Fixing Segmentation Violations in ArcView 3.x

If you’ve tried to open an ArcView 3.x project (.apr) and gotten the “segmentation violation” error, it can be very frustrating.  Not only is the notice of “segmentation violation” very vague, it can prevent you from opening your old project files and retrieving your mapping work.  Here are some ways to try to salvage your APR file and fix the segmentation violation error.

Always make a copy of your original APR file before trying any new solution.  That way, if some of the fixes don’t work, you still have the original file version.

First, try to import the project into a new ArcView project.  To do so, go to the Project menu and select “import”.  If the import is successful, save the new project file and use that file from now on.

Did you have a SQL connect in the file?  If you get a segmentation violation when opening up a project file that had an active SQL Connect, hit the cancel button.  Then open up ArcView and migrate to where you project file is and open it.

Do you have a corrupt shapefile?  Try renaming the directory where your GIS data is being read from.  Add your files back into your project file one by one to see if the segmentation violation shows up there.