>> Have you tested BDE 5.2 with the drivers for MSSQL and Oracle?

We've done some testing, but not any extensive testing yet. We haven't
seen any MS SQL problems so far.

I know that some problems on Oracle 8i were fixed with the Oracle SQL
Links update. You had to set ROWSET SIZE=0 if you used previous
versions of the Oracle dirver with 8.1.6 client or you got errors in
many cases. The update fixed that problem. I don't know the specifics
of the errors.

For Oracle, the problem with BLOBs > 32k using TQuery that I discovered
has been around for years still exists and wasn't fixed. We had never
had a need for BLOBs > 32k until a few months ago. We had to fork our
code that reads BLOBs on Oracle to use TTable--yuck!

I can't wait to get rid of the BDE, but unfortunately, it's going to be
while before we can.

>> The burning question in my mind is how one "downgrades" to BDE 5.1.1

in your position

Probably the easiest thing to do is just replace the 5.2 BDE SQL Links
DLL for InterBase with the 5.1.1 version. That seems to work fine for
us.

>> (and what I recommend to Pdox2IB users if it turns out that BDE 5.2

is broken for Paradox as well). Borland used to have a full BDE 5.1.1
install available on their web site but, for some months now, it has
only been available locked up in an installation program as **an
upgrade** for an existing BDE installation.

IIRC, Borland has never had a full BDE install on their website because
the SQL Links are only available in Enterprise versions. They don't
want people to be able to deploy them if they don't have an Enterprise
license so they only put udpates on their website.

>> The SQLLinks drivers for IB 5.6/BDE 5.1 ought to OK if Delphi 6 will

work with BDE 5.1.1, oughtn't they?

Yes, that works fine for us.

>> As the resident expert on Windows installations, what are your

thoughts about a "downgrade" install for Delphi 6 users? Are there any
licensing problems doing this?

I have a BDE install Wise script, but haven't released it due to not
wanting to get a letter from Borland's legal department. Since you can
technically only deploy using a Borland certified installer, I have been
a bit conservative about creating and distributing (outside of our
customers) a BDE installation script. Also, I question whether they
would sue me if I deployed the SQL Links to the public as part of a BDE
Setup, so I just chose to avoid that potential liability. :)

David R.