We are happy to announce that ​SOLO Server – Build 1.18.1.0 is a major new release with significant improvements such as ​easily-customizable ​license data ​​and distributor / subsidiary self-manage license capabilities.
New Custom License Parameters Feature
A new Custom License Parameters feature is now available, allowing you to define unlimited custom licensing parameters which are then included in the Protection PLUS 5 SDK license file. The parameters can be used for any number of uses such as:
- Limiting which features are available in an application.
- Controlling time limited features in an application.
- Limiting a feature by a counter: for example, limiting the number of concurrent application instances that can be run.
In a nutshell, Custom License Parameters work as follows:
- A custom parameter set is defined, containing any number of custom parameters. The custom parameter set is then associated with any product options that are to use it.
- When adding or editing licenses for product options which are associated with a custom parameter set, form fields for setting the custom parameters will be displayed. When saving, the custom parameter data is then serialized to XML and stored on the License Custom Data field on the license. This field is included in the Protection PLUS 5 SDK license file, allowing it to be used in your application for any purpose.
- Optionally, the custom parameters can be exposed to the customer, in which case they will be displayed on the license details page in the customer license portal.
Watch our video below to see custom license parameters in action, or view the manual topic for more details:
New Multi-Tenant Catalog Mode Feature
A new Multi-Tenant Catalog Mode feature of SOLO Server allows a "master" catalog to be maintained on a "parent" author account, with the ability to replicate the master catalog to "child" author accounts. This is intended for scenarios involving subsidiaries or distributors, where the customers and licenses should be segregated for each subsidiary/distributor, but product catalog maintenance and software builds are done against the master catalog data.
In this mode, a master catalog is maintained on a parent author account. Each child author account then inherits a selective copy of the master catalog, which can be resynchronized after any changes to the parent catalog. When this mode of SOLO Server is enabled:
- Users with appropriate permissions can access a new interface allowing them to synchronize products from the parent catalog to the child catalogs.
- Any web endpoints which verify the Product ID or Product Option ID will validate against the values of the parent product/product option, and the encryption key of the parent author will be used. This allows maintaining a single software build which will work across all child authors.
- Similarly, the download page in the customer license portal will use the parent author's Electronic Software Delivery (ESD) directory, allowing a single download to be maintained.
​View our blog post Distributors & Subsidiaries can now self-manage licenses or ​view this manual topic for more details on the new SOLO Server multi-tenant product catalog mode.
Other Enhancements
- When adding a new customer, if a customer welcome mailing is specified, a new Send Welcome Mailing checkbox will be displayed. Selecting this option will trigger the welcome mailing to be sent to the customer.
- When viewing an existing customer, if a customer welcome mailing is specified, a new Send Welcome Mailing option is now available in the actions menu to resend the welcome mailing.
- Modify Multiple Licenses now supports modifying the Download Until date.
- Custom license mailings sent through the Email Customer option on the license details page now supports additional search/replace variables for author contact details ([varSalesEMail], [varSupportEMail], [varWebSite], [varSupportSite]).
Read the full release notes here. And as always we'd love to hear from you so feel free to reach out and contact us with your questions and feedback.