Autodesk SAMreport-Lite User Manual

SAMreport-Lite

Ppp

USER’S GUIDE

™

and Macrovision Corporation. All

rights reserved. GLOBEtrotter

Software products contain certain

confidential information of

GLOBEtrotter Software and

Macrovision Corporation. Use of this

does not imply publication or

disclosure. No part of this publication

may be reproduced, transmitted,

transcribed, stored in a retrieval

system, or translated into any language

in any form by any means without the

written permission of GLOBEtrotter

Software and Macrovision

Corporation.

RADEMARK

GLOBEtrotter and FLEXlm are

registered trademarks of

GLOBEtrotter Software and

Macrovision Corporation. All other

brand and product names mentioned

herein are the trademarks and

registered trademarks of their

respective owners.

ownership rights of independently

developed commercial software.

Portions of SAMreport User's Guide and

Demo Guide are included with permission

of Macrovision Corporations,

GLOBEtrotter Software Division

Autodesk, and AutoCAD are either

registered trademarks or trademarks of

Autodesk, Inc., in the U.S.A. and/or other

countries. All other brand names, product

names, or trademarks belong to their

respective holders.

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the Rights of Technical Data and

Computer Software clause of DFARS

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and/or applicable Federal Acquisition

Regulation protecting the commercial

Chapter 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Intended Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

About This Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

What is License Management? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

What is SAMreport-Lite? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chapter 2 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Overview of SAMreport-Lite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Installing SAMreport-Lite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Obtain a License File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Install Java Runtime Environment . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Install SAMreport-Lite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Set Up an Options File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Using SAMreport-Lite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Starting SAMreport-Lite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Exiting SAMreport-Lite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Tour of the SAMreport-Lite Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Generating a Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Upgrading to SAMreport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Chapter 3 Basics of Generating a Report. . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Generate a Usage Summary Report . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

iii

Chapter 4 Usage Summary Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Output Arrangement and Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Chapter 5 Report Input and Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Specifying Input Report Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Displaying Output to the Viewer Window. . . . . . . . . . 24

Navigating the SAMreport-Lite Viewer Window . . . . . . . . 25

Selecting Output Type and Output File Names . . . . . . . . 25

Output Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Data Filters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Reports and Time Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Setting Start and End Dates for a Report . . . . . . . . . . 29

Appendix A Enabling and Managing Report Logs. . . . . . . . 31

How to Turn on a Report Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Size of the Report Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Flushing Data to a Report Log. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Managing Report Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Finding the Version of the Vendor Daemon and lmswitchr . . 35

Rotating a Report Log with lmswitchr . . . . . . . . . 35

Avoiding Corruption in Report Logs . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Appendix B SAMreport-Lite Error Messages . . . . . . . . . 37

iv | Contents

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Introduction

This chapter contains introductory information about

license management, a description of SAMreport-Lite

and explanatory information about this guide.

™

In this chapter

■ Intended Audience

■ About This Manual

■ What is License Management?

■ What is SAMreport-Lite?

Intended Audience

SAMreport-Lite and this manual are intended for use by system administrators, system analysts, and managers who use FLEXlm to produce usage reports for your software.

About This Manual

This manual is divided into five chapters and two appendixes:

■ This chapter defines license management and introduces SAMreport-Lite.

■ Chapter 2, Getting Started, provides an overview of SAMreport-Lite’s capa-

bilities and provides instructions for installing and using the program.

■ Chapter 3, Basics of Generating a Report, contains instructions for

generating a Usage Summary report from the SAMreport-Lite interface.

■ Chapter 4, Usage Summary Report, describes the Usage Summary report,

and describes how to arrange report output.

■ Chapter 5, Report Input and Output, shows how to specify input and

output files and describes output formats.

■ Appendix A, Enabling and Managing Report Logs, provides guidelines for

enabling and managing report logs.

■ Appendix B, SAMreport-Lite Error Messages, lists some errors that you

might get while running SAMreport-Lite.

What is License Management?

license management

License management is a set of technologies that monitors the use of software. In some cases, it may also limit use of a product or record usage of a product.

Most software companies have legal agreements that detail the obligations of the manufacturer and user to each other. These agreements are often referred to as “licenses.” Some companies also include license management technology to simplify the legal use of their products. Throughout this documentation, the term “license” refers to a “token” obtained through some electronic technology, not the legal agreement between a customer and a software vendor.

License management is embedded into a software product by the software vendor.

2 | Chapter 1 Introduction

What is SAMreport-Lite?

SAMreport-Lite, a member of the GLOBEtrotter family of Software Asset Management (SAM) Solutions, is a report generator that helps you monitor the usage of applications that use FLEXlm. SAMreport-Lite complements FLEXlm by providing a graphical user interface (GUI) from which to run usage reports. SAMreport-Lite can help you make better decisions about your software assets.

SAMreport-Lite generates reports based on the license usage activity recorded in FLEXlm report logs. FLEXlm report logs are produced by vendor daemons and maintain a record of the activity of the vendor daemon. “Enabling and Managing Report Logs” on page 31 describes how to start and manage report log files.

The SAMreport-Lite report generator comes with a predefined report type, which allows you to quickly start generating reports. The report summarizes data from your report logs into categories.

SAMreport-Lite processes the data from one or more report log files and writes the results to a file and/or displays results on the screen. The Usage Summary report produces a textual output that summarizes the usage statistics of each feature. The output of this report can be saved to files in text, HTML, or Report Interchange Format (RIF). RIF can be used to export report data to another software program, such as a spreadsheet.

What is SAMreport-Lite? | 3

Getting Started

SAMreport-Lite™ creates a customizable activity report

summarizing usage statistics for FLEXlm

licenses. This chapter provides an overview of

SAMreport-Lite’s capabilities and provides instructions

for installing and using the program.

network

In this chapter

■ Overview of SAMreport-Lite

■ System Requirements

■ Installing SAMreport-Lite

■ Using SAMreport-Lite

■ Starting SAMrepor t-Lite

■ Exiting SAMreport-Lite

■ Tour of the SAMreport-Lite

Interface

■ Upgrading to SAMreport

Overview of SAMreport-Lite

Using SAMreport-Lite, you can generate a network license-usage report, called Usage Summary, for Autodesk technology.

You can customize the Usage Summary report. For example, you can

■ Define the start and end dates for any reporting period covered by a log

file.

■ Sort and summarize reports by feature, user name, or user host name.

■ Combine a number of log files into a single report.

■ Specify filters to generate a report about specific users or features.

You can save a Usage Summary report as an HTML, Text, or RIF (Report Interchange Format) file.

SAMreport-Lite provides some of the features from SAMreport, the report-writing product made by GLOBEtrotter Software provides support for SAMreport-Lite. If you have any support issues concerning SAMreport-Lite, use the same channels for support that you use for your Autodesk product.

System Requirements

SAMreport-Lite is a Java-based application that requires the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). SAMreport-Lite runs best on systems with at least 64MB of memory. Running with less memory can slow performance when generating large reports.

software that uses FLEXlm licensing

. Autodesk (not GLOBEtrotter)

SAMreport-Lite was designed for a display setting of 800 × 600 pixels or greater. Use Windows

Control Panel to set your display settings.

Installing SAMreport-Lite

There are three steps you need to perform when you install SAMreport-Lite:

1 Obtain a License File. 2 Install Java Runtime Environment. 3 Install SAMreport-Lite.

6 | Chapter 2 Getting Started

Obtain a License File

You cannot install SAMreport-Lite until you receive a license file for the product. You are asked for the location of this file during installation. For a link to the GLOBEtrotter Software Web page where you can register SAMreport-Lite and request a license file, visit the Autodesk website at:

www.autodesk.com/samreportlite

You can choose the type of server model you will use to generate a report log:

■ Single license server

■ Redundant license server

■ Distributed license server

You need to enter the host IDs for each server that generates a report log for SAMreport-Lite. For more information about report logs, see “Report Input and Output” on page 23.

For more information about network licensing, see the Autodesk Network Licensing Guide, located on your product’s CD Browser or in the Help system.

After you receive the license file, be sure to note where you saved the file and what you named it. You are prompted for the location of the license file during the installation process.

Install Java Runtime Environment

SAMreport-Lite requires the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for some of its processing. If you already have JRE 1.4.1_01 installed on your computer, you do not need to install the JRE supplied on the Autodesk product CD Browser.

Install SAMreport-Lite

To install SAMreport-Lite

1 Insert the product CD into your CD-ROM drive. 2 On the CD Browser, click Network Deployment to access network-related

material.

3 In Step 4, Install Supplemental Tools, click SAMreport-Lite 3.2. 4 If the Java Runtime Environment is not installed on your computer, click

InstallJRE 1.4.1_01, and follow the on-screen instructions for that product.

5 Click Install, and follow the on-screen instructions for installing

SAMreport-Lite.

Installing SAMreport-Lite | 7

Set Up an Options File

The Options file in the Network License Manager controls various license management parameters, including enabling the creation of a report log for SAMreport-Lite. You need to create a file named adskflex.opt.

Note Complete instructions for setting up an options file are located in the

Autodesk Network Licensing Guide. You can access the guide from your product’s CD Browser or in the Help system.

To create a report log

1 In a text editor, open the adskflex.opt file. 2 In the Options file, enter the following syntax on its own line:

REPORTLOG [+]report_log_path

Note REPORTLOG must be uppercase, as shown. In addition, path names

that contain spaces must be enclosed in quotation marks.

In the REPORTLOG syntax, “[+]” means that entries to the log file you create are appended rather than replaced each time the Network License Manager is restarted. (It is recommended that you use this option so that you retain a history of log entries.)

For example, the syntax “ means that a report log named report.rl is located in the folder c:\My Documents.

REPORTLOG +c:\My Documents\report.rl”

3 Save the adskflex.opt file to the same location where you license file exists. 4 Stop and then restart the Network License Manager.

8 | Chapter 2 Getting Started

Using SAMreport-Lite

Because SAMreport-Lite is a Java-based application, it does not have the look and feel of standard Windows applications. The topics in this section help you get started in producing your first report.

Starting SAMreport-Lite

To start SAMreport-Lite, do one of the following:

■ For Windows XP. On the Start menu (Windows), click Start ➤ All

Programs ➤ SAMreport ➤ SAMreport.

■ For Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0. On the Start menu

(Windows), click Start ➤ Programs ➤ SAMreport ➤ SAMreport.

After a few seconds, the SAMreport-Lite logo screen appears; after a few more seconds, the SAMreport-Lite main window appears.

Using SAMreport-Lite | 9

Exiting SAMreport-Lite

Select File ➤ Exit or click the Exit button to close the SAMreport-Lite interface.

Tour of the SAMreport-Lite Interface

The top portion of the SAMreport-Lite main window contains three menus.

File Command to exit SAMreport-Lite. The command to exit

is also found on a button on the toolbar.

Report Commands to start and stop generating reports. These

commands are also found on buttons on the toolbar.

Status Commands to clear the entries in the Status History

pane or to save the status entries to a file.

The SAMreport-Lite toolbar contains three shortcut buttons, whose functions are also available in menus:

■ Generate Report

■ Stop Report Generator

■ Exit SAMreport-Lite

To the right of the toolbar is a text box that displays the most recent status message. The history of status messages is available in the Status History pane.

10 | Chapter 2 Getting Started

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