Q: What is the "Version Compatibility Check" in the TAP 4 Configuration menu? Why do I get a warning about three files listed as "Possible Version Conflict"?

A: Windows makes such widespread use of shared components (.VBX, .OCX, .DLL, etc., files) there are lots of opportunities for problems.

The worst case scenario: You install TAP. It works great. You don't use TAP for a few weeks, but you do find the world's BEST galactic space mutant game software, which you install. Unknown to anybody, the game software overwrites one of the common .OCX files with a different version. Weeks pass by. Then you run TAP again and everything falls apart. Lots of errors (GPF, locks up, etc., etc.) in TAP with no explanation. How do we ever trace it back to weeks ago when you installed the game software??

The compatibility check will help by recording the versions of any of the external libraries or components when we ship you TAP, then allowing a comparison of what is in that list vs. what is on your machine. We thought about having it check every time TAP is started, but it takes several seconds (we are using a number of external components), so instead we put it in as a menu item for trouble shooting.

Don't be alarmed if the Version Compatibility Check reports a number of possible incompatibilities. The tests are set very conservatively, to report even newer versions of a file (most problems are caused by older versions). This provides a lot of information for tracking down potential problems.

In general, you do not need to run the Version Compatibility Check unless asked to do so by the SoftWright support staff in the process of tracking down a specific problem you observe when running TAP.