Upgrade - Issues & Options

Licenses - What Licenses do I Need?

Product - What's Included? What's different about the Free Versions?

Maintenance

Q: What are the primary differences between 4.2.2 and 5.0?

A: From a technology standpoint see "What's New" KavaChart Release 5.0.
From a licensing standpoint the new products have a somewhat different licensing model, and now include one development license and one deployment license. In effect, these are both server licenses, tied to a computer's IP address, one to be used on your development machine and the other on a deployment server. Deployment server licenses are internal use licenses. Additional server licenses may be purchased for $99 per server or our then current fee.

If you intend to include KavaChart in an application you wish to distribute outside your company, we consider this a commercial application (it doesn't matter whether you charge for your application or not) and subject to a Application Distribution license and fee. This is a fully paid-up one-time fee, per application. The Application Distribution license covers updates and upgrades of the same application but separately priced upgrades and/or new products are considered new applications.

Our support and update subscription is also changing. We no longer bundle support and update subscriptions (maintenance) with our license fees. New licensees receive support, and use of our Chart Wizard for 30 days after purchase. Thereafter, an annual support and update subscription may be purchased. See Support for more information about what's included and pricing, or see Maintenance FAQs. 

Q: What do I do if I want to upgrade from 4.2.2 or earlier to 5.0?

A: If your maintenance is current you may upgrade, free of charge, anytime during your maintenance term. Contact us at orders and we'll setup your MyKavaChart account so you can download 5.0. We will transfer the remaining term of your 4.2.2 maintenance to 5.0 when we setup your account. Keep in mind that once you upgrade you are subject to a new agreement.

If your maintenance isn't current, renew your maintenance, then upgrade to 5.0

You may want to consider evaluating 5.0 first before you decide to upgrade. You can request an evaluation by going here.

Q: What happens to my 4.2.2 installations, both internal and external, if I upgrade to 5.0?

A: Let us know how many internal servers 4.2.2 is running on and we will consider granting that number of 5.0 servers at the time you upgrade. We will certainly consider reasonable requests. As to external distributions (commercial applications), you will need to purchase an Application Distribution license before you begin shipping 5.0 code in you application. When you purchase a Distribution license you receive a key that allows you to embed and distribute 5.0 code transparently to your customers.

Q: If I upgrade from 4.2.2 do I have to go to the Enterprise Edition or can I switch to AlaCarte or ProServe? And then what?

A: During this product transition period we will allow you to upgrade from 4.2.2 and go in any direction you want. You can go up or down, its' up to you. Let us know; contact us at orders. If you don't upgrade to the Enterprise Edition 5.0 you can continue using 4.2.2 and in parallel use which ever other 5.0 product you choose. Of course we can only support products with current maintenance.

Q: How long will you support 4.2.2?

A: For the foreseeable future, at least 12 months. We will continue to help you use 4.2.2. and provide work-arounds where necessary but we will no longer provide new releases or roll bug fixes into the product.

Q: How much will the annual maintenance be if I stay with 4.2.2?

A: Whether you upgrade to 5.0 or stay with 4.2.2 the annual support and upgrade subscription fee will be the same, $240.

Q: If I develop a web application to be used by employees, what license(s) do I need?

A: Beyond the product software license for either ProServe, the Enterprise Edition or the Enterprise Source Edition (the same Enterprise Software License covers all three products) you will need a Deployment Server license for each server you use to deploy your application. If you deploy your application from one server you won't need any additional server licenses since you get one Deployment Server license with the development software.

Q: I'm developing an application that I plan to sell through resellers, what license(s) do I need?

A: When you use KavaChart to develop an application that you intend to distribute externally (outside your company) by whatever means, we consider this a commercial application. So, in addition to the standard Enterprise Software license you must purchase an Application Distribution license. This is a one-time, fully paid-up, per application license fee that allows you to distribute the KavaChart binary code (byte code) with your application. The Application Distribution license covers upgrades and new releases of the same application. New applications and separately priced upgrades are considered new applications.

Q: What if I develop a commercial application and use it internally, as well? Do I just buy an Application Distribution license and use it internally or do I need Deployment Server licenses too?

A: You will need Deployment Server licenses for internal use and an Application Distribution license for commercial (external) distribution.

Q: Are there separate license agreements for Deployment Servers and Application Distribution?

A: No, both licenses are included as part of the terms and conditions of the standard Enterprise Software license.

Q: What do I receive, if anything, when I get a Deployment Server license?

A: You receive a server key that is tied to a computer's IP address. Without the server key KavaChart code runs in demo mode (shows an attribution notice and links to the VE home page).

Q: What do I get with an Application Distribution license?

A: You receive a key which you embed in your application. This allows your users to run KavaChart without installing an IP-based key. In the case of an AlaCarte Application Distribution license - you don't receive anything other the the right to charge a fee for your users to access content which includes our applets.

Q: Can I transfer my Deployment Server licenses from one machine to another?

A: Yes, provided your Support and Update subscription is current. Server licenses are derived from your server's IP address. You access the key generation process through your MyKavaChart account. Login to your MyKavaChart account and from the list of things you can do, click on "Download license Keys / Update your contact information". Scroll down and select the Deployment Server License you wish to transfer, replace the IP address and click "Generate License Key". Insert the license key in your server's classpath and your done.

Q: If the KavaChart licensing model is based on server licenses what do I do for my commercial applications - do my end users need to install some license key or do anything special?

A: No. The Application Distribution key makes it entirely transparent to your end users.

Q: What do you consider a Commercial application?

A: Any application you distribute to third parties (users outside your company or a company controlled by you) by any means, whether you charge for your application or not.

Q: Can I resell KavaChart?

A: There are really two possibilities here. One, as a feature of your application, you may wish to expose KavaChart's API to your end users (you are not otherwise permitted to do so), or two you wish to be a KavaChart reseller (Distributor), selling KavaChart products on a stand-alone basis, not as an application feature or module. These are reseller arrangements, we do both, contact us as orders.

Q: What do I get when I buy one of your products?

A: All KavaChart products are downloadable from our site. In each case you receive the applicable software, extensive documentation, including code samples that can be used "right out of the box", 30 days of support and use of our chart designer, the KavaChart Wizard. If you prefer, you can have ProServe, the Enterprise Edition and the Enterprise Source Edition shipped to you on CD. There is an extra charge for the CD (nominal) and shipping.

Q: How are the free versions, the applet and server-side downloads, different from the versions I buy?

A: They are virtually the same, in fact it's a great way to try the AlaCarte applets and ProServe product before you decide to purchase. The applets and server-side imaging will include an attribution notice, something along the lines of "... brought to you by Visual Engineering, Inc." etc and the applets will link to the VE home page. When you buy one or more of the AlaCarte applet collections or the ProServe product you receive a key which among other things turns off the attribution notice and link to the VE home page.

Q: What can I distribute with my application? Does it matter whether it's an internal use application or a commercial application?

A: The following comments apply whether you are developing internal use applications or commercial applications.

You may embed KavaChart code, jar files, class files ( bytecode, binary, object code --however you think of it) in your application. You may not distribute the API (Application Programmer's Interface) documentation or expose the KavaChart API in any manner which may allow KavaChart to be used programmatically by your end users. You may not, under any circumstance distribute or expose KavaChart Source Code to third-parties, except as explicitly provided for in the Enterprise Software License.

If you develop an application using KavaChart your application must provide significant value and functionality beyond the functionality and value provided by KavaChart alone. Although, admittedly not a precise definition, we think in terms of your application providing 50% or more of the functionality and value. In the end, we reserve the right to make the determination as to whether your application meets this standard. Why? Simple, we don't want to compete against ourselves. If you have any questions about whether your application meets this provision, contact us at orders.

Q: Do you license the Chart Wizard alone, and if so, how much is it?

A: We don't license the Chart Wizard alone. Use of the Chart Wizard is included with your support and update subscription (maintenance). Go here for maintenance pricing.

Q: Is the source code to the Chart Wizard included in the Enterprise Edition or Source Edition?

A: No.

Q: What do I get in the Source Edition that I don't get in the Enterprise Edition?

A: You get the complete Java source code to all products (AlaCarte, ProServe and the Enterprise Edition). The KavaChart Enterprise Edition does include some source code samples but these are limited and are included to allow developers to extend or more easily modify selected examples or sample code contributed by others etc. 

Q: Why did maintenance fees go up?

A: Some maintenance fees went up, others went down. Having held our maintenance fees steady for more than three years, we needed to adjusted our fees, by product, to align them more closely with our costs.

Q: What is a maintenance reinstatement fee, and why do you charge it?

A: Our annual Support and Upgrade subscription (maintenance) is optional and may be purchased anytime after you have purchased one of our software products. You may renew anytime within 60 days of your subscription anniversary date (we will generally send one or more courtesy emails before your anniversary date) at our then current maintenance price. After 60 days we charge a 25% reinstatement fee for that year only.

Over the years we found that some customers would "cherry pick" our product upgrades. That is, renew maintenance only when "that" particular feature they were interested in found its way into a release. The result, based on our pricing, was that customers who kept their maintenance current were subsidizing those who were more inclined to "cherry pick". Of course, we think maintenance should be optional, and that customers should be able to "selectively" decide if and when to renew their maintenance but such an option should have a price. So, instead of increasing the price across the board, in anticipation of some "cherry picking", we've just broken it out separately.

Q: How long do I have to renew my maintenance before I'm charged a reinstatement fee?

A: Within 60 days of your maintenance anniversary date. We'll send an email as a courtesy reminder.

Q: What happens to the Wizard when my maintenance expires?

A: The KavaChart Wizard is an applet that runs locally on your computer. Each time you start up the Wizard you need to login. The Wizard connects to a VE server to check for updates to the Wizard and confirm that your maintenance is current. If your maintenance isn't current you won't be able to login to the Wizard.

Q: How do I buy or reinstate my maintenance?

A: Login to your MyKavaChart account and click on "Extend your maintenance and Chart Wizard subscription". Select the product(s) you want to buy (reinstate) maintenance for from the list of licensed products. If your maintenance has lapsed more than 60 days the 25% reinstatement fee will be included automatically.