All license files require an opening <license > line, where the last line in the license file is the closing </license> tag, and all contents (lines) in between are <feature > elements, plus one signature element.In the first <license > line, there are a number of common attributes, described below.
<license version="3.2" vendor="Tridium" generated="2007-04-11" expiration="2008-03-31" hostId="Win-6827-91CB-C49A-6B4B" serialNumber="4856">
version="3.7" - The highest release version of software which can be installed in the JACE. If a newer version of software is installed,
the JACE will fail on startup with a license version error.
expiration="2013-04-11" - The expiration date of the license file. After the expiration date the Workbench software will fail start due to a license
expired error. Typically, engineering copies of Workbench have expiration dates which expire on an annual basis. License files
for actual projects are issued with non-expiring licenses, where this attribute value is "never".
hostId="Win-6827-91CB-C49A-6B4B" - Alphanumeric code unique to the specific host, which is generated upon installation of the NiagaraAX software on a Windows-based
platform. QNX-based JACE controllers are assigned a hostId similar to this: hostId="Qnx-NPM2-0000-0E8F-2420". The hostId in the license file must match the hostId of the JACE controller, otherwise the JACE cannot run a station.
The "about" feature is used to designate optional information, and does not affect station operation in any way. This information can
be useful for filtering records when searching the license database. Two attributes in this feature are typically designated
when ordering product:
<feature name="about" owner="Tridium" project="Tridium Testing"/>
owner="Tridium" - Optional attribute to designate the name of a person who is responsible for the project or possibly an end user.
For any license with vendor="Tridium", the NiCS (Niagara Compatibility Structure) provides a structure (or schema) that OEMs can use to define the various levels
and types of Niagara interoperability that their products will support. The NiCS definitions are contained in the this feature
item which is checked by a station or tool when it starts up. There are five attributes to the NiCS: BrandID, Station Compatibility
In, Station Compatibility Out, Tool Compatibility In, and Tool Compatibility Out. These elements can be combined in a variety
of ways to achieve unlimited flexibility, and are described below.
<feature
name="brand" brandId="MyBrand" accept.station.in="*" accept.station.out="*" accept.wb.in="*" accept.wb.out="*"/>brandId="MyBrand" - Every licensed station and tool has a Brand Identifier (BrandID). This field holds a text descriptor that the OEM chooses
as the identifier for its product line. Each station or tool can have only one BrandID entry.
accept.station.in="*" - A list of brands that this local station will allow NiagaraAX data to come in from. Simply stated from a JACE perspective,
"this is the list of brands that I can accept data from". The "*" is a wildcard designation to allow all brands.
accept.station.out="*" - A list of brands that this local station will allow NiagaraAX data to be shared with. Simply stated, "This is the list
of brands that I can share data with".
accept.wb.in="*" - A list of brands that this station will allow to be connected to it for engineering of its application. Simply stated,
"This is the list of brands that can engineer me".
This element contains a digital signature which is created when the license file is generated. It prevents tampering with the license file. Attempts to edit the license file to enable additional features will render the license file useless. Typically, the signature element is the last element contained in the license, so it is followed by the closing license tag as the last line in the license file.
<signature>MCwCFFOdq4wJcYgvhTVtrf0oSyuCDCwjAhRj+H9pNxQGStBnhEkIqK8rONB10g==</signature></license>
All licenses for any JACE or Supervisor platform also require a "station" application feature, in order to run a local station. See the section Applications for related details.