ArcGIS Engine License Switch

Question

Is it possible to change to a "higher-level" license after a license has already been checked out in ArcGIS Engine? Old posts in ESRI forums seem to indicate that this is not possible, but I'm wondering if 9.3 or 10 allows this.

We have an application that 99%+ is used for viewing GIS data, so the ArcGIS Engine Runtime license is appropriate. Every now and then, though some (not all) users need to be able to edit an arc or two and it would be extremely annoying and disruptive to their workflow to have to exit the application and fire it up again just to grab an ArcInfo license.

Answer 1

I don't see anything in the documentation that says you cannot switch. However the code below isn't able to switch. Maybe report this as a bug and see what happens.

Update: As Michael points out, the documentation says this is not supported.

private void SwitchLicense1()
{
    if (ESRI.ArcGIS.RuntimeManager.ActiveRuntime.Product == ESRI.ArcGIS.ProductCode.Engine)
    {
        ESRI.ArcGIS.RuntimeManager.Bind(ESRI.ArcGIS.ProductCode.Desktop);
        if (ESRI.ArcGIS.RuntimeManager.ActiveRuntime.Product == ESRI.ArcGIS.ProductCode.Engine)
            Debug.Print("unable to switch to desktop");
        else
            Debug.Print("switched to desktop license");
    }
    else
    {
        ESRI.ArcGIS.RuntimeManager.Bind(ESRI.ArcGIS.ProductCode.Engine);
        if (ESRI.ArcGIS.RuntimeManager.ActiveRuntime.Product == ESRI.ArcGIS.ProductCode.Desktop)
            Debug.Print("unable to switch to engine");
        else
            Debug.Print("switched to desktop license");
    }
}
private void SwitchLicense2()
{
    IAoInitialize aoInit = new AoInitializeClass();
    Debug.Print("before license: {0}", aoInit.InitializedProduct());
    if (aoInit.InitializedProduct() == esriLicenseProductCode.esriLicenseProductCodeEngine)
    {
        aoInit.Shutdown();
        aoInit.Initialize(esriLicenseProductCode.esriLicenseProductCodeArcEditor);
    }
    else
    {
        aoInit.Shutdown();
        aoInit.Initialize(esriLicenseProductCode.esriLicenseProductCodeEngine);
    }
    Debug.Print("after license: {0}", aoInit.InitializedProduct());
}

Answer 2

Per ESRI technical support, no, you cannot switch licenses mid-stream. This holds true for version 9.3.1 as well as 10 (and I'm assuming prior versions as well).

On a related note, this holds true for ArcMap and ArcCatalog, as well. You'd need to exit those applications if you want to switch from an ArcView to an ArcInfo license.

UPDATE: ESRI called me back a few minutes after hanging up with me to tell me that the first tech was wrong and that you can switch licenses mid-stream in Engine (though not when using ArcMap). However, the information the second tech provided (actually, she was an SDK programmer) is exactly the same steps I was using to try to switch licenses, so, again, this appears to be something that is either broken or doesn't work as they had intended. I'll submit a bug report and see if anything comes of it.

Final update: Per the documentation, it is not possible to reinitialize an application with a new license:

Initialize the application with the product license

Once it has been established that the appropriate product and extension licenses are available, initialize the application with the product license. Once initialized, it is not possible to reinitialize the application.

This is not a bug, this is expected behavior. And unfortunate.

Answer 3

Yes you can do that.

Using the interface IAOInitialize you can try to check out higher licenses when you need it, and check then in when you don't. Same can happen with Extensions.