Floating licenses are suitable for companies wishing to automate the management of Enterprise Architect registration keys, providing the facility to administer the licenses via the Sparx Enterprise Key Store. This is a free service with the purchase of floating licenses and can be downloaded from the registered users section of the Sparx Systems Website.

If you have existing Enterprise Architect (EA) licenses on corporate Floating and want upgrade to floating Edition, please send us an email with your license and access to data sales(at)sparxsystems.eu and we would be happy to send you a quote.

The Keystore is included in Enterprise Architect Corporate Floating Edition. It consists of SSKeyStore.exe (Installation under Windows/NT/2000/XP) and the keyfile - sskeys.dat, which can be stored on a Windows, Samba, Wine or Novell based file system. The sskeys.dat file requires read/write/modify rights. The applikation Keystore is used only for the administration of sskeys.dat. The Keystore is a process and not a service.

Enterprise Architect can be installed on each computer, the simultaneous use (concurrent use) is determined by the number of available Floating Keys. Change from Named use to Floating requires no reinstallation and can be configured in EA.

Keystore Installation
The Keystore application allows the key administrator to define two different modes of operation: one mode is with an auto check-in and check-out facility (which requires Enterprise Architect version 5.0 build 768 or higher to operate). The other mode of operation allows the administrator to define a time limit for each floating license key; this time limit should be set according to the user's needs. After this pre-set time limit has passed, the key will expire and automatically be returned to the Key Store, making the key available for other users. Each time a user utilizes Enterprise Architect and has access to the network file location containing the key store file; the time limit on the key is extended to the original time defined by the key administrator.

As with all Sparx Systems licensing, the license keys may still only be used by one user at a time, keeping the number of users concurrent to the number of licenses purchased.

Floating licenses are available for the Ultimate, Systems Engineering, Business and Software Engineering, Corporate Editions and all MDG Plguins.

Please note: 
Changing the destination of sskeys.dat file in another directory requires a reinstallation - the licenses are administered via the Sparx Enterprise Keystore.
Just moving sskeys.dat is not possible.

System requirements
3 MB disk space
Operating System: Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista - Linux/Intel Mac
Note: The Keystore is not compatible with Windows 9x

Please Note: Users with the Sparx Enterprise Keystore who downloaded the SSKeyStore.exe before the release of Enterprise Architect version 5.0 build 768 on 14-July-2005 will need to download the new SSKeyStore installer to gain access to the auto check-in and check-out facility.