Question: How do I change the default language driver used to create new tables?

Answer: By modifying the appropriate LANGDRIVER setting using the BDE Administrator. You can either set a global default to be used for all table formats or choose a specific driver for each table format you work with. The rest of this article outlines how to do this, why you'd want to do it, and some considerations to take into account before doing so.

Additional Information

• Changing the default language driver for Paradox tables
• Changing the default language driver for all tables
• Understanding Language Drivers
• Considerations and Warnings

Changing the default language driver for Paradox tables:

The following steps show how to changing the default language driver for Paradox tables only, which can limit side effects in your other BDE applications.

1. Open Control Panel and then start the BDE Administrator.
2. When the BDE Administrator starts, the Configuration tab should be selected.
3. Use your mouse to display the Configuration | Drivers | Native | Paradox settings.
4. When the Definition tab appears in the Settings panel, choose the LANGDRIVER setting and then either click the drop down arrow that appears near the right margin or press Alt+Down Arrow.
5. Choose the new driver.
6. Apply your changes. You can do this by clicking the toolbar button, choosing Object | Apply, or pressing Ctrl+A .

Changing the default language driver for all tables:

The following steps show how to changing the default language driver used by the BDE Administrator:

1. Open Control Panel and then start the BDE Administrator.
2. When the BDE Administrator starts, Configuration tab should be selected.
3. Use your mouse to display the Configuration | System | Init settings.
4. When the Definition tab appears in the Settings panel, choose the LANGDRIVER setting and then either click the drop down arrow that appears near the right margin or press Alt+Down Arrow.
5. Choose the new driver.
6. Apply your changes. You can do this by clicking the toolbar button, choosing Object | Apply, or pressing Ctrl+A .

Considerations and Warnings:

1. Changes to the default language driver affect the behavior of all BDE applications. Be sure to test your applications after making global changes; look for unintended side-effects. For example, changing the default language driver for Paradox tables affects query results generated by Delphi applications. If you application is designed to expect results in a certain order, it may not respond well when those results appear in a different one.

2. Language driver changes only affect tables creates. You may need to change the language drivers for any existing tables. This article shows how to do this with Paradox (and the Database Desktop).

3. You need to restart all BDE-enabled applications after changing settings with the BDE Administrator; otherwise, the old settings will still be used.