Delphi: got “EOleException with message ‘Microsoft MSXML is not installed'” in a console or test project?

Did you ever get this run-time error in a console or test project?

EOleException with message 'Microsoft MSXML is not installed'

It means that CoInitialize or CoInitializeEx needs to be called in the thread that uses MSXML.

Then an easy workaround is to:

1. use the unit System.Win.ComObj in any unit that (indirectly) uses Xml.XMLDoc (for instance any unit using an XML Data Binding generated unit),
2. use the unit System.SysUtils as well (because it defines TProcedure used below)
3. add this code in in your initialization section (which is what VCL TApplication.Initialize does):

if InitProc <> nil then TProcedure(InitProc); // Calls CoInitialize for the main thread and prevents "EOleException with message 'Microsoft MSXML is not installed'"

The initialization section of System.Win.ComObj sets up InitProc to cals CoInitialize for the main thread, which usually suffices for these simple VCL projects, but not for most console or test projects.

Based on ideas I got after reading [WayBack] 为什么LoadXMLDocument在线程类中使用会报错？-CSDN论坛 (for which Google Translate actually does a goot job [Archive.is])

–jeroen