FIX: Invalid Syntax Error When Logging On to Visual SourceSafe

ID: Q159777

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, 32-bit, for Windows, version 5.0

SYMPTOMS

When you log on to Visual SourceSafe version 5.0, the following error message might appear:

   "Invalid Syntax on line <line #> of the file <path to user's SS.INI
   file>\SS.INI"

When you use the Command Line, the following error message might appear:

   "Invalid Syntax on line <line #> of the file <path to user's SS.INI
   file>\SS.INI
   Too many SS.INI environment settings"

In both error messages, <line #> is some integer and <path to user's Ss.ini file> is the MS-DOS path to the user's Ss.ini file.

CAUSE

This error occurs if your SS.INI file references settings for more than ten (10) computers.

WORKAROUND

Manually edit the user's Ss.ini file, and reduce the number of references to computer names to less than ten.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was corrected in Visual SourceSafe version 6.0 for Windows.

MORE INFORMATION

In Visual SourceSafe Version 5.0, user settings, such as window size and window state, are all saved to the user's Ss.ini file. This is done to preserve the appearance of the Visual SourceSafe Explorer from one Visual SourceSafe session to another. Each entry is identified with a machine name. If users log on from MachineA, their Ss.ini might contain entries like the following:

   Maximized (MachineA) = No
   PrjWidth (MachineA) = 260

If they log on from MachineB later on, then a section of the SS.INI might look like the following:

   Maximized (MachineA) = No
   PrjWidth (MachineA) = 260
   Maximized (MachineB) = Yes
   PrjWidth (MachineB) = 300

Users can log on to Visual SourceSafe from ten different machines successfully. However, once they attempt to log on from the 11th machine, the above error messages appears.

Steps to Reproduce Problem

1. Open your Ss.ini file into a text editor, such as Notepad. Your Ss.ini

   file is located in \\Vss\Users\<your SourceSafe user name>.

2. Modify this file so that it contains references to eleven or more

   different computer names. You can do this by copying one line and
   pasting it back into the file ten times and then modifying each line to
   make it unique, for example:

   (Beginning of the file goes here)
   Hist_Rect (RIGEL1) = 188, 225, 721, 561, 1024, 768
   History_File_Columns (UI) = 75,85,135,100
   Maximized (RIGEL1) = No
   mssccprj = *.vbp, *.mak
   OutputHeight (TIMWIN1) = 150
   Position_Toolbar (TIMWIN1) = 222, 183, 676, 215, 1280, 1024
   PrjWidth (RIGEL1) = 260
   PrjWidth (RIGEL2) = 260
   PrjWidth (RIGEL3) = 260
   PrjWidth (RIGEL4) = 260
   PrjWidth (RIGEL5) = 260
   PrjWidth (RIGEL6) = 260
   PrjWidth (RIGEL7) = 260
   PrjWidth (RIGEL8) = 260
   PrjWidth (RIGEL9) = 260
   PrjWidth (RIGEL10) = 260
   PrjWidth (RIGEL11) = 260
   Toolbar (RIGEL2) = Yes
   (etc. etc.)

3. Start the Visual SourceSafe Explorer or use the command line. Note that

   the above error messages appear.

Additional query words:

Keywords          : kberrmsg kbSSafe500bug kbSSafe600fix 
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbfix

Last Reviewed: September 29, 1998