How is the GCLICX used for ActiveReports?

The gclicx is a file that is made by Mescius (formerly GrapeCity, thus the GC) that is used for licensing .net projects with Mescius products.

AR uses it only in the case of Compiled Code licensing.

You can find the docs page here: https://developer.mescius.com/activereportsnet/docs/developers/ar-how-licensing-activereports/licensing-compiled-code , but we will be reviewing how it works in the remainder of this article.

The gclicx file when used with AR is generated by the gclm, (GrapeCity License Manager) in the call to generate it you will need to specify a few different things.

Command example:

C:\ProgramData\GrapeCity\gclm>gclm.exe "437d0240-ba2c-4f9e-9a92-c2816f83d391" -lc ./.gclicx "MainApp.UserControlLibrary.dll"

First part of the command specifies the version you want to make the gclicx for ( in this "437d0240-ba2c-4f9e-9a92-c2816f83d391" is for version 19). You can find the needed guid for each version on each Licensing Compiled Code page of that versions docs.

After you have it pointing to a license version you have on the machine via gclm, then you need to determine where the file that is made will be output to (./.gclicx this will make a file called .gclicx in the same folder as this is ran). This does not matter as usually you will take it from the gclm folder and manually add it to a project, but it does allow for a more programmatic way of adding it somewhere.

The last part of the command is the most important, as if you do not have this an empty file will be made.
You need to specify the name of the projects involved. There is a Calling Project and an Entry Project ("MainApp.UserControlLibrary.dll" for example has the MainApp be the Entry project and then the UserControlLibrary as the Called project).

The Entry Project is the one that you will be entering the AR code and then interacting with the Calling Project (AR code)

It will be typed out in the form of, Entry.Calling.dll and if there are multiple layers to the project name it will be like Entry.project.Calling.project.dll 

When you are done writing the command it will look like the example above.

From there hit enter on the terminal and it will make and then add the gclicx file to the output dir you specified.

When you look at the file itself in a text editor you will see an encrypted file, but Mescius have tools on our side to decode them into a few different bits of info.

Example image: