Yes, you're correct. You cannot added existing object to a form
>oh, I thought that would create a new instance of the button and add it to the form, rather than adding an existing instance of the button to the form...
>
>>
of = createobject('form')
>>of.addobject('cmdWhatever', 'commandbutton')
>>of.cmdWhatever.Visible = .T.
>>of.show(1)
>>
>>>
--sb--