Paradox was the only database format supported by WRDB versions prior to 5.0. Paradox requires that the Borland Database Engine be installed on your computer. WRDB check for this and warns you if it needs to be installed. An installer (BDE.exe) is included in the Redist folder.
When accessed using the Corel Paradox program, this file-based database is extremely fast and robust, and allows multi-user access. However, the Paradox database format is being deprecated as is the BDE; this is the primary impetus for development of WRDB 5.0 which uses the Microsoft .Net Framework. Unfortunately, although Paradox is currently supported by the .Net Framework, multi-user access has been removed and performance has suffered significantly. WRDB contains some custom-written low-level file access routines to increase the speed, however Paradox is now the worst performing data provider.
Paradox tables created using earier versions of WRDB can be read by WRDB 5.0, however data tables cannot be updated or created without conversion to a new format which is not backwards compatible with WRDB 4.x. Therefore, care must be taken if you wish to use WRDB 4.x and 5.0 with the same projects.
In some instances, you may need to configure the BDE Administrator in the Control Panel. This is required if you want to open a Paradox table as a limited (non-Administrator) user because the default setting for the NET DIR parameter prevents proper operation. To correct this, open the Windows Control Panel and run the BDE Administrator item (you must do this with Administrator rights):
The NET DIR setting allows multi-user access to Paradox .db tables stored on network drives, and must point to an existing folder for which you have read/write permissions. If you want to allow multi-user access to Paradox tables, set the NET DIR value to a network folder; all users that would also want to access Paradox tables must have the identical path configured on their computer (including the same mapped drive letter if appropriate).
By default, upon installation the NET DIR setting is C:\. Because non-Administrator users do not have write access to this root folder, to avoid errors you must set the NET DIR value to any other existing folder on your computer (or network drive as just mentioned) that you have permissions on. An example directory is shown above. To set this directory, click the Configuration tab on the left, then click Configuration | Drivers | Native | Paradox to display the panel you need. After resetting NET DIR, select the Object | Apply menu item to save your changes. You will then need to restart WRDB.
Update for WRDB 5.1 and higher: Paradox is no longer supported as a native data provider for storing data in new projects. The Paradox format is still supported for upgrading, importing, and exporting.