Question:
Cannot Find Installable ISAM
 

Answer:
When CMS is run on a network with both Windows 95/98 and Windows NT/2000 client machines, they frequently encounter problems when trying to use DX to import or export data. They receive an error message that DX "cannot open database file, Cant find Installable ISAM".

This error occurs because the CMS Installation process (and CLIENT.EXE) both copy special database drivers to the %SYSTEMROOT%\System folder. %SYSTEMROOT% represents the folder where the Windows Operating System is currently installed. In Windows 95/98, the %SYSTEMROOT% folder is C:\Windows, while in NT/2000 it is C:\WINNT. The path to the ISAM database drivers is stored in the DX.INI file in the CMSWIN install folder.

Here are a few sample lines from the [Installable ISAMs] section of DX.INI:

dBaseIII=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\xbs200.dll (This would work properly in Windows 95/98.)

dBaseIV=C:\WINNT\SYSTEM\xbs200.dll (This would work properly in Windows NT/2000.).

The key difference between the two lines is the portion of the path pointing to the folder where the Windows O/S is installed.

To fix the problem, simply open the DX.INI file in Windows Notepad and change the path information under the [Installable ISAMs] section from WINNT to WINDOWS or vice versa. Make sure that you edit the lines in the section that are active; the lines that begin with a semicolon (;) are "commented out" and do not run. Remember that changing the DX.INI to give access to a Windows NT/2000 customer will cause this same problem for any Win 95/98 clients who also try to use DX. This is usually not a problem, because most CMS customers only have one person handling work in DX, and many of them run the same operating system on all of their client machines.

Q. Well, it works now, but just what is an "Installable ISAM"?

A. ISAMs are self-installing DLL files that contain the drivers that are required to access dBase, Excel, FoxPro, Paradox and Text database files from the Microsoft database engine. ISAMS also ensure that the proper registry entries are present for these types of files. ISAM is an acronym for Indexed Sequential Access Method.

Another common error: Device Unavailable when try to run DX. Solution:

Check the mapping and drives where CMS is installed then open the DX.ini file (found under the install directory - cmswin, cmsact, etc). Check the Application Path, Library and possibly the DestnDefaultDBPath.