Configure License Units; add purchase history and track software usage

Express Software Manager considers software applications and their associated support files License Units. License Units can either be automatically configured, or manually configured, depending on the information Express Software Manager has been able to gather about the program files.

Automatically configuring license units
As you use Express Software Manager, inventory and usage information is collected from all machines where the Express Client is installed. When you start the Administrative Console, Express Software Manager checks whether there are any new files that have been collected that exactly match known applications in the Express Software Identification Database (ESID). If so, you are prompted to decide whether Express should convert these exact match files into license units. In most cases, you should answer Yes.

To later automatically identify any found files while the Administrative Console was open, click Automatically Identify License Units from the Tools menu.

Manually configuring license units
Manually configuring license units means organizing files into the applications and suites that make up a license unit. Some files cannot be automatically identified and configured by the ESID, and require you to configure them using the Files view.

1. Right-click on the file you want to configure.
2. From the context-sensitive menu, determine whether to create a new license unit and add this file to it, or whether this file should be added as another version, alternate executable, or support file in an existing license unit.
   Note: Not all files need to be configured into license units; move files that you are not concerned about inventorying or metering into the Don't care list. The "don't care" classification prevents files from showing up in an Unrecognized list, where you would have to repeatedly evaluate how to configure them. Using the Don't care list is an important way to create and manage license units efficiently.
3. Depending on which choices you make, dialog boxes lead you through the configuration process. Click Help in any of these dialog boxes for assistance.
4. Repeat this process for each file you want to configure into a license unit.

Add Purchase History
Software license compliance is normally determined by comparing installed license counts with the number of licenses purchased. You specify licenses owned by adding purchase history to a license unit. Entering purchasing history is also useful for tracking past software expenditures and making future buying decisions. When you open a license unit, you will be able to add purchase history for that application. You have two options for adding purchasing history.

You can manually enter purchasing data by following the steps below.

1. Open a License Unit Properties dialogue box from your list of license units by double clicking on its name.
2. Choose the Purchase History tab and click on New.
3. You can enter the date you purchased the application, the number of licenses you purchased, and the cost per license. (You don't need to enter the currency sign.) You can also enter your purchase order number, vendor name, and comments. If you have a maintenance agreement for the software license, enter the date that it expires.

You can also specify purchasing information by importing your purchasing data from an Excel spreadsheet. To import this data click on Tools | Import Purchase Data and follow the instructions to import your data.

Express Software Manager provides a default set of data (purchase date, number of licenses, per license cost, and so on) associated with each purchase. If there is additional information you want to store, you can add custom purchase fields by clicking on Tools | License Unit Template and choosing the Custom Purchase Data tab. There you can add new purchase history fields which will be displayed in the Purchase History tab for each license unit and can be manually entered or imported.