Links between licenses

Links can be created between licenses in ALVAO Asset Management to define the relationships between licenses.

Links tab

You can manage your links in the main window of the ALVAO Asset Management Console in the Edit License window on the links tab. There are both direct and indirect (transitive) links.

Views

By default, the following views are displayed on the "links" tab:

Direct - displays only direct links, i.e. links whose starting or ending license is the directly selected license.
Follows - displays a list of licenses that the selected license follows.
Precedes - displays a list of licenses that the selected license precedes.

Columns

Name	Description
Path	Path to the linked object.
Object kind	Type of linked object.
Object name	Name of the linked object.
Direct	Yes - this is a direct link to the object that is selected in the tree. No - this is an indirect link to the object that is selected in the tree (link via another object).
Link type	The type of link from the perspective of the currently selected object in the tree.
Modified	Date and time when the link was last modified.
Edit	The person who last modified the link.
From object (path)	The path to the object on which the link is defined. For direct links, this is the selected object in the tree.
From object (type)	The type of object on which the link is defined.
From object (name)	The name of the object on which the link is defined.
From object (link type)	The type of link from the view of the object on which the link is defined.

Link Types

The following link types can be defined between objects:

Link type	Description
Related to - Related to	License A is related to License B.
Precedes before - Follows after	License A precedes License B. For example: the MS Office 2003 license precedes the MS Office 2010 license.

Direct and indirect links

For example, the following links exist between licences A to E:
A -> B -> C -> D -> E

If the selected licencet is C, then the links B->C and C->D are direct, because they directly follow from or point to licencet C.

Links A-> C and C-> E are indirect, because licence A is indirectly linked to C via licence B. Similarly, license E is indirectly linked to C via license D.

Adding a new link

In the AM Console, display the Edit License window for the license you want to add a link to.
From the local menu on the Links tab, select the Links command. Add.
The Add link window will open. The license at the top of the window is pre-populated according to the license that is being edited. This selection cannot be changed.
In the link Type drop-down menu, select the desired link type, for example "License (top) Follows License (bottom)."
Type part of the license name and select the object from the drop-down menu.
After filling in the details, click the OK button.

Edit an existing link

On the links tab of the Edit License window, select the link you want to edit and select Edit from the local menu.
In the Edit link window, edit the link type and end licenses as needed and click OK.

Removing a link

On the links tab in the Edit License window. locate the link you want to remove and select Remove.
Confirm the removal of the link.

Example: License links When Upgrading a Software License

Perform an upgrade Purchase 10 Windows 98 licenses to purchasing 10 licenses of Windows XP Professional.
The license list will have the following entries after the upgrade: Purchase 10 Windows 98 licenses, cancelling 10 Windows 98 licenses and purchasing 10 Windows XP Pro licenses.
In the list of links of purchasing a Windows98 license, the following will appear: Windows 98 and Windows XP Pro.
In the list of links of the Windows 98 license cancellation, the following appears: Windows 98 and Windows XP Pro.
In the links list of a Windows XP Pro license purchase, the following will appear: Windows 98 and Windows 98.

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