After the BDE is installed, it must be configured - normally using the BDE Administrator - to define the aliases that are used to specify the databases. (ODBC, ADO, and the like also require similar configuration.) (An API allows configuration to be made programatically.)

In general, when I write programs, I currently use ADO to perform this function because its functionality is built into the current MS Windows operating systems, and, therefore, I don't have to worry about installing the BDE for my applications to work.

From the Control Panel, double click BDE Administrator

This appears to be the same program as the one run through Delphi, except that it is in its own window, it provides a tab to configure the drivers, and it does not provide a way to see the tables and fields.

Start / Programs / Borland Delphi 5 / BDE Administrator

This appears to be identical to using the Control Panel

From inside Delphi, select Database / Explore

This opens as a Delphi child window. It provides a ways to see the tables and fields, but does not provide a tab to configure the drivers.

Start / Programs / Borland Delphi 5 / Database Explorer

This appears to be identical to Delphi's Database / Explore except that it is in its own window.

A yellow-green box around an icon means that the connection is working (open) and that you can get data about the tables and fields in that database.

A green arrow means that the alias definition has been edited but is not yet saved (applied).

Parameters with bold letters can not be changed.

• Be sure that the focus is on a table which is not Opened
• From the menu, select Object / New...
• From the combobox, select Standard for Paradox, DBase, FoxPro, or ASCII databases. Otherwise, select one of the supported ODBC types.
• Click OK and enter the BDE alias name in the highlighted box
• At this point, you need to enter configuration data which varies based on the type of database
• In the lefthand pane, the green arrow indicates that the alias definition has not been saved. From the menu, select Object / Apply (or use the associated toolbar button) to save the alias definition. (Of course, you can Delete it if you want.)

Paradox   DBase   FoxPro   ASCIIDRV

Borland provides sample Paradox, dBase, and Interbase/Firebird databases under

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Borland Shared\Data

To create a new alias, follow the instructions above, select the Standard driver, and set the following parameters.

Property	Value	Comments
Default Driver	Paradox	Select this from the pick list
Path		This is the directory that contains the tables (*.db files)

Typically, PDOXUSRS.NET and the databases are all on the database server, but in different directories. However, they do not have to be on the same machine. When several database servers are used, one of them is normally selected for PDOXUSRS.NET and none of the databases can be used if that server is off-line.

Locking problems are usually caused by misconfiguring one of these. If these rules are not followed, then there are severe locking problems.

In English, what this means is that every system on the network must have the drive containing the database mapped to the same drive letter. If one system has the database mapped to drive-p, then every computer with access to that database must also have it mapped to drive-p. In addition, the path to the lock file must be the same on all the machines

You must be sure that the computer that actually hosts the database does not use a local drive letter (such as the c-drive). If the database is accessed via p:/myTables on one machine, it must use the same path on all the machines.

Configuration / Drivers / Native / Paradox / Net Dir

Notice that PDOXUSRS.NET is not associated with a specific database. When there is more than one Paradox database, then they all share the single PDOXUSRS.NET file.

With MS Access tables, the BDE implies that you have access to 5 internal MSys* tables, however, only MSysAccessObjects can actually be read. (I don't suggest modifying this ... just look.)

The BDE provides an MS Access interface, or you can select the appropriate ODBC driver.

To create a new alias using the BDE driver, follow the instructions above, select the MSACCESS driver, and set the following parameter.

Property	Value	Comments
Database Name		This is the fully qualified *.mdb file

To create a new alias using the ODBC driver, follow the instructions above, select the appropriate ODBC driver ("Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)" on my system), and set one of the following parameters.

Property	Value	Comments
Database Name		This is the fully qualified *.mdb file
ODBC DSN		This is the ODBC alias name

To create a new alias, follow the instructions above, select the Standard driver, and set the following parameters.

Property	Value	Comments
Default Driver	FoxPro	Select this from the pick list
Path		This is the directory that contains the tables (*.dbf files)

To create a new alias, follow the instructions above, select the INTRBASE driver, and set the following parameters.

Property	Value	Comments
Server Name		This is the fully qualified *.fdb or *.gdb file
User Name	SYSDBA	For employee.gdb, the default password is masterkey

To connect to a remote firebird server, you MUST include the drive letter after the computer name.

CompName:C:\Program Files\Common Files\Borland Shared\Data\employee.gdb

\\CompName\C:\Program Files\Common Files\Borland Shared\Data\employee.gdb

Firebird is the open source version of Borland's Interbase database server.

Under Control Panel / ODBC (the exact path is OS dependent), create a System DSN alias based on INTERSOLV Interbase ODBC Driver (*.gdb). The Data Source Name is the ODBC alias name that you create. In order to use the sample database on a remote server, set Database Name to

CompName:C:\Program Files\Common Files\Borland Shared\Data\employee.gdb

The ODBC Data Source Administrator is also available from the Database Explorer menu via Object / ODBC Administrator...

URL: http:// cpcug.org / user / clemenzi / technical / Databases / BDE.html