PROBLEM: Receiving Acceler8DB Error "Multi-Tier (Web) License not valid or missing" when using ADO

The information in this article applies to

Acceler8DB, Release 5.0 or higher
Microsoft ADO
Visual RPG, Release 4.0 or higher
Deploy
Windows

SUMMARY:

The above error may be produced by AVR programs attempting to access the ADO compatible databases in addition to Acceler8DB compatible databases.

RESOLUTION:

NOTE: Please coordinate with your ASNA Sales Executive for obtaining license.

Microsoft's ADO provider runs in a multi-tier environment. When running AVR applications (non-EXEs) that access data that use ADO, a flag will be raised to the AVR runtime indicating a multi-tier environment, resulting in a message indicating a "multi-tier" license is required.

There are several resolutions to this license error:

Take the ADO "out of process".. That is, create separate applications, one that strictly access ADO and the other application that strictly access Acceler8DB and/or DataGate/400;
Have the application open ADB data first, then open the ADO connection. We have many customers who choose this option and are running without problem;
Obtain an ASNA Acceler8DB Multi-Tier (Web) License.

MORE INFORMATION:

The issue is that the Windows operating system offers no way to detect "middle-tier" status, other than the way that causes this "false positive".

The reality is that the applications *ARE* running in the MTS environment, whether they know it or not, via the particular ADO provider. If you want to run AVR applications in this environment, you will need to be licensed.

As this Microsoft article indicates, http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnuda/html/msdn_dbado.asp:

"Microsoft® Universal Data Access is a platform for developing multitier enterprise applications that require access to diverse relational or nonrelational data sources across intranets or the Internet."

NOTE: ASNA's licensing model and verification is due to Microsoft's ADO multitier design.

Keywords: license, multi-tier, multitier, ADO, web, MTS, COM+, missing, valid