Wednesday, January 2, 2013

InfoPath 2013: Business Connectivity Services Client Components

Problem: You attempt to use the External Item Picker in InfoPath 2013 and you receive a message and/or error message regarding Business Data Connectivity Services client components and/or the BCSLaunch.dll is missing.

The messages you may receive are as follows:

The current operation requires Business Connectivity Services client components. Install Business Connectivity Services client components and try again.
 
 

 
The program can't start because BCSLaunch.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem.
 
 
Solution
Originally I thought I needed to go to the link in the first message to install client components. That link takes you to Prerequisite software needed to work with external data in Office 2013. As of this writing there were only three (3) downloads. I figured I had the SQL components and obviously .NET Framework 4.0 so I decided to download and install the WCF Data Services 5.0 for OData V3. I thought this made sense since BCS now supports OData connections.

I probably didn't need that but, interestingly enough, after the installation, I received both the original message and then the BSCLaunch.dll is missing message appeared. On a different environment I never received the first message and it just went right to the BCSLaunch.dll is missing error message.

So anyway, the overall solution is a simple fix. You simply need to make sure you add Business Connectivity Services to your Office 2013 installation under the Office Shared Features:

 
(You can get to here through Control Panel -> Programs and Features -> right click Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013 and select Change -> click Continue with Add or Remove Features selected.)

Simple use the drop-down to select Run from My Computer:


Click Continue and Office will install the missing components.

After the installation is complete, you should now be able to add an External Item Picker onto your form without and errors or messages:

 

12 comments:

  1. Hi

    What if we have Office 2010 on all Clients?

    whats the solution therefore?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am not sure if the error occurs with Office 2010. Obviously if you use browser-based forms there shouldn't be an issue.

      Delete
  2. InfoPath Question:

    when is you book about InfoPath 2013 ready to buy??? i want it urgently :_)

    thx
    Chris

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Should be released the first week of August. It is available for pre-order on Amazon now.

      Delete
  3. When i try to select drop down in Business connectivity services, there is only one option and thats "NOT AVAILABLE". Now how can i resolve this problem.????

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is the BCS Service running on one of the servers? I would check Services on Servers and make sure it is started.

      Delete
    2. If you have Office2010 installed on the same machine you need to disable it there first! Took me ages to figure that one out!

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    3. Thanks, this saved me a lot of head scratching.

      Delete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Does anyone know how to make this change in Office 365 Small Business Premium? I only get the option to "repair" office when I click "change" in Programs and Features. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi,
    Is this component need to install for my client also or just need to my machine b'ce client only fill the form using infopath filler.Is need to install this 3 component?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't dealt with this in awhile. if you get the error message then you need to install it :)

      Delete

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