In order for the library to work at runtime, the first thing you must do before calling any of the library's functions is to call the License method and provide it with your trial or registered license key.
Your trial or registered license key can be obtained by running the 'Xceed Component Licenser' application which can be run from the Start Menu by selecting the Program files -> Xceed Components -> Xceed Component Licenser item.
If you have purchased a registered license of the product, you should provide your registered license key to the Xceed Component Licenser in order to replace the automatically generated free trial license key.
Keys beginning with "ZIP" and "ZIL" also unlock the SFX (self-extracting Zip file) capabilities of Xceed Zip Compression Library.
Version 6.0 of Xceed Zip Compression Library introduces AES encryption support. Because of export restrictions in some countries, a new license validation had to be implemented. License keys that begin with "ZIP" enable AES encryption support while "ZIL" license keys, either trial or registered, do not activate AES encryption support.
When zipping in trial mode with a "ZIP" (ZIP60 or more recent) license key, if the EncryptionMethod property is set to xemWinZipAES, the EncryptionPassword property will be changed to "This is a trial password" only if it had been modified prior to setting the EncryptionMethod property. If a password other than "This is a trial password" is specified in the EncryptionPassword property after the EncryptionMethod property has been set, a "Set not permitted" error will be thrown. The password can also be specified via the ZipPreprocessingFile event however if a password other than "This is a trial password" is specified, the SkippingFile event will be raised with a xsrNotLicenced skipping reason.
When unzipping an AES-encrypted zip file in trial mode with a "ZIP" license key, the only password that can be used is "This is a trial password" and it must be specified via the EncryptionPassword property, InvalidPassword event, or UnzipPreprocessingFile event. If a password other than "This is a trial password" is specified, the SkippingFile event will be raised with a xsrNotLicenced skipping reason. When unzipping, the EncryptionMethod property does not need to be set.
For both registered and trial "ZIP" and "ZIL" license keys, if the EncryptionPassword property is an empty string, the files will not be encrypted regardless of the value of the EncryptionMethod.
You need to purchase a license key in order to use Xceed Zip for x64 or Xceed Zip for IA-64; using a current "ZIP" license key will not work.
Time-limited free trial licenses for Xceed Zip for x64, without AES encryption, is available and works the same way as the 32-bit version. A trial license for Xceed Zip for IA-64 can be obtained by contacting Xceed Sales directly.
The free trial version of the Xceed Zip Library includes everything the registered version does, except the license rights to distribute applications you create that use the library. That means you get the complete documentation, code examples, sample applications with fully commented source code and free technical support by email or telephone.
The free trial version is intended to allow you to design, code and test applications that use the Xceed Zip Library for 20 days. The 20-day trial period begins when you first install the library on your development system. After the trial period ends, any calls made to the library's methods will return a licensing error code. Only registered users are permitted to distribute applications that use the library outside their test or development environments.
When you decide that you like the library and will use it in your projects, all you have to do after purchasing a registered copy of the product is to start providing your registered license key to the License method instead of your free trial license key.