Floating Features

8min
Similar to Floating Licenses, LicenseSpring supports Floating features.
In this guide you can find an overview of the floating features functionality: registering and releasing floating features and setting up the Floating Features Watchdog.
Check if a feature is floating
As with floating licenses, you can check if a feature is floating using properties for cloud, as well as offline floating features.
To start, use the following code to check if a license feature is floating:
C#
foreach (ILicenseFeature licenseFeature in license.Features())
{
  if(licenseFeature.IsFloating || licenseFeature.IsOfflineFloating)
  {
    // DO SOMETHING WITH A FLOATING FEATURE
  }
}
foreach (ILicenseFeature licenseFeature in license.Features())
{
  if(licenseFeature.IsFloating || licenseFeature.IsOfflineFloating)
  {
    // DO SOMETHING WITH A FLOATING FEATURE
  }
}
﻿
Floating slots
Developers will want to know the maximum number of users that can simultaneously use a floating feature and the current number of users using the feature. That can be done with:
C#
uint maxUsers = licenseFeature.FloatingSlotsCount;
uint currentUsers = licenseFeature.FloatingSlotsInUse;
uint maxUsers = licenseFeature.FloatingSlotsCount;
uint currentUsers = licenseFeature.FloatingSlotsInUse;
﻿
Floating timeout
You can get information on the floating feature timeout (in minutes) and the point in time until which a registered feature is valid (time of registration + floating feature timeout). After that time, LicenseSpring server will automatically release the feature - if it's not registered again.
C#
uint floatingTimeout = license.FloatingTimeout;
DateTime floatingEndDateTime = license.FloatingEndDateTime;
DateTime floatingEndDateTimeUtc = license.FloatingEndDateTimeUtc;
uint floatingTimeout = license.FloatingTimeout;
DateTime floatingEndDateTime = license.FloatingEndDateTime;
DateTime floatingEndDateTimeUtc = license.FloatingEndDateTimeUtc;
﻿
Registering and releasing floating features
Similar to floating licenses, floating features have to be periodically registered on the server for them to take up a floating slot.
C#
ILicenseManager licenseManager = LicenseManager.GetInstance();
ILicense license = licenseManager.CurrentLicense();
ILicenseFeature feature = license.Features().First(e => e.IsFloating);
license.RegisterFloatingFeature(feature);
// You can find a similar sample in the console sample app 
// that is a part of the SDK.
ILicenseManager licenseManager = LicenseManager.GetInstance();
ILicense license = licenseManager.CurrentLicense();
ILicenseFeature feature = license.Features().First(e => e.IsFloating);
license.RegisterFloatingFeature(feature);
// You can find a similar sample in the console sample app 
// that is a part of the SDK.
﻿
Likewise, if you wish to release a feature before its timeout, you can do it like so:
C#
ILicenseManager licenseManager = LicenseManager.GetInstance();
ILicense license = licenseManager.CurrentLicense();
ILicenseFeature feature = license
                           .Features()
                           .First(e => e.FloatingEndDateTime > DateTime.Now);
license.ReleaseFloatingFeature(feature);
// You can find a similar sample in the console sample app 
// that is a part of the SDK.
ILicenseManager licenseManager = LicenseManager.GetInstance();
ILicense license = licenseManager.CurrentLicense();
ILicenseFeature feature = license
                           .Features()
                           .First(e => e.FloatingEndDateTime > DateTime.Now);
license.ReleaseFloatingFeature(feature);
// You can find a similar sample in the console sample app 
// that is a part of the SDK.
﻿
In .NET SDK, ILicenseFeature data is not refreshed after registering and releasing the feature. In order to get updated values like FloatingSlotsInUse and FloatingEndDateTime you have to call ILicense.Features() method again.
Watchdog setup
Similar to a floating license watchdog, floating features have to initialize the watchdog in order to use its functionalities.
Once set up, you register your floating features just once and the watchdog will make sure they will not expire until you manually release them (don't forget to do that on application shut down, so you don't keep the slots occupied).
You initialize the watchdog like so:
C#
void WatchdogCallbackMethod(LicenseSpringException e)
{
  // DO SOMETHING
}

license.SetupFloatingFeatureWatchdog(WatchdogCallbackMethod);

// Callback method will be invoked only if an exception in a watchdog thread
// is raised. If you want to invoke the callback on every feature
// registration you can pass an optional parameter to the method:
license.SetupFloatingFeatureWatchdog(WatchdogCallbackMethod, true);
void WatchdogCallbackMethod(LicenseSpringException e)
{
  // DO SOMETHING
}

license.SetupFloatingFeatureWatchdog(WatchdogCallbackMethod);

// Callback method will be invoked only if an exception in a watchdog thread
// is raised. If you want to invoke the callback on every feature
// registration you can pass an optional parameter to the method:
license.SetupFloatingFeatureWatchdog(WatchdogCallbackMethod, true);
﻿
Setting up the watchdog will also start the thread. If you wish to stop automatically extending your floating features, you can stop the watchdog:
C#
license.StopFloatingFeatureWatchdog();
license.StopFloatingFeatureWatchdog();
﻿
And once stoped, it can be restarted again:
C#
license.StartFloatingFeatureWatchdog();
license.StartFloatingFeatureWatchdog();
﻿
﻿
﻿
Updated 14 Nov 2023
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Floating Licensing
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Check if a feature is floating
Floating slots
Floating timeout
Registering and releasing floating features
Watchdog setup