Error: "I/O Error in variable length part of record" in .DAT file

• Badly damaged file
• Network error

• Skip to the next section if you're on a standalone
• With a network configuration, open Sage 50 on the server to see if you receive the error
• In the instance that the error affects only the workstation, have your IT admin check the server/workstation connection
• If the error occurs on the server, proceed to the next section

1. Verify if the .DAT file mentioned in the error is safe to delete. See What files can be reindexed? for deleting files safely.
2. If the file mentioned in the error is safe to delete.
   • Go to your company directory.  See How to locate company directories
   • Move, rename, or delete the file
   • Run Data Verification on the company. See How do I load, access, and run Data Verification?
3. If the file in error isn’t safe to delete, restore a backup made before receiving the error. See How to restore a backup.

1. Stop sharing the company. See How to stop sharing a company with Remote Data Access.
2. Then go to each machine that has Sage 50. Try reindexing only the .DAT file noted in the error. See Integrity Check Guide.
   • We need to find the machine that can successfully finish the file reindex, without displaying any errors during the reindex process
   • Just because the other machines aren’t getting the error doesn’t mean the .DAT file is good. Only reindexing will tell us whether it’s good or not
3. If you find one machine that can reindex the .DAT without error, reshare from that machine. Then re-download the data to the other computers. See Successfully using Remote Data Access.
4. If reindexing fails on all the machines, then you’ll need to restore a backup. Then reindex the .DAT, until you find a backup where the reindex finishes without error, then reshare that copy.

 CAUTION: Don't rebase an RDA company when dealing with I/O errors. Unshare the company and run data tests.