License
Smart Matrix can be used without a license - the free version. It is the whole matrix: open and close rows, load, cross-filter, format, templates. A license unlocks the features listed below and removes the marks of the free version.
What is free and what needs a license
| Feature | Free version | With a license |
|---|---|---|
| The table, opening and closing rows, Layer Toggles, loading, cross-filtering, selecting | Everything | - |
| Formatting of rows, columns, cells and headers, Number formats, Borders, Spacing | Everything | - |
| Templates | All three | - |
| Financial Headers, Hidden Content Hint, Undo / Redo, copy to the clipboard | Everything | - |
| Conditional Formatting | One rule | No limit |
| Charts in cells | One chart column | No limit |
| Export to Excel / PDF | The first 25 rows, with a line under them that says the file was made with the free version ("Made with the free version of Smart Matrix: the first 25 rows. A license exports the whole table.") | The whole table |
| Copy Settings | Locked | Yes |
| Reading Mode settings | Locked | Yes |
| Collapse / Expand Icons | Locked - the Box look | Yes |
| Title | Locked - the text Rows | Yes |
| Totals | Locked - the default places | Yes |
| Filter | Locked - Collapse Repeating Levels and Hide NULL Rows are off | Yes |
What you set stays saved. Without a license a locked feature does not apply, but nothing is removed from the report. Switch the license on and a Total placed at the top, the arrows as icons, a renamed Title, an active Filter and every further rule or chart column are back as you left them. A rule beyond the first is listed in the Conditional Formatting panel as Needs a license - not applied; a chart column beyond the first shows its plain values.
The free version has room for one conditional formatting rule (the topmost one that is switched on, the one with the highest priority), one chart column (the left-most) and the first 25 rows of an export.
What an unlicensed visual looks like
- Power BI's own symbol. Power BI shows its "license required" symbol in the top right corner of the visual. The floating buttons and the close button of a side panel move out from under it.
- A lock on every button of the ribbon that needs a license. A click does not open the menu but says what the free version has of it ("The free version has 1 conditional formatting rule. A license has no limit."), with Learn more, which opens this page.
- A watermark. A faint, slanted Smart Matrix by SCvation over the table. It takes no clicks and the table can be read through it.
- A blurred reading view. While the report is read (Power BI's reading view, as against the edit view where it is built), everything is blurred and a box in the middle says Unlicensed version, with two buttons: Get License and Learn more (this page). Nothing under the box can be clicked or reached with the keyboard. The edit view is never blurred: whoever builds the report has the whole visual, with the limits above.
📷 Screenshot needed:
license-unlicensed-edit.png(watermark, lock on a button, Power BI's symbol) andlicense-reading-view.png(the blurred reading view with the notice).
Getting a license
There are two ways, and the visual finds either by itself:
- A Power BI license plan (bought on Microsoft AppSource). A valid plan switches the license on for the visual.
- A license key. In Power BI's Format pane the visual has a License card with three lines:
| Line | What it shows |
|---|---|
| License type | Free, Validating..., <name> Custom License, AppSource License Plan, Expired, Invalid License Key Format, Invalid License Key Signature or Invalid Product |
| License expiry date | The date a key runs out, Active Subscription for a plan, None otherwise |
| License key input | Paste the key here. It is checked, cleared again, and the two lines above show the result |
The key is kept with the visual's own license settings, not with the formatting: Reset does not remove it, and Copy Settings does not contain it.
Right after a report opens the visual first checks the license. Until the check is done - a moment - nothing is limited, so a licensed user never sees the free version flash by.
Get License in the notice opens the SCvation contact page.