Free, Trial, and Professional Modes

Free

To set the mode to Free, use the 'FREE-LIMITED-KEY' key.

The default behavior of the Free mode is that a FreeLimitReachedException is thrown when a limitation, like loading or saving an Excel file with more than 150 rows or 5 sheets, is reached.

You can change this behavior by handling a SpreadsheetInfo.FreeLimitReached event and setting FreeLimitEventArgs.FreeLimitReachedAction to Stop.As an example, when loading an Excel file with more than 5 sheets, the process will stop after 5 sheets are loaded.

You can use the Free mode for any purpose, including use in commercial applications.

// Set license key to use GemBox.Spreadsheet in a Free mode.
SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY");

// Stop reading/writing a spreadsheet when the free limit is reached.
SpreadsheetInfo.FreeLimitReached += (sender, e) => e.FreeLimitReachedAction = FreeLimitReachedAction.Stop;

' Set license key to use GemBox.Spreadsheet in a Free mode.
SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY")

' Stop reading/writing a spreadsheet when the free limit is reached.
AddHandler SpreadsheetInfo.FreeLimitReached, Sub(sender, e) e.FreeLimitReachedAction = FreeLimitReachedAction.Stop

Trial

The Trial mode is the same as Free, with the difference that when you handle a SpreadsheetInfo.FreeLimitReached event you set FreeLimitEventArgs.FreeLimitReachedAction to ContinueAsTrial.

When a limitation is reached, instead of throwing an exception or stopping the load or save process approximately 5% of randomly selected cells will have their value replaced with TRIAL.

// Set license key to use GemBox.Spreadsheet in a Free mode.
SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY");

// Continue to use the component in a Trial mode when free limit is reached.
SpreadsheetInfo.FreeLimitReached += (sender, e) => e.FreeLimitReachedAction = FreeLimitReachedAction.ContinueAsTrial;

' Set license key to use GemBox.Spreadsheet in a Free mode.
SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY")

' Continue to use the component in a Trial mode when free limit is reached.
AddHandler SpreadsheetInfo.FreeLimitReached, Sub(sender, e) e.FreeLimitReachedAction = FreeLimitReachedAction.ContinueAsTrial

Time Limited

To set the mode to Time Limited, you need to use a time-limited key, which you can get by contacting our support.

The time-limited key is valid only for 30 days but it allows you to use the component without any limitations.

// Set license key to use GemBox.Spreadsheet in a Time Limited mode.
SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense("XX−<START DATE>−<END DATE>-XXXXXXXXXX");

' Set license key to use GemBox.Spreadsheet in a Time Limited mode.
SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense("XX−<START DATE>−<END DATE>-XXXXXXXXXX")

Professional

To set the mode to Professional, you need to use a professional key which you can get by purchasing a license.

The Professional mode has no limitations, and the professional keys are perpetual (they can be used forever).

// Set license key to use GemBox.Spreadsheet in a Professional mode.
SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense("XXXXXXXXXX");

' Set license key to use GemBox.Spreadsheet in a Professional mode.
SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense("XXXXXXXXXX")

Note that every developer working on an application that uses the GemBox component in a Professional mode must be covered with a license. The professional keys are uniquely generated for each license and must be kept confidential.

For more information, please read the FAQ page and the product's EULA.

If you're working on an open-source project, please make sure that your license is not publicly accessible. One way to keep the professional key out of your source code is to bind your project's configuration to an external source that's not included in the project, like a secret file or environment variable.

Keeping your license key secret in .NET framework

1. Install the Microsoft.Configuration.ConfigurationBuilders.UserSecrets NuGet package. The package will modify the app.config file by adding a configuration builder with a specified userSecretsId value.
2. Create appSettings in the app.config file that uses the previously added configuration builder and has an empty license key.
   • XML

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   <configuration>
   
       <configSections>
           <section name="configBuilders"
                    type="System.Configuration.ConfigurationBuildersSection,
                          System.Configuration, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a"
                    restartOnExternalChanges="false"
                    requirePermission="false" />
       </configSections>
   
       <configBuilders>
           <builders>
               <add name="Secrets"
                    userSecretsId="31c68e26-876c-43f5-8bb4-d87c9ec5f1ce"
                    type="Microsoft.Configuration.ConfigurationBuilders.UserSecretsConfigBuilder,
                          Microsoft.Configuration.ConfigurationBuilders.UserSecrets, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" />
           </builders>
       </configBuilders>
   
       <appSettings configBuilders="Secrets">
           <add key="GemBoxLicenseKey" value="" />
       </appSettings>
   
   </configuration>

3. Add a secret file that has your professional key in the following location: %APPDATA%\Microsoft\UserSecrets\<userSecretsId>\secrets.xml
   • XML

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   <root>
     <secrets ver="1.0">
       <secret name="GemBoxLicenseKey" value="XXXXXXXXXX" />
     </secrets>
   </root>

4. Set the license key in your application.
   • C#
   • VB.NET

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   using GemBox.Spreadsheet;
   using System.Configuration;
   
   class Program
   {
       static Program()
       {
           var license = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["GemBoxLicenseKey"];
           SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense(license);
       }
   
       static void Main()
       {
           var workbook = new ExcelFile();
           var worksheet = workbook.Worksheets.Add("Sample");
           var cell = worksheet.Cells[0, 0];
           cell.Value = "Sample";
           workbook.Save("Sample.xlsx");
       }
   }
   

   Imports GemBox.Spreadsheet
   Imports System.Configuration
   
   Module Program
   
       Sub New()
           Dim license = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings("GemBoxLicenseKey")
           SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense(license)
       End Sub
   
       Sub Main()
           Dim workbook = New ExcelFile()
           Dim worksheet = workbook.Worksheets.Add("Sample")
           Dim cell = worksheet.Cells(0, 0)
           cell.Value = "Sample"
           workbook.Save("Sample.xlsx")
       End Sub
   
   End Module
   

Keeping your license key secret in .NET Core

1. Run the following commands in the terminal.

   dotnet user-secrets init
   dotnet user-secrets set GemBoxLicenseKey XXXXXXXXXX 

   As a result, the secret file that has your professional key will be generated on one of the following locations.

   • For Windows: %APPDATA%\Microsoft\UserSecrets\<UserSecretsId>\secrets.json
   • For Linux / macOS: ~/.microsoft/usersecrets/<UserSecretsId>/secrets.json
   • JSON

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   {
     "GemBoxLicenseKey": "XXXXXXXXXX"
   }

2. Install the Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.UserSecrets NuGet package.
3. Set the license key in your application.
   • C#
   • VB.NET

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   using GemBox.Spreadsheet;
   using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration;
   using System.Linq;
   
   class Program
   {
       static Program()
       {
           var config = new ConfigurationBuilder().AddUserSecrets<Program>().Build();
           var provider = config.Providers.First();
   
           provider.TryGet("GemBoxLicenseKey", out string license);
           SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense(license);
       }
   
       static void Main()
       {
           var workbook = new ExcelFile();
           var worksheet = workbook.Worksheets.Add("Sample");
           var cell = worksheet.Cells[0, 0];
           cell.Value = "Sample";
           workbook.Save("Sample.xlsx");
       }
   }
   

   Imports GemBox.Spreadsheet
   Imports Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration
   Imports System.Linq
   
   Module Program
   
       Sub New()
           Dim config = New ConfigurationBuilder().AddUserSecrets(Of Program)().Build()
           Dim provider = config.Providers.First()
   
           Dim license As String = Nothing
           provider.TryGet("GemBoxLicenseKey", license)
           SpreadsheetInfo.SetLicense(license)
       End Sub
   
       Sub Main()
           Dim workbook = New ExcelFile()
           Dim worksheet = workbook.Worksheets.Add("Sample")
           Dim cell = worksheet.Cells(0, 0)
           cell.Value = "Sample"
           workbook.Save("Sample.xlsx")
       End Sub
   
   End Module
   

Another way to store your professional key is to use an external secrets management service, such as Azure Key Vault, AWS Key Management Service, or Google Cloud Key Management Service.