XCLN: Errors When Trying to Start EFD

ID: Q156709

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Exchange Server, version 4.0

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to start the Microsoft Exchange Electronic Forms Designer (EFD), the following error message may appear:

Unable to create information structure for clipboard file.

You may also encounter an error after you finish the Forms Designer Wizard by either clicking Finish before the form template appears or by adding one or more controls to the template form and clicking Save or Save As on the File menu. The following error message appears:

The file, c:\temp\e~fp3733a.tmp', cannot be saved.

CAUSE

These errors are caused by outdated ODBC components or by invalid file pointers in one or more of the Odbc*.ini files.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem:

Verify that the proper ODBC components are installed and that the .ini files contain the proper paths to the DLLs.

Additional file clean-up and re-installation of EFD may be required.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange version 4.0. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

ODBC is a common interface used and installed by many applications. EFD uses it in the creation and management of forms. ODBC was first introduced with Microsoft Access 1.0 and many other applications install one or more of the core components like Odbc.dll. Currently, detection of installed ODBC components and whether or not to update them is inconsistent. This can lead to the error messages and application malfunction.

The following ODBC components are installed by EFD 4.0 Setup:


Filename      Size       Version       Target Directory

Odbc.dll       56240     2.10.2401     Windows\System
Odbcadm.exe     6464     2.10.23.9     Windows\System
Odbccurs.dll   88896     2.10.23.23    Windows\System
Odbcinst.dll   92576     2.10.24.1     Windows\System
Odbcinst.hlp   17412     n/a           Windows\System
Odbcjt16.dll  246928     2.0.23.17     Windows\System
Odbctl16.dll   64080     1.0.23.9      Windows\System

All EFD ODBC components have a date stamp consistent with the product release date, for example, 3/6/96 or a later Service Pack release date. However, because setup programs usually compare their version with the existing version's internal stamp (column 3, above), it is possible that a file with the same or greater internal version number (but different file date) already exists in the target directory. In this case, most setup programs will not overwrite the existing file.

To see the internal version stamps of existing files:

Start Msd.exe.

On the File menu, click Find File.

Type odbc*.* in the Search For dialog box.

Specify the appropriate drive, and select the Include Sub-dirs checkbox.

This will list all ODBC files on the specified drive and display the associated internal version stamps. The MSD utility ships with MS-DOS versions 5.x and later and with Windows versions 3.1 and later. It will run under Windows 95 and Windows NT. Even though Windows NT will report a direct hard disk access attempt, you can click Ignore and utility will work.

Odbc.ini files modified by EFD setup:

EFD Setup creates or adds the following sections and entries in the INI files listed below:


ODBC.INI

   [ODBC Data Sources]
   MS EFD Databases=Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)

   [MS EFD Databases]
   Driver=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\odbcjt16.dll
   DriverId=25
   Exclusive=1
   FIL=MS Access;
   JetIniPath=odbcddp.ini
   UID=admin

ODBCDDP.INI

   [ISAM]
   PageTimeout=600
   MaxBufferSize=512

Note the entry "Driver=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\odbcjt16.dll". A copy of this DLL must reside in this location in order for EFD to function properly. Additionally, "JetIniPath=odbcddp.ini" should exist in the \Windows subdirectory and contain the entries listed above.

Additional Troubleshooting:

Once you verify all of the above files and INI entries, if you start EFD and it still displays the "Unable to create information structure error message, follow these steps:

Rename the Exchange\Efdforms\Efdcb.mdb and Efdcb.ldb files.

Delete all old TMP files from the computer. This might require you to close all running applications and restart the computer.

Verify that the TEMP environmental variable references a valid path.

Restart EFD.

This should generate fresh versions of the EFDCB files. If this fails to resolve the problem, try reinstalling EFD over the current installation.

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbusage XCLN
Version : winnt:4.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type :