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Language: Visual Basic
Expertise: Beginner

Jul 7, 1997

Question:
I intended to use DAO in my application, but I wonder whether is there any license issue if I written an application in VB and distributed it or resell it?

Answer:
The DLLs required for DAO usage in Visual Basic can be distributed royalty-free. This is in the license agreement for Visual Basic. Microsoft has never charged royalties or other run-time fees for usage of the DLLs and other controls required to make your programs run. The license agreement says, in paragraph 1.d.(ii): Microsoft grants you a nonexclusive, royalty-free right to reproduce the object code version of any portion of the software listed in the software file REDIST.TXT provided you comply with section d(iii): If you redistribute the sample code or redistributable software, you agree to A) distribute the redistributables in object code only in conjunction with and as a part of a software application product developed by you that adds significant and primary functionality to the software and that is developed to operate on the Windows or Windows NT environment; B) not use Microsoft's name, logo, or trademarks to market your software application product; C) include a valid copyright notice on your software product; D) indemnify, hold harmless, and defend Microsoft from and against any claims or lawsuites, including attorney's fees, that arise or result from the use or distribution of y our software application product; E) not permit further distribution of the redistributables by your end user. There are some exceptions to section D(iii), so be sure to read the license agreement included with Visual Basic. The main exception is that you can't distribute the Jet DLLs if you are writing a product that competes with the Office suite. If your program uses a database, that is not considered a general-purpose product; therefore, you can distribute the DAO DLLs without any restriction.