VDGT

The VDGT.OCX currently hosts the following controls:

• VDAMon v 1.4. Interface to various API's not directly available to VB.
• VDPush v 1.3. Push button control.
• VDTTip v 1.1. Tool tip control.

The primary reason for placing them into a single file is to cut down the total file size.

Licensing scheme

Since VDGT is not freeware, a simple licensing scheme has been added. It has been designed to have minimum impact on the development environment, rather than trying to be a copy protection scheme.

The major point is that anyone who wants to pirate a control from VDGT should be aware that he/she is doing so!

Each control will look for the value "VDxxxx" (xxxx depending on the control name) under the registry key "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\Visual Design". This value will look something like "Company name||12345678", where 12345678 is a license key obtained by sending the order form, with money enclosed, to Visual Design Softscape AB.

The installation program will update the registry correctly, but you may also do it directly with REGEDT32.

The controls may be used without a valid license key. When this happens, the control will display its about-box every time it's loaded. This is also true for EXE files produced by a developer without a valid license key. The license key will be buried in any EXE built with VDGT and is therefore not required on the end users machine.

How to order VDGT

Each control from VDGT may be licensed separately. Ordering can be made in one of two ways:

• Print the MS Word document ORDER.DOC, installed together with documentation and samples, and send it to Visual Design Softscape AB with cash enclosed.
• Enter the web order form and pay using your credit card.

Version numbers

The controls in VDGT use a simple scheme for version numbers:

• A version prior to 1.0 is to be considered a beta version. You shall in no circumstances ship an application which relies on such controls. Before v1.0 the whole interface of a control may be changed at will by Visual Design Softscape AB and therefore making your application incompatible with further versions of VDGT.
• A version 1.0 control (and above) will not ever change it's existing interface. There may be additions to it, but an application will always work with a newer version of the control (without any recompiles, of course).
• Minor bug fixes not related to the property/method/event interface will raise the control's version number by 1/100th, i.e. from 1.0 to 1.01.
• Additions to the interface (say a new property) will raise the control's version number to the next 1/10th, i.e. from 1.01 to 1.1.
• The version number of VDGT itself will rise in a manner similar to its controls.

How to find a version number at run time

If your application tries to use a too old version of VDGT, VB may abort with a less descriptive error message. VDGT.OCX exports a subroutine which may be used to test for this situation before it happens.

Declare Sub VDGTVersion Lib "vdgt.ocx" (ByVal strVersion As String, nLen As Integer)

This subroutine may be used to return a version string of the following format:

VDAMon v1.4
VDPush v1.3
VDTTip v1.0

It may be called in two ways:

• When strVersion is vbNullString or nLen is zero, nLen will be set to the number of characters needed to accommodate the version string (including a terminating null character).
• When strVersion is a string and nLen is not zero, up to nLen characters of the version string will be copied to strVersion.

The sample code to VDAMon illustrates how it's done.

Disclaimer

The stuff below is just a boring way to say "If usage of VDGT causes you to loose all your data, hair or money - don't blame us!".

ANY USE BY YOU OF THE SOFTWARE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED FOR USE "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. VISUAL DESIGN SOFTSCAPE AB DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. VISUAL DESIGN SOFTSCAPE AB IS NOT OBLIGATED TO PROVIDE ANY UPDATES TO THE SOFTWARE.

NO LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. In no event shall Visual Design Softscape AB be liable for any damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, incidental, direct, indirect special and consequential damages, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or other pecuniary loss) arising out of the use or inability to use this product, even if Visual Design Softscape AB has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Use of this software signifies your understanding of and agreement to these conditions.

Rev 2000-02-28