--- freem/src/global_bltin.c	2025/04/08 21:41:13	1.11
+++ freem/src/global_bltin.c	2025/04/09 00:43:07	1.12
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- *   $Id: global_bltin.c,v 1.11 2025/04/08 21:41:13 snw Exp $
+ *   $Id: global_bltin.c,v 1.12 2025/04/09 00:43:07 snw Exp $
  *    freem database engine
  *
  *  
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@
  *   along with FreeM.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
  *
  *   $Log: global_bltin.c,v $
+ *   Revision 1.12  2025/04/09 00:43:07  snw
+ *   Exit with fatal error if a header mismatch found
+ *
  *   Revision 1.11  2025/04/08 21:41:13  snw
  *   Make insert, update, and splitp global handler functions take a ptr to a global_handle instead of a file descriptor
  *
@@ -294,7 +297,7 @@ int gbl_write_header(global_handle *g, g
     if (g->opened == FALSE) {
         return FALSE;
     }
-
+    
     gbl_lock (g, 1);
     old_position = lseek (g->fd, 0, SEEK_CUR);
     lseek (g->fd, 0, SEEK_SET);
@@ -306,6 +309,8 @@ int gbl_write_header(global_handle *g, g
 
     lseek (g->fd, old_position, SEEK_SET);
     gbl_unlock (g);
+
+    gbl_read_header (g, &g->header);
     
     return TRUE;    
 } /* gbl_write_header() */
@@ -383,7 +388,6 @@ int gbl_create(global_handle *g)
 short gbl_open(global_handle *g, short action)
 {
     int result;
-    global_header h;
     
     if (g->opened == FALSE) {
         while (1) {
@@ -414,13 +418,29 @@ short gbl_open(global_handle *g, short a
         }
         else {
             g->opened = TRUE;
-            result = gbl_read_header (g, &h);
-
+            result = gbl_read_header (g, &g->header);
+            
             if (result == GBL_HDR_OK) {
                 g->opened = TRUE;
             }
-            else {
-                gbl_close (g);                
+            else {                
+                gbl_close (g);
+                set_io (UNIX);
+                
+                switch (result) {
+                    
+                    case GBL_HDR_BADMAGIC:
+                        fprintf (stderr, "gbl_open:  bad magic value in %s [FATAL]\n", g->global_name);
+                        exit (1);
+                        break;
+
+                    case GBL_HDR_BADVERSION:
+                        fprintf (stderr, "gbl_open:  global version is %d in %s (must be %d) [FATAL]\n", g->header.format_version, g->global_name, GBL_FORMAT_VERSION);
+                        exit (1);
+                        break;
+
+                }
+                        
                 return FALSE;
             }
         }