Addon management

• Addon management
  • General
  • Versions
    • Add-on versioning
  • Pricing
  • One Time Payment
    • Subscription
    • Pay per use
  • Pictures
  • Additions
    • Services
    • Features
    • FAQs
    • Ratings

General

Under this menu, the user can specify the important data of an Add-on:

• Name
• Sloop Tools Item Number
  • This number will be used for licensing details at Code Snippets
• Technical name
  • The technical name is used for the folder structure of the Add-on and thus creates an independence between name and folder structure (subproject).
  • The technical name consists of the provider short code (shortsign) and an addition.
  • The addition is unique for each provider and may only consist of alphanumeric characters and "_". This is for reasons of compatibility with WinCC OA.
• Provider Item Number
  • This number is freely selectable for the provider and can be used for its internal order numbers.
  • This number is printed on all documents (offer, order confirmation and invoice).
• Description
  • Description of the Add-on with a maximum length of 600 characters.
• Software
  • Here you can select the software on which the Add-on is based.
  • More details under Supporterd Software
• Category (select from a list)
• Tags
  • With comma (,) separate tags
• License agreement
  • Here you can save a "custom" contract for the Add-on.
  • More details under Contract Management
• Agent Fee
  • There is a standard fee which may vary based on the use of the platform.
  • For details please contact us directly: info@slooptools.com.
• Active (As long as this switch is not active, the Add-on is not displayed in the store) - The following prerequisites are required to activate the Add-on:
  • At least 1 version that has run positively through the Quality Gate and has the status "Released"
  • At least 1 price information
  • At least 1 image with the status "is visible"

Versions

In the version area, the user can manage the different versions of his Add-on. The area is divided into two parts. On the left, the user can see the versions and, depending on the selection, the details of a version. The version contains the following detailed information:

• Name of the version
• Description of the version
• ZIP file of the version
  • The name of the ZIP file is not relevant at this point.
  • The contents of the ZIP file must be as described in the "Add-on Creation Guide". This is checked by QG.
• Type (details in chapter Add-on Versioning)
  • Major
  • Minor
  • patch
• WinCC OA version
• Operating system
• Release date
  • as soon as possible - The version will be released as soon as the Quality Gate has passed successfully and the Quality Score of each check is greater than 0.
  • defined date - Here you can define a date on which the version will be released. Prerequisite for the release is a positive quality gate
  • manual - Here you can, after a positive Quality Gate pass, manually unlock the version

Under the information of the version a table with the quality gate status is displayed.

Further details can be found in the chapter Quality Gate.

Add-on versioning

When creating a new version, you must specify whether it is a Major, Minor, or a Patch.

The following points explain when which version should be increased:

• MAJOR will be increased if incompatible version changes are released. Impact on the buyer: If a new major version is released, a buyer with an existing license can not use it (regardless of the upgrade right). Therefore, the buyer must re-purchase a license from this product to use the new major version.
• MINOR will be increased if new functionalities that are compatible with the previous version are released. Impact for the buyer: If no upgrade right was included or purchased, the same case occurs as with a major version. With an upgrade right, the user can use all minor versions of the activated major version. Example: The buyer activates a license for version 1.7.3. with upgrade right. The provider adds new features to the Add-on and increases the version to 1.8.0. If the buyer's license does not include an upgrade right, it would not be possible to use the version with the current license. However, with this right, all other Minor versions of Major Version 1 can be used.
• PATCH will be incremented if the changes include only version-compliant bug fixes. Impact on Buyer: Regardless of the upgrade right, patch versions (based on the enable Major.Minor version) can be used. Example: The buyer activates a license for version 1.7.1. The provider releases several bugfixes, increasing the version to 1.7.5. The buyer is now able to download this version in the installer and use it with the activated license.

The version number is written in each Add-on version package and in each license. At runtime, it is then checked whether the activated license is compatible with the installed version of the Add-on. The following results can be obtained with the method checkLicense:

• If a license exists and can be used with the installed version, checkLicense returns OK.
• If no license is available NOK will be returned.
• If a license exists but can not be used with the installed version WRONG_VERSION will be returned.

Subsequent upgrades: If the buyer wants to make his license compatible with an Add-on for the current version after several years, there is the possibility to do this through a one-time upgrade. This upgrade must be purchased for a percentage of the Add-on price at the time. Subsequently, the buyer can update the existing licenses.

Pricing

Here the user can set the price models for the Add-on. These are:

• One Time Payment
• Subscription
• Pay Per Use

Licenses are always tied to a software project.

For each price model, the user can store the following information:

• Price - Price for a license considering the price model.
• Upgrade / Year or Period - Price for the annual upgrade right.
• Upgrade Once - price for a one-time upgrade right. This will not be displayed in the Add-on Detail but will be dealt with later via the order.

One Time Payment

This is the classic license.

Subscription

Currently you can enter as a period only "yearly". This selection will be extended later.

Pay per use

Here you can either choose from the standard units or enter your own unit as the license entry "UnitCount" is counted down. Example: User Interfaces

Pictures

Here you can add one or more pictures, which will be displayed later in the Add-on Detail. The top image is also displayed as a "cover image" in the store. You can also switch individual pictures to in-/visible.

Additions

This section is designed to add services and features to an Add-on.

In general, this is about the fact that the provider can sell additions to the license. SloopTools differentiates between Services and Features.

Services

Services are time-oriented. Nothing specific is noted in the license, however, these details are important clearing items. Here, SloopTools distinguishes between standard services (such as maintenance) or support.

Features

The difference to the services lies in the fact that here a feature bit is placed in the license and the provider later in the software can check this and thereby enable existing bit functionality. With the checkbox Single Select you can realise the idea of package pricing. The user can just select one of the features. e.g.:
add 1 Connection = € 200
add 5 Connections = € 900 (not € 1000)

FAQs

In this area own FAQs can be set. They are only visible in the Add-on Details Screen if they have been set to Active = yes.

Ratings

Customer ratings are listed here. Included in the Add-on rating and visible on the Add-on Details Screen, they are only if they have been set to Active = yes.