BDE Network Configuration

The Borland Database Engine (BDE) is automatically installed with the AccuBuild® program and is used to control the behavior for all database operations including file sharing in network environments. If you have other programs on your system that use the BDE, then the AccuBuild program will not install the BDE again unless the AccuBuild version of the BDE is newer than the version that is currently on your system. If a newer version of the BDE is installed by the AccuBuild® program, it will be installed into the same directory where your existing BDE files reside. The BDE should never be installed in more than one location on your system as all programs using the BDE will work from one installation.

In a network environment, you will want to make sure that all users are using the same version of the BDE. Other programs besides AccuBuild use the BDE and there is always the possibility that mixed versions of the BDE might be used to access the AccuBuild data files in a network environment. AccuBuild has a built in feature for recording each user's version of the BDE which can be viewed in the File > System Administrator > User Maintenance option. Whenever mixed versions of the BDE are encountered by the program, the user will be notified, and the situation should be corrected immediately in order to avoid file and data corruption issues. The BDE is backwards compatible, so the latest version should work for all users in the system.

If AccuBuild is installed on a network server and the BDE is installed on the server as well, you may wish to configure the network settings for AccuBuild to use the server BDE files so that a workstation version of AccuBuild does not have to be installed on each desktop. If you choose this option, then all you will have to do at each desktop is create a shortcut icon to the AccuBuild® program (Accubld.exe) on the server.

Be sure to contact AccuBuild support before attempting to customize the network configuration. Certain steps need to be carried out and registry problems can occur if this is not carried out properly.

The BDE Administrator program needs to be configured for Windows 3.1 and Windows 95/NT or else the registry entries at the individual workstations will not be updated correctly. Choose Object > Open Configuration to open up the BDE configuration file on the file server (located in the network BDE folder). After opening the configuration file, choose the Object > Options menu option to display the Options Dialog window. In the Save for use with box, select the Windows 3.1 and Windows 95/NT option.

After changes to the configuration options have been made in the BDE Administrator program, you will also have to modify the AccuBld.Ini file on the server (located in the AccuBuild® program directory) to enable the server version of the BDE by adding the following section to the Accubld.ini file:

[BDE] ConfigPath=f:\AccuBuild\bde\idapi.cfg BDEPath=f:\AccuBuild\bde Overwrite=True

The above settings are sample entries and you would replace the settings with the corresponding directory entries for your network installation.

When the AccuBuild® program is loaded, the workstation registry entries will be updated with the information from the centralized BDE Folder located on the file server. You can view the session information from the Help Menu and determine the directory where the BDE configuration file is being accessed by the AccuBuild® program. If the configuration file location is not set to the network location of the BDE folder, then the configuration is not set up properly.

If the custom configuration is set up correctly, then any workstation will be able to access the AccuBuild® program by simply creating a shortcut icon on the desktop pointing to the Accubld.exe program on the server. The AccuBuild Workstation program will not have to be installed on each desktop.

The custom configuration information was taken from an article written by Bill Todd, entitled "Sharing the BDE on a Network".