to request it.
To develop ArcGIS desktop in 9.3 or 10 with Visual Studio (2005 or 2008 for ArcGIS 9.3, 2008, 2010 for ArcGIS 10), you do not need an EDN license.  You can just install the developer kit.  To develop server or Engine applications, you need an EDN license.  EDN is not so useful to develop desktop applications because it doesn't include a license ArcGIS desktop, which you need for testing, etc.

I would advise against developing anything new with VBA since it's on its' way out.

I have one Arcinfo license, and I don't know if I would have to purchase some developer license to extend the ArcMap with customized applications developed in Visual Studio (.NET) and ArcObjects. I understand that if I get the EDN it will be only for support purposes, is this correct?.

Thanks a lot for your help,

James

[AlexanderGray]

"I have one Arcinfo license, and I don't know if I would have to purchase some developer license to extend the ArcMap with customized applications developed in Visual Studio (.NET) and ArcObjects."
Yes you can customize ArcMap with your ArcInfo license, you don't need anything else, this is what I have.  You could get in trouble in ArcGIS 10 if you tried to add a mapcontrol to a dockable window, you can't do that without an EDN license.

EDN does not include a license to run ArcMap.  EDN licenses are for development and support of ArcGIS Engine and Server, that means you can't use these licenses for production systems.

[JamesCoast]

Yes you can customize ArcMap with your ArcInfo license, you don't need anything else, this is what I have.  You could get in trouble in ArcGIS 10 if you tried to add a mapcontrol to a dockable window, you can't do that without an EDN license.

EDN does not include a license to run ArcMap.  EDN licenses are for development and support of ArcGIS Engine and Server, that means you can't use these licenses for production systems.

Thank you very much Alexander, I'm sorry to bother you but I've spent many time looking for an answer.

Can I add a mapcontrol to a dockable window in ArcMap 9.3 without the EDN?.

I want to try to develop an extension, so I'll add one button to ArcMap and my application will start, I pretend to use the extension to manage attributes, make some editing tasks, etc. (something like a very lite version of the XTools extension: http://www.xtoolspro.com/). Do I need the EDN for that?.

have a great day,

James

[AlexanderGray]

Licensing is a bit opaque, I understand the frustration.  I am not all that familiar with xtools,  last time I looked it was in 2003.
In ArcGIS 9.3.1, there is no technical limitation to adding a mapcontrol to your project but my understanding is this somehow violates a license agreement.  Unless you plan on never moving to ArcGIS 10, I would avoid that because there is a technical limitation to doing it in ArcGIS 10.  If you have an EDN subscription you can do it. 

If you plan on doing development with ArcGIS Engine controls (map, toc, toolbar, pagelayout controls) and ArcMap, you need EDN + some desktop license (arcview, arceditor or arcinfo.)  So you have to pay twice for the privilege.

[NeilClemmons]

Can I add a mapcontrol to a dockable window in ArcMap 9.3 without the EDN?.

Yes.  Prior to ArcGIS 10, the MapControl and PageLayoutControl were distributed with both the Desktop SDK and the Engine SDK.  You can use them to customize ArcGIS Desktop as well as in standalone applications.  At ArcGIS 10, these controls are no longer distributed with the Desktop SDK.  You can still use them the same as before but you will need to purchase an Engine developer license and install the Engine SDK.  You don't need an Engine runtime license for an ArcGIS customization as the Desktop license is still sufficient.

[JamesCoast]

If you plan on doing development with ArcGIS Engine controls (map, toc, toolbar, pagelayout controls) and ArcMap, you need EDN + some desktop license (arcview, arceditor or arcinfo.)  So you have to pay twice for the privilege.

Thanks again Alexander,

Ok so if I pretend to develop some Desktop extension for the version 10, I must subscribe to the EDN.

As I already have one ArcInfo license, I understand that I can use it for development right?, I mean I don't need to get another ArcInfo license along with the EDN, right?, I don't have to pay twice then...

@Neil,

"purchase an Engine developer license and install the Engine SDK"

When you say Purchase an Engine developer license, does it mean subscribe to the EDN?

Thanks a lot,

James

[AlexanderGray]

Ok so if I pretend to develop some Desktop extension for the version 10, I must subscribe to the EDN.

Only if you plan to use Engine controls with your desktop extension.  You can do a lot without those controls.

[UjjwalNigam]

Hi,
I might be replying a little late, but never mind!

The ArcGIS licensing says:
* If you're "extending (customizing)" Desktop, you either need an ArcGIS license (Viewer/Editor/Info) or a runtime license of the same. By installing ArcMap on the target machine, all conditions are satisfied and you don't need any separate license. However, you should not use the same license for both development and production, as it violates the ESRI license agreement.

* ArcGIS Engine now comes under EDN and in order to develop Engine applications (which essentially are standalone applications and do not require ArcGIS installation as a pre-requisite), you need to have a development license and a runtime license. EDN is subscription based.

Till the time you're installing ArcGIS Dektop on target machine, you can either use VBA or .Net and other supported development frameworks to code your customization, choice is yours! The licensing would be implicit as you would be acquiring some or the other license for the Desktop installation on target machine.

Please note that the features/functionalities available to the custom code would purely depend on the license level (i.e. View, Editor or Info) of ArcGIS. What I mean is, if you develop using ArcEditor and purchase a ArcView license on the target machine (to save cost or whatever reason), ONLY ArcView functionalities would be available to the custom code, or might just fail.

In short, the capabilities exposed to the custom code are directly equal to the license checked out by the ArcGIS Desktop.

Hope it helps...!