You could do a SELECT 0 before the create table.

USED('tablealias') will let you see if a table is open.

>Every time I create a table as a result of an sql query it uses the work area of one of my open files - is there any way I can I can make it open in a specific work area?
>
>Another question - how do I check to see if a table is open?
>
>Thanks
>
>Colin