BDE Configuration Error

Most of the answers given below are for Visual dBASE 7.x, however the one at the end is aimed at possible problems with Visual dBASE 5.x (5.5, 5.6, 5.7) that sometimes occur here ...

Q: When I installed dBASE on the new machine, the following error message appeared:

       "Unable to merge changes into BDE config file"

Now, when I try to run dBASE, the following error message appears

       "Wrong version on IDAPI32.DLL"

A: Note that all of these answers were originally designed for a deployed Visual dBASE application, but may easily solve other problems with BDE Installations ...

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The first possible solution comes from InstallShield, but was written for the use of InstallShield Express. It may help, and may not. The information comes from their website, article Q100670:

"This message may be displayed due to one of several reasons

The target machine's pre-existing IDAPI32.CFG file is read-only or is inaccessable (in use, perhaps).

InstallShield Express finds the existing IDAPI configuration by reading the location from the

           HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Borland\Database Engine\

key in the registry (in the CONFIGFILE01 value).

If the .CFG file is not in this location, you will need to update the users' registry to point to the correct location, or delete this
registry key.

If the .CFG file is in this location, shut down any application that may be using the BDE, and/or check to see if the .CFG is set to read-only (if so, change that quick!).

The target machine's BDE Administrator is running during installation. If this is the case, the BDE will not allow the .CFG which is open to be modified. (Shut down the BDE Administrator and try the installation again.)

The IDAPI configuration file on the target machine is corrupt. To test this, launch the machine's BDE Administrator and open the configuration file from the path shown in the registry (see first point above). Try using the program's "Merge Configuration ..." option (under the "Object" menu) to merge another configuration file with the IDAPI file (try the IDAPI32.CNF located in the InstallShield Express "Redist" subdirectory).

Also try saving the machine's IDAPI32.CFG as a new temporary name and open the IDAPI.CNF in the InstallShield Express "Redist" subdirectory, save as "IDAPI32.CFG", and re-run the installation. You can see if this works with a "Clean" configuration file.

The only drawback to doing the above is that any prior settings may be lost -- however, if the .CFG was corrupt then those settings may have already been lost ..."

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This suggestion comes from a posting in either the Inprise newsgroups, or from the dBASE2000 newsgroups:

"Merging the configuraton file has failed" error:

According to Stefan at InstallShield, this error commonly occurs if there was a previous BDE installation and the following two registry keys still exist:

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Borland\BLW32
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Borland\Database Engine

If these two keys exist in the registry, try deleting them and re-run the installation.

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And another solution, also from the Inprise newsgroups:

This correction is based on the Corel Suite (WordPerfect, etc.), or some Lotus Products. In the worst case scenario to date, a "corrupt Corel Database engine" (Corel uses the BDE ...) might exist. The solution that was used was the following:

        1. Uninstall the application (Visual dBASE 7) and Corel Suite
        2. Re-start the computer
        3. Delete the registry keys (REGEDIT) for
           Local Machine/Software/Borland/BLW32
           Local Machine/Software/Borland/BDE
           Local Machine/Software/Corel
        4. Re-start the computer
        5. Delete all Corel Application Files
        6. Delete all BDE files
        7. Install the Application
        8. Install the Corel Suite

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Visual dBASE 5.x (16-bit BDE) problem (provided by Jens Richter in the dBASE, Inc. newsgroups):

Check the registry for all entries with 32-bit-BDE-path and 16-bit-IDAPI-path and correct if necessary (change the values).

Remove the entries for the 16-bit BDE from WIN.INI  (These will have headings like: [IDAPI] )

Rename the VDB 16-bit home directory (VdBOld or something).

Install Visual dBASE 5.x from the beginning to a new directory (make sure there are no spaces)

If all works, delete the original Visual dBASE directories.

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If  none of these solutions solve the problem for you, please contact dBASE, Inc.'s technical support for more assistance.