Configuration – Windows Vista.

Windows Vista can be very restrictive towards applications written for the previous versions of Windows. This is also the case with the Borland Database Engine (BDE), which is not capable of running unless two settings have been changed:

1. A permission must be given in the windows registry database
2. “Net Dir” must be moved using Borlands “BDE Administrator”

After the Borland Database Engine has been installed both actions must be carried out in the mentioned order.

First any user must be granted rights to read and edit the properties in the Borland sub key for the local machine in the registry.

Logged in as administrator, this is done as follows:

• Go to Start | Run… Type regedit.
• Open the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE branch.
• Open the SOFTWARE branch.
• Right-Click on BORLAND.
• In the menu that shows select Permission…
• Click “Users”.
• Under “Type of Access”, select “Full Control” and click OK
• Click OK to exit the Registry Key Permissions dialog box.
• Exit the Registry Editor window

The image of the registry editor is not how it looks in Windows Vista today. We didn’t have an English version of Windows Vista and were therefore not capable of making an “up to date” screenshot. However, the above description applies.

Next the Borland Database Engine must be configured.

In the Borland Database Engine, sharing of data among more workstations is controlled by the file: “Pdoxusrs.net”. The location of this file is important as all workstations operating on the same data must refer to the same file. The default setting for the placement of this file is in the root of drive C, which will fail under Windows Vista, as this operating system does not permit new files to be created here. However, it is permitted to create a new folder (directory) in the root of drive C, and in such a new folder the file “Pdoxusrs.net” can be placed. The name of this new folder is of minor importance and could be named e. g. “BDEShare”

Now the BDE must be configured to use the new folder. This is done in the Windows control panel, where a configuration tool for the “Borland Database Engine” called: “BDE administrator” can be found.

On the tabsheet “Configuration” the configuration tree must be expanded to the path Configuration/Drivers/Native. In the “Paradox” attribute set, edit the uppermost setting: “NET DIR”. In this, the path of the newly created folder is entered. In the example shown here the new folder has been created on drive D, which doesn’t matter as any drive on a harddisk can be used.

If the BDE Administrator is not capable of making the change then verify that the permission in the registry has been set properly. If this isn’t the case then retry to apply the permission as described in the above.

If data must be shared among more workstations then there are specific demands regarding the placement of the file “Pdoxusrs.net”. These are described in detail in the document:

Paradox. How to configure the "Paradox Database Engine"
in a multi user environment.

which is found on the homepage as well