For installation of Quaestor the following is required:

  1. The setup file. Usually Quaestor is distributed as a single installation executable;
  2. You should accept the End User License Agreement (EULA) which is presented as part of the installation process;
  3. A license string or a properly installed Qnowledge Licence Manager (QLM);


Quaestor license agreements

The software is purchased with an annual, non-exclusive, non-transferable, user license.

In the EULA is mentioned that licenses for Quaestor are defined on the basis of user mode (A) (stand-alone or concurrent use) and User Levels (B) (End-User, Domain Expert, Knowledge Engineer). Please visit the topic on User levels and rights for more detail on user rights or click here to download an Excel sheet presenting a matrix of possibilities and limitations for the different user levels.

A. The user mode:

  1. Stand-alone: Quaestor is installed on every individual PC with its own license and activation string.
  2. Concurrent use: Quaestor is installed as client version on any PC in a Local Area Network. Additional software (the Qnowledge Licence Manager ) manages the concurrent licenses. Concurrent user licenses are more expensive but are required to a smaller amount, depending on the desired availability.

B. For each user modus you have three user levels:

  1. End-user or run time license (project basis)
  2. Domain expert
  3. Knowledge engineer

 

As a result of the user modes and levels, Quaestor has to be activated by means of an activation procedure and/or Qnowledge Licence Manager. This is discussed thoroughly in section "Licence and activation procedure". Without activation, the Quaestor program is registered as Reader version. 

Network environments

Licensing can be based on concurrent or "floating" licenses using the Qnowledge Licence Manager operating on a central server connected to a Local Area Network (LAN).

The License Agreement defines how many users and of which type (equal to the single user licences) are licensed to use Quaestor on the local area network. The network administrator configures the Qnowledge Licence Manager. A separate manual of this procedure is provided with the Qnowledge Licence Manager.

The most important difference between the stand-alone version and concurrent user version of Quaestor is that Quaestor can be installed freely on an arbitrary number of workstations in the company network. The moment Quaestor is started on a workstation the Licence Manager (running on a central server) will check whether and what type of licence is available for the specific workstation. When no licence is available Quaestor will work as a normal End-user version.

Licensing with the QLM is only allowed for computers on the local area network. The QLM may not be used for Virtual Private Network (VPN) connections or for other type of connections outside the local area network.

Software installation

Quaestor is either distributed on CD-ROM or downloaded from our website (www.qnowledge.eu).

When the CD-ROM is configured in the Autoplay mode it will start the install wizard the moment you enter the CD-ROM into the player. When process does not start automatically, please search for the setup file Quaestor_setup.exe on the CD-ROM and run it.

When Quaestor is downloaded from your personal My [Q]nowledge page, please search for the setup file Quaestor_setup.exe in the download directory and run it. The installation wizard will guide you through the installation procedure.

You should have administrator rights to install the program. Quaestor will install files in your Program files directory. Please read the document Directory structure for more details on directories etc.

After installation, starting Quaestor for the first time will activate the licence and activation procedure.

Licence and Activation procedure

The first time the program is executed, the Quaestor licence manager is automatically started. The licence manager enables you to license and activate your Quaestor installation.

 
The Quaestor Licence Manager

As described above, you can either activate Quaestor as stand alone version or as concurrent user version. When you choose "Register Quaestor using a License String" you will register and activate Quaestor locally. When you choose "Register Quaestor using the Qnowledge License Manager" you activate Quaestor as network or concurrent user version.

For the local registry, the dialog will be followed by a possibility to provide a string. If you do not yet have a license string, or this string is not valid, continue and you will be given the possibility to request a license string through e-mail or hardcopy. At this stage you can also simply continue without activation (you will end up with a reader version).

When you choose "Register Quaestor using the Qnowledge License Manager" you should provide the computer name or IP address that has the QLM installed and the port you want to contact the QLM on (1001 by default). Note that this port should be equal to the setting of the QLM...

The licence manager can always be cancelled. In that case the type of licence and activation will depend on the information provided the moment the manager is cancelled.

 

When Quaestor is not licensed, it is always possible to register the program by choosing Tools>Register QUAESTOR Now in the main menu

 

If you use Quaestor as End User (the End User licence string has been provided in step 1 of the licence manager), it is connected to a particular End User knowledge base. Therefore, the program will continue with prompting for a knowledge base after the Licence manager is finished.

After the activation Quaestor will be started and the default directories will be created (see also Directory structure ).

Using the Qnowledge Licence Manager

When Quaestor is used in combination with the Qnowledge Licence Manager, Quaestor will search for the QLM and make contact to receive a license string.

When the licence manager cannot be contacted, Quaestor will provide feedback and will continue as Demo/Reader version. When contact is made Quaestor will always start as End-User unless you are known as user in the QLM and have received a higher user level.

When connection is lost or the QLM is stopped while working with Quaestor, the program will warn the user and provide the opportunity to save files before it turns itself into a Reader version.

Special aspects

After installing and activating the Quaestor program, it has created default directories and saved settings files (see also Directory structure ). In the Files tab of the options window of Quaestor (Tools>Options) the root path position of these default folders can be changed. Enabling the user or ICT department to make Quaestor start file dialogs on their own starting point (for instance a shared network disk).

By default the (modified) settings file is saved in "My documents\My Knowledge". If security settings or other requirements make it necessary to save the settings file on another location. This can be done by adding a special file in the installation directory of Quaestor.

By means of a Quaestor system settings file (QuaestorSystem.xml), the default settings directory can be changed. 
Furthermore, by adding a default settings file (DefaultQuaestorSettings.xml) in the installation directory of Quaestor, an ICT department can make sure that Quaestor will always start with default settings that will overrule the user settings (which can always be modified, but after Quaestor has been started with the defaults). See also the Quaestor startup procedure for more detail.

You may realize that by using these additional files, an ICT department is able to make settings that will fit with their requirements and can distribute these for all users, in order to minimize support requests due to uncontrollable customization of settings by the user.

Although the XML syntax in the files is quite straightforward, please contact Qnowledge for further detail on the to additional xml settings files.

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