you must close and reopen the tdatabase to get the effect

meikl ;-)

This is was I do, indeed.
My application is a command line exe which accepts a parameter /t:n which means to put a time out of n seconds on the query. If error at execution due to the time out, I display an error message saying 'time out on query'
Now step by step
1. BDE Administrator -> timeout 10 -> save -> exit
2. From a prompt : myapp.exe /t:2 (the app runs a query that takes at least 15 seconds to answer)
3. I get Time out on query after +/- less 10 seconds
4. BDE Administrator -> timeout 2 -> save -> exit
5. From a prompt : myapp.exe /t:10
6. I get Time out on query after +/- less 2 seconds
This proves that the BDE takes the setting into account according the the BDE setup, not my program...

which components do you use?

your tquery must be linked to your tdatabase and not to the alias,
whereas your tdatabase may linked to the alias, but
the alias-parameters are then overwritten with the TDatabase-parameters

meikl ;-)

Here is part of the coding that shows you what is used (no alias etc...).
I setup a lot of these Params.Values and these are taken into account (user name, password etc...)
ps : there is maybe a monitoring tool to see what happens ?

.../...
 DB1:TDatabase;
 SP:TStoredProc;
.../...
 with DB1 do
  begin
   DatabaseName   := 'MyDataBase';
   AliasName      := '';
   DriverName     := 'MSSQL';
   KeepConnection := True;
   LoginPrompt    := False;
   SessionName    := SessionName;
   with Params do
    begin
     Values['DATABASE NAME']      := 'MyDataBase';
     Values['APPLICATION NAME']   := 'Duplicates';
     Values['SERVER NAME']        := 'MyServer';
.../...
     Values['TIMEOUT']            := TimeOut;
    end;
.../...
 with SP do
  begin
   DatabaseName   := DB1.DatabaseName;
   StoredProcName := 'MyStoredProcedure';
   Params.Clear;
.../...
  end;

hmm,
looks all correct

i did a bit recherche:
---- from delphi helpfile
property Params: TStrings;

Description

Use Params to examine or specify database connection parameters, such as path name, server name, schema-caching size, language driver, user name, and password. Actual parameters in Params differ depending on the current BDE alias and driver for the database component.

Params is a list of string items, each representing a different database connection parameter. If the AliasName property specifies a valid BDE alias, then Params automatically contains the parameters defined for that alias. If, instead of providing an alias, an application uses the DriverName property to provide a local alias, the application must provide Params values directly.

Note:      Applications can use Params to override the default settings supplied by a BDE alias.
Tip:      At design time double-click a TDatabase component to invoke the Database editor and set Params.
--------
i followed the tip, and in this dialog is a "Defaults"-Button
which lists this
list of default-parameters from the MSSQL-Driver
-------
DATABASE NAME=
SERVER NAME=MSS_SERVER
USER NAME=MYNAME
OPEN MODE=READ/WRITE
SCHEMA CACHE SIZE=8
BLOB EDIT LOGGING=
LANGDRIVER=
SQLQRYMODE=
SQLPASSTHRU MODE=SHARED AUTOCOMMIT
DATE MODE=0
SCHEMA CACHE TIME=-1
MAX QUERY TIME=300
MAX ROWS=-1
BATCH COUNT=200
ENABLE SCHEMA CACHE=FALSE
SCHEMA CACHE DIR=
HOST NAME=
APPLICATION NAME=
NATIONAL LANG NAME=
ENABLE BCD=FALSE
TDS PACKET SIZE=4096
BLOBS TO CACHE=64
BLOB SIZE=32
PASSWORD=
----------------
timeout is not in the list,
so i guess this parameter cannot overloaded with TDatabase-Params

serching on the net now

meikl ;-)

Looks like you are right.
I did another test with te CONNECT TIMEOUT.
Same result, and like TIMEOUT, not in this list.
If it appears to be not modifiable, this is really a pitty.
But whatever the final real solution/reason is, I think you will get the points...

there may be a chance to set the driver-parameter with the bde-api,
trying it now, be patient, this may take some time

Well, shall be abandon ?

let us wait, until weekend is finished
(will do at weekend a new try)

oops, sorry,
missed the feedback :-))

but found no way, sorry

meikl ;-)