| Product(s): | WaterGEMS, WaterCAD, HAMMER, SewerGEMS, SewerCAD, StormCAD, CivilStorm, FlowMaster, OpenRoads Designer, OpenSite Designer, OpenRail Designer |
| Version(s): | 10.XX.XX.XX and higher |
| Area: | Installation |
Which versions of the Microsoft Access Database Engine (ADE) component are installed as a prerequisite for the OpenFlows products above?
Since all versions of ADE are no longer supported by Microsoft, can they be removed? Is there a replacement?
Access 2010 is at end of life: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/end-of-support/end-of-support-2020
Access 2016 is also now at end of life:
The "Access Database Engine" is not the complete version of Microsoft Access but rather it is a small prerequisite component that programs (including but not limited to the OpenFlows products) need to use in order to communicate with Office files like Excel spreadsheets and Access databases. So, if you need to use ModelBuilder or SCADAConnect to import data from an Excel spreadsheet or Access database, you will need to have the Access Database Engine installed, or the full version of Microsoft update (see this). Currently there is no replacement component so the OpenFlows products must use ADE or Office 365 in order to work with these files.
If these components are missing or if ADE is installed in the wrong order, you can encounter problems working with Excel and Access files as described in these articles:
The 2024 version of the water, storm and sewer products installs Access Database Engine 2016 (64-bit) and 2007 (32-bit). Past versions used 2010 (64-bit) and 2007 (32-bit).
Starting with the 2026 version of the OpenFlows products (Water, Storm and Sewer) the Access Database Engine is planned to be removed from the installers (or made optional), and messaging in the applications will be adjusted to point to Microsoft 365 Access Runtime as a solution if the user needs to work with Excel or Access database files. Reference # 1980397
Since Access Database Engine (The 2007, 2010 and 2016 versions) is no longer supported by Microsoft (end of life), many companies may prohibit installation due to potential security risk.
The OpenFlows products will operate without a problem if you uninstall all versions of Access Database Engine. The only time they are used in the software is when working with Excel or Access files in the ModelBuilder or SCADAConnect tools. Even then, if you need to use an Excel or Access file within the OpenFlows applications, you would need to manually install Microsoft 365 Access Runtime (x64) and a supported version of Microsoft Office 2021 (x64) or higher with latest updates (run a repair on the installation if issues occur after uninstalling Access Database Engine 2016).
Exception: for FlowMaster, older model files based on .MDB files and will not open without Access Database Engine or Microsoft 365 Access Runtime (x64) and a supported version of Microsoft Office 2021 (x64) or higher with latest updates. More recent versions of FlowMaster use SQLITE files for the model instead of MDB.
Note that starting with the 2026 release of the OpenFlows products (Water, Storm and Sewer), Access Database Engine is planned to be removed from the installation (or made optional), and messaging in the applications will be adjusted to point to Microsoft 365 Access Runtime as a solution if the user needs to work with Excel or Access database files. Reference # 1980397
Microsoft Visual C++ runtime versions installed with OpenFlows products