PRB: Data Path Errors Starting SourceSafe

• Microsoft Visual SourceSafe for Windows, versions 4.0, 5.0
• Microsoft Visual SourceSafe for Windows NT, versions 4.0, 5.0
• Microsoft Visual SourceSafe for Windows 95, versions 4.0, 5.0

SYMPTOMS

When you start SourceSafe, you may encounter one of the following error messages:

   "Invalid Data Path"

   "Cannot find initialization variable "Data_Path"

   "Invalid DOS path"

CAUSE

These errors occur when a client installation does not properly define the path to the SourceSafe server's SRCSAFE.INI in the client's SRCSAFE.INI file (#include) or the server's SRCSAFE.INI does not contain a valid SourceSafe database location.

RESOLUTION

After installing the SourceSafe server, always use NETSETUP.EXE to install the client installations. NETSETUP.EXE is found in the SourceSafe server directory.

Be sure to check that:

1. The client's SRCSAFE.INI include path is a valid path to the server's SRCSAFE.INI location.

2. If using the 16 bit client, ensure that the client's SRCSAFE.INI

      #include path uses the 16-bit path, such as the following:
   
      #include d:\<path>\vss_se~1\srcsafe.ini
   
   

3. The server's SRCSAFE.INI DATA_PATH setting points to a valid SourceSafe server DATA directory.