How to deploy BDE for Delphi Apps?

Suppose your Delphi application accesses data using the Borland Database Engine (BDE). You wish to deploy it on a user’s client computer. In that case, you must deploy the BDE too along with your application.

You will receive the following error if the BDE is not deployed.

How to deploy BDE for Delphi Apps?

You can deploy BDE or install BDE in 2 ways

1. Manual installation
2. With the Setup software like InnoSetup.

The bdeinst.dll contains all the files necessary to install database drivers for BDE. This file comes as a part of the BDE installation that is available in the bdeinst.cab. This can be located in the path “\Program Files\Common Files\Borland Shared\BDE.”Use a decompression utility to extract the file like WinZip or WinRAR.

Now we need to copy and register the DLL in the system where it is to be deployed.

1. Copy the bdeinst.dll into a folder. I use C:\BDE and copy the file here.
2. Open the cmd prompt.
3. Set the path to the folder where the bdeinst.dll is located.
4. Run the command regsvr32.exe bdeinst.dll in the command prompt.
5. Now a window should open asking for the installation.

Installing the BDE with InnoSetUp.

Click Installing the BDE with InnoSetUp to know more about Deploying the BDE using the SetUp program.

To uninstall BDE 

1. Delete the folder containing BDE. By Default, this will be Programfiles\CommonFiles\BDE.
2. Delete the BDEADMIN.CPL.This file is responsible for showing the BDE Administrator in the Control panel. This is found in the path Windows\System folder or System32 folder. I found it in the System32 folder on one of my Home computers.
3. Open the Command prompt and type regedit.
4. Search for HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Borland\BDEAdmin and delete it.
5. Next, locate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Borland and delete the subkeys BLW32, Borland Shared, and Database engine.

Also, read the bdedeploy.txt located in the BDE directory (“\Program Files\Common Files\Borland Shared”) for the specific info on deploying BDE.