telerik/ai-plugins/telerik-winforms-license-plugin-hosts

Telerik WinForms Licensing for Add-In/Plugin and OpenEdge Hosts

Covers the two entryPointShape values telerik-winforms-license-detection reports that need more than file- or package-based activation alone: a host with no conventional Program.cs/Main/Application.Run entry point, so the licensing mechanism cannot evaluate automatically before a Telerik control initializes. Both require an explicit Telerik.Licensing.TelerikLicensing.Register(...) call; they differ in whether NuGet is available at all.

For a standard application entry point, use telerik-winforms-license-key-setup instead — these mechanics do not apply there.

Inputs

• entryPointShape from telerik-winforms-license-detection

(add-in-or-plugin or openedge) — run detection first if not already run.

• Whether this is first-time setup or a script-key-to-NuGet migration for an

add-in/plugin host already in the hybrid state — telerik-winforms-license-nuget-migration calls into this skill's add-in section for the registration step either way.

Preconditions

• telerik-winforms-license-detection reported entryPointShape as

add-in-or-plugin or openedge for the project in scope. For any other shape, this skill does not apply.

Add-In / Plugin Hosts (Hybrid — NuGet Package Plus Manual Registration)

Both mechanisms are required together — this is not an either/or choice, and it is the documented correct state (mechanism: hybrid-manual-registration), not a defect to resolve toward a single mechanism:

1. Ensure every project library in the add-in references the

Telerik.Licensing NuGet package (from NuGet.org).

1. Call Telerik.Licensing.TelerikLicensing.Register() as early as

possible, before any Telerik control (including RadForm) initializes. A small wrapper keeps the call-site simple and makes it easy to invoke from every entry point the host loads through: ``csharp public class TelerikHelper { public static void Register() => Telerik.Licensing.TelerikLicensing.Register(); } ``

1. For the parameterless Register() overload to work, the project must

still define an EvidenceAttribute with the product's script key — see telerik-winforms-license-key-setup's Step 2 for obtaining it and the C#/VB syntax. Alternatives to the parameterless overload, when the customer prefers not to add the attribute:

• Call TelerikLicensing.Register("your-script-key") directly, or
• Enumerate EvidenceAttributes reflectively and register each:

``csharp var evidenceAttributes = typeof(MyForm).Assembly.GetCustomAttributes().OfType<Telerik.Licensing.EvidenceAttribute>(); foreach (var attribute in evidenceAttributes) { Telerik.Licensing.TelerikLicensing.Register(attribute.Value); } `` Do not fabricate the script-key value — the customer supplies it.

1. Verify as a standalone app first. Run the add-in as a standalone

Visual Studio application (where one conventional entry point exists) to confirm no watermark appears there before testing inside the actual host process (e.g. Excel/Word). A watermark that persists only inside the host points at the Register() call running too late or not at all in that host's load sequence — not at an invalid license.

OpenEdge ABL Hosts (Script-Key Only — No NuGet)

OpenEdge does not support NuGet at all. Never attempt NuGet-based setup or recommend migrating an openedge-manual-registration project — go straight to a direct assembly reference plus manual registration:

1. Add a direct reference to Telerik.Licensing.Runtime.dll — not the

Telerik.Licensing NuGet package.

1. Direct the customer to License Keys → View Script Keys → Progress® Telerik® UI for WinForms

and copy only the key string inside the first Telerik.Licensing.EvidenceAttribute("key") shown there.

1. Register the key explicitly in code, before any Telerik control

initializes:

• In the Form constructor, before InitializeComponent():

Telerik.Licensing.TelerikLicensing:Register("Your License Key").

• Or earlier, from a procedure file (.p), if the very first screen is

itself a Telerik form — register there instead of in the form. OpenEdge GUI applications always start from a procedure file, not a class, so there is always a non-GUI entry point available for this even when every screen is Telerik-based.

1. Warn explicitly: never publish the script key in a public repository.

Output

• Host shape handled (add-in/plugin hybrid, or OpenEdge)
• Where Register(...) was called from, and what it registers (parameterless

with EvidenceAttribute, inline key, or reflective enumeration)

• Whether verification was done as a standalone app (add-in/plugin only)
• Any secret-material warning issued

Idempotency

Re-running when the registration call and (for add-in/plugin hosts) the NuGet package are already correctly in place is a no-op — report the existing state rather than adding a duplicate Register() call or package reference.