Problem:

When I open my XIN file or try to load a preference, I am unable to see any of my preferences or styles.  It is as if the XIN file is blank.

Description:

Microsoft no longer delivers the MSXML4.DLL parser in Windows 7 or Windows 10.  This parser is required for the InRoads product to view the XML information. Therefore, since they are still required as a dependency for the InRoads program to function properly, the files have to be downloaded and installed by the user.  If the files have do not exist on the machine from a previous installation of InRoads, users may see this problem.  This is mainly an issue on new installs of the product on new machines which don't have the MSXML4 parsers. 

Solution:

Download and install the "msxml.msi" file from the Microsoft website.   - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=15697

Please refer to the installation instructions that can be found on the Microsoft website.

You may be required to Register the DLL files, but this has not been required in most cases.  Generally just running the installation resolves the issue.

In addition, this issue does not occur in the OpenRoads Designer CONNECT edition as the MSXML Parsers required are controlled by what is delivered by the Operating System.