Snow software usage metering shows when an application was last used, its reported Run count, and how long it ran. This article explains the usage fields shown in Snow License Manager and the agent behavior behind the Run count.

In Snow License Manager, you can expand an application on a computer record to see its usage details. The first example shows Notepad++ 7 on computer 1513. You can also view usage information with the computers listed for an application, as shown in the second example. The green boxes in the screenshots identify the metering details.

Usage fields

• Name: The user who was using the application.
• Last used: The date and time of the last known usage, using the local computer's date and time settings, including its time zone.
• Run: Snow's reported count of application runs. The agent's start-event and scan behavior affects this value, as explained below.
• Total time (days:hh:mm): The total duration the application ran. This excludes time while the screen was locked or the computer was asleep or hibernating. Multiple instances do not multiply the duration. For example, ten Microsoft Word windows open for one hour result in one hour of total time.
• Per run (hh:mm): The average duration per run. For example, 22 hours across 30 runs is 44 minutes per run, rounded to whole minutes.

What metering counts

Metering focuses on desktop applications. It counts a running application process even when the application is in the background; it cannot determine whether someone is actively using the application. Time while the computer is locked is excluded, so a scheduled task or antivirus process running during that time is not counted as used.

• The Windows agent increases Run when it receives a process start event. Unlocking or waking the computer, continuing an application after a scan or midnight, and detecting a process that started before the agent do not create a new start event.
• If recorded usage has a total run count of 0 when the inventory result is created, the result reports a run count of 1.
• When multiple instances of the same application start, the agent counts their starts. The total duration runs from the first instance starting until the last instance closes, without adding overlapping time.
• A scheduled scan contains metering data gathered since the previous scheduled scan. It clears the temporary metering files and starts new files with a run count of 0 for applications still running.
• At midnight, the agent ends the day's metering files and creates new files for applications still running. If the computer is locked at midnight, this happens when it is unlocked the next day.
• A manual scan contains metering data gathered since the last scheduled scan. The agent keeps the temporary file contents in memory during the manual scan and recreates the files afterward.

NOTE: A metering bug introduced in Snow Inventory Agent for Windows 5.1.0 affected the Run and Per run columns. It was resolved in agent version 5.2.1. The other columns were unaffected.

Example: Word stays open across scheduled scans

1. On Monday, a user starts one instance of Word while the agent is running. Run is 1. The user leaves Word open and the computer unlocked overnight. At midnight, a new metering file starts with a run count of 0.
2. At Tuesday's scheduled scan, the agent sums Monday's run count of 1 and Tuesday's run count of 0. The scan reports 1 and starts new metering files with a run count of 0. Locking the computer during the day pauses the duration without changing the run count. The user leaves Word open but locks the computer overnight, so no new file is created at midnight.
3. On Wednesday, unlocking the computer creates the new day's metering files. The scheduled scan finds usage duration but no new start event, so it reports Run as 1. The user then starts three more Word instances and closes them. Thursday's scheduled scan reports those three starts.

The total reported run count is 5: 1 from Tuesday's scan, 1 from Wednesday's scan, and 3 from Thursday's scan.

Example: the application starts before the agent

If antivirus software starts before the agent, the agent does not receive its start event. It can still measure the process while the agent is running. When a scan records usage with a run count of 0, the inventory result reports a run count of 1. With daily scans, the antivirus application is reported as used once per day.

Example: manual scans

1. A scheduled scan runs at 9 a.m. while Word is already open. The new metering files start with a run count of 0.
2. Three more Word instances start before a manual scan at 10 a.m. That scan reports a run count of 3 and a duration of 60 minutes.
3. Six more instances start before another manual scan at 11 a.m. That scan reports a run count of 9 and a duration of 120 minutes.