Find answers to commonly asked questions about PQ Systems software products.
The computer speed and power needed to run any software application is somewhat subjective; what seems acceptable to one person may seem slow to another. The general rule that “more power (processor speed, RAM, fast disk access, etc.) is better” is generally true. A 400 MHz Pentium II computer with 512MB of RAM does an acceptable job of running the PQ workstation software for most users.
CHARTrunner, SQCpack, and GAGEpack (GAGEmail and GAGEpack Remote) perform database access, so these products tend to require more “computer horsepower” than the other PQ workstation products. For best results, we suggest that you install a trial of the PQ software product in which you have an interest, and see how it performs in your target environment.
PQ Systems is not aware of any problems with running the software on any type of network supported by the Windows family of operating systems. The software has been tested by PQ Systems on Novell Netware and Microsoft Windows networks.
The workstation (or desktop) products generally have no knowledge of, or preference for, the network protocol used by the network.
The TCP/IP protocol is required in the following cases:
The software does not utilize product activation. “Product activation” is a scheme where the end-user must obtain activation information from PQ Systems in order for the software to be used on a specific computer.
No copy protection scheme is used.
Per-computer license – Most PQ products are licensed under a per-computer model. Per-computer licensing means a license must be purchased for each "device” that "runs" the product. PQ software sold with a per-computer license may not be shared or used concurrently by different devices.
DEFINITION: “Device” encompasses client hardware devices, computers, terminals, or other digital electronic or analog devices that enable an end user to run PQ software.
DEFINITION: To "run," or "running," a PQ software product means using, accessing, displaying, or installing the product, regardless of the medium of access to the product.
Concurrent-user license – Some PQ products are available for license under the concurrent-user model. Under this model, the PQ product can be installed on as many computers as desired (including terminal server) and a license server meters usage of the PQ product so that no more than the licensed number of users is allowed to run the product simultaneously. Please see the Concurrent-user license FAQ for more information. The following PQ products support licensing under the concurrent-user model (in addition to the per-computer license model):
Windows Terminal Server, Windows Terminal Services, and various Citrix products are technologies that allow users from a variety of remote client devices to concurrently execute PQ software that has been installed on a Windows server. We refer to all of these technologies as terminal server environments under which the following licensing restrictions apply:
Per-computer licensing: For PQ software that is available only under the per-computer license model (see How is PQ software licensed?), you must acquire a license for all “devices” (see definition of "device" here) that will be running a PQ software application from the terminal server.
PQ software that is available under the concurrent-user license model will not operate in a terminal server environment using a per-computer license. The per-computer trial license will function under terminal server so that customers can evaluate the PQ product with terminal server, but a purchased per-computer license will not run under terminal server.
Concurrent-user licensing: For PQ software that is available under the concurrent-user license model (see How is PQ software licensed?), you must purchase a concurrent-user license in order to run the PQ software application under terminal server. The PQ software will run under terminal server during the trial period of a per-computer license, but will not run under terminal server when using a non-trial (i.e., purchased) per-computer license.
Please refer to these examples of licensing scenarios:
Scenario 1: A customer has 50 Windows-based computers and would like to use SQCpack on all these computers. Two terminal servers support the 50 Windows-based computers.
Per-computer licensing: The customer will need to acquire 50 SQCpack licenses–one for each computer that will run SQCpack. Even if a computer is expected to run SQCpack only infrequently, the customer will still need to acquire and dedicate a SQCpack license for that computer. If 10 of these computers will never run SQCpack, then the customer will need to acquire only 40 licenses.
Concurrent-user licensing: The customer will need to purchase a concurrent-user license based upon the maximum number of concurrent users that need to run SQCpack at any given time. If the initial estimate for the number of concurrent users is too low, the customer can easily add additional concurrent-users to the license over time.
Scenario 2: A customer has 100 Windows-based computers and would like to use SQCpack on all of them. Those who sit at these computers work in three eight-hour shifts, so the 100 terminals support 300 workers. Whenever a shift change takes place, the current worker closes SQCpack and logs off of the server in order for a new worker to log on and to begin running SQCpack.
Per-computer licensing: The customer will need to acquire 100 SQCpack licenses, one for each computer that will run SQCpack. Note: The number of computers, and not the number of workers, is important to this per-computer licensing scenario.
Concurrent-user licensing: The customer will need to purchase a concurrent-user license based upon the maximum number of concurrent users that need to run SQCpack at any given time. If the initial estimate for the number of concurrent users is too low, the customer can easily add additional concurrent-users to the license over time.
Scenario 3: A customer has 40 Windows-based computers and 30 employees who will use SQCpack on all 40 computers.
Per-computer licensing: The customer will need to acquire 40 SQCpack licenses. This is consistent with the per-computer licensing policy.
Concurrent-user licensing: The customer will need to purchase a concurrent-user license based upon the maximum number of concurrent users that need to run SQCpack at any given time. If the initial estimate for the number of concurrent users is too low the customer can easily add additional concurrent-users to the license over time.
Scenario 4: A customer has portable computers that already have SQCpack licensed and installed on them. The users of these portable computers occasionally connect to a terminal server to run SQCpack remotely while they are using a dial-up or broadband connection.
Per-computer licensing: The customer does not need to acquire any more SQCpack licenses in this case; the devices (i.e. the portable computers) are already licensed to run SQCpack. It does not matter whether SQCpack is run locally or remotely from a terminal server.
Concurrent-user licensing: It makes no difference whether the concurrently running instances of SQCpack are running locally on a portable computer, or remotely from a terminal server. The customer needs to purchase a sufficient quantity of users for the concurrent-user license to handle the maximum number of users that will run SQCpack concurrently. If the initial estimate for the number of concurrent users is too low, the customer can easily add additional concurrent-users to the license over time.
Scenario 5: A customer has 50 Windows-based computers. All computers will run SQCpack on a recurring basis, but only 25 computers will ever run SQCpack at any given time.
Per-computer licensing: The customer will need to acquire 50 copies of CHARTrunner, i.e. one for each computer where CHARTrunner is installed.
Concurrent-user licensing: The customer will likely need to purchase a 25 concurrent-user license since no more than 25 users will ever run CHARTrunner at any given time. If the initial estimate for the number of concurrent users is too low, the customer can easily add additional concurrent-users to the license over time.
The workstation products are installed with a trial license number that typically allows the user to run the software for 14 days or 300 uses, whichever comes first. Under some circumstances, the trial period may be extended by contacting PQ Systems. The software is fully functional during the trial period and is not limited in any way.
When a license for the software is purchased, a non-trial license number is printed on a software license certificate that is sent to the purchaser. In addition to the license number, the software license certificate also contains a special update code that allows that specific license number to be entered into the PQ software’s license manager. Once this license number has been entered, the software is no longer in “trial mode” and will run without any further time or usage limitation. PQ Systems’ application support team will ask for the product’s license number when you contact them. The product’s license number can be determined from the Help > About menu.
No, you do not need to re-install the software. Any data that you have entered into the software while it was in trial mode will continue to exist and work with the software when it is in purchased mode.
The only difference between a trial version and a purchased version is the product’s license number. When you purchase a license for the software, you will receive a software license certificate that contains a “non-trial” license number. Once this license number has been entered, the software is no longer in “trial mode” and will run without any further time or usage limitation.
PQ Systems issues two types of license: “A” or “specific version”. The “A” stands for “All version numbers”. An “A” license will work with any version of the PQ software product, whereas a “specific version” license only works with the version of the product specified in the license number. A subscription license is of the “A” format, and a non-subscription license is of the “specific version” format.
The “specific version” license number
An example of a “specific version” license number for SQCpack 6.5 is “SQCW-6.5-00001-1-DCD”, where “6.5” specifies that the license only works with version 6.5 of the product.
PQ software products have a three-part or four-part version number of the form Major.Minor.Revision.Maintenance, such as 5.0.45 or 10.5.14014.1. Any time the Major.Minor portion of the software version changes, a new “specific version” license number is required, and thus a new update code is required in order to apply the new license number to the software.
For example, if you have SQCpack 4.6.67 and you install a free update to 4.6.72, the product keeps the same license number and there is no need for a new update code. But, when you upgrade from SQCpack 5.5.72 to SQCpack 6.5.23 a new license number is assigned for the license of SQCpack 6.5, which means an update code unique to the new license number for 6.5 must be used.
The “A” license number
An example of an “A” license number for SQCpack is “SQCW-A-00001-1-DEB”, where “A” specifies that the license works with any version of the product.
Since your “A” license number doesn’t change no matter what version of the PQ software you use, you will not need a new update code since you will continue to use the update code that came with your “A” license.
In the United States, you may contact application support via the toll-free phone number 800-777-5060 or support@pqsystems.com. Telephone application support is available worldwide by contacting the nearest PQ Systems office. In Europe, contact our UK office at 0044 (0) 1704 871465 or support@pqsystems.co.uk. In Australia, contact our US office at: +61 3 9999 7347 or support@pqsystems.com. Technical support is provided as a benefit of having a current software maintenance plan. New software licenses typically include one year of software maintenance.
Each new per-computer license for PQ Systems software includes a one-year Maintenance Plan. After the first year, additional years of maintenance may be purchased.
The Maintenance Plan includes:
>> View our maintenance and support agreement.
Yes. You can copy the installation media to a network drive or share and install the PQ software from there to properly licensed computers, or to computers that will evaluate the software during the trial period.
In general, the answer is no. Older PQ software products depend upon ActiveX (or COM) components that must be installed on the computer that runs the software. These ActiveX components are installed and registered on the local computer during the installation of the PQ software. Even if you specified a network drive as the destination where the PQ software will be installed, these ActiveX components will still be installed on the local computer from which the installation program is running.
Newer PQ software products require the Microsoft .NET Framework or other system components to be present on the computer that runs the PQ software. The needed prerequisite components are installed during the installation of the PQ product. If these prerequisite components are already installed on the local computer then in general it is possible to run the PQ software application from a network drive or share.
This does not mean, however, that certain data and configuration files that are used by a PQ application cannot be made available throughout the organization by placing them on a network drive or share. For instance, you could share one or more SQCpack databases among multiple users by placing them on a network drive. Or, you could create a network share that contains GAGEpack reports that will be accessible to all GAGEpack users in the company.
Local administrator rights are needed to install PQ software on Windows 7 or higher. Older versions of PQ software required that the first time the PQ software is run, it must be run under an account with local administrator or power user rights. Thereafter, the PQ software could be run by non-privileged users. Current versions of PQ software do not have this requirement, and non-privileged users can run the software the first time and all subsequent times.
Individual PQ products are discussed below.
CHARTrunner – CHARTrunner works well in a multi-user environment. This product does not make any changes to the data that is being charted, so there are no “concurrent data modification” issues to contend with regarding the data source. Chart definitions, style definitions, and out-of-control test rule definitions are stored as text or XML files. When these definition files are placed on a network share, it is possible that multiple users might attempt to modify a definition file at the same time. In such a case, the last user to save a modified definition overrides the other users' modification.
SQCpack – SQCpack works well in a multi-user environment. Versions 6.5 and prior store data in one or more Microsoft Access databases. The Microsoft Jet database engine handles concurrent access to these SQCpack databases. Version 7 and above store data in Microsoft SQL Server.
GAGEpack – GAGEpack works well in a multi-user environment. This product stores configuration data locally in an INI file and gage data in one or more Microsoft Access databases. The Microsoft Jet database engine handles concurrent access to these GAGEpack Access databases. The enterprise edition of GAGEpack stores data in Microsoft SQL Server.
DOEpack – DOEpack stores configuration data in an INI file in the Windows folder and DOE problems themselves are stored as flat files. When DOEpack opens a problem file, it reads it into memory, then closes the file again so anyone can subsequently use it. When problem files are placed on a network share, it is possible that multiple users might attempt to modify a problem file at the same time. In such a case, the last user to save a modified problem file wins. However, given the nature of DOE, it is probably unlikely that multiple users would attempt to modify the same problem file at the same time.
Windows Terminal Server, Windows Terminal Services, and various Citrix products are technologies that let one or more persons remotely and concurrently execute PQ software that has been installed on a Windows server from a variety of remote client devices. We refer to all of these technologies as terminal server environments.
See also the following related questions in this FAQ:
When the PQ product is installed on the terminal server you must ensure that any special installation procedures applicable to installing shared application software on your terminal server are followed.
For instance, when installing a PQ product on a Windows 2003 Server that is running terminal services you should install the PQ product while the operating system is in install mode. If you run the PQ product's setup.exe via the Add/Remove Programs applet, the operating system will automatically enter install mode, perform the installation, and then go back to execute mode. Use change user /install and change user /execute to switch modes manually via the command line.
After the PQ product is installed, make sure to run the software once while operating under an account with administrator privileges.
All of the PQ workstation products will run in a terminal server environment. The main consideration for PQ software operating in a terminal server environment is the storage of program state, which is typically specified under the program’s Setup > Preferences menu. Any program state that is stored under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry key is stored separately for each logged-in user. Any program state that is stored under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry key is shared by all users. Any program state that is stored in an INI file in the application’s installation folder is shared by all users.
Individual PQ products are discussed below.
CHARTrunner – CHARTrunner stores a program state that is appropriate for a “per-user” setting under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry key. All other “global” program setting is stored under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry key.
SQCpack – SQCpack stores a program state that is appropriate for a “per-user” setting under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry key. All other “global” program setting is stored under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry key.
GAGEpack – GAGEpack stores all program setting in a configuration INI file in the installation folder. This configuration INI file by default is shared by all logged-in users. It is possible to pass the full path to the INI file as a command line parameter, so that each logged-in user has his or her own copy of the configuration INI file.
DOEpack – DOEpack stores all program state in a configuration INI file in the Windows folder.
No PQ Systems software runs natively on Apple computers. All PQ software is written for the Windows operating system.
Individual PQ products are discussed below.
CHARTrunner – CHARTrunner uses DAO (Data Access Objects) and the JET database engine, ADO (ActiveX Data Objects) / OLEDB drivers, and ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) to access many different types of databases. In addition, the JET database engine provides access to data sources that are not traditionally thought of as databases, such as Excel worksheets and text files.
SQCpack – SQCpack 6.5 and below stores data in one or more Microsoft Access databases. The Microsoft Jet database engine handles concurrent access to these SQCpack databases. SQCpack 7 and above stores data in Microsoft SQL Server.
GAGEpack – GAGEpack stores data in one or more Microsoft Access databases. The Microsoft Jet database engine handles concurrent access to these GAGEpack databases. GAGEpack Enterprise stores data in Microsoft SQL Server.
MDAC (Microsoft Data Access Components) is a Microsoft database access technology that uses OLEDB database providers to gain access to a variety of databases.
CHARTrunner uses MDAC to access many different types of databases in order to fetch data for charting.
SQCpack uses MDAC to read and write to the various Access 2000 databases that are used to store SQCpack data.
The software validation information may help answer your questions.
PQ maintains a testing laboratory that uses Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 to test PQ products under all versions of the Windows operating system. We look at a variety of areas, such as verifying proper program installation, memory leak testing, performance tests, timing tests, etc.
When an issue (a program improvement or an error condition) is found in PQ software, the following procedure is followed:
PQ uses an automated process to verify that the charts produced by CHARTrunner and SQCpack are created properly. We have a testing system that creates hundreds of test chart images after each new build of the software. The newly-created chart images are compared to “known good” baseline chart images. Any differences between a test chart and its baseline chart are investigated to determine whether the difference is due to a beneficial change or a chart generation problem.
You must have access to an SMTP mail server that will be used to deliver e-mail messages sent from the PQ software. It makes no difference what kind of e-mail client software, such as Eudora or Microsoft Outlook, is installed on the computer where the PQ software is installed, since your e-mail client software is not used to send e-mail messages. In addition, the TCP/IP protocol must be installed. Please refer to this Knowledge Base article for more information.