>Dear Borissov,
>
>Thanks for all the help. I do not know how I put in that fclose() at that point. I was experimenting with various permutations and combinations, and inadvertently sent in that piece of code to you. Feels stupid, all the same..!
>
>But you were right about placement of the fclose()
>
>I have presently adapted Cetins code, with your fclose() location suggestion, and got the right result. My final code is below:
>
>

>lnHandle = fopen('c:\devstudio\panorama\PTYG.xls',12)
>if m.lnHandle > 0
>	MESSAGEBOX("File is NOT open")
>else
> 	lInUse = .t.
>	MESSAGEBOX("File is open")
>ENDIF				
>fclose(m.lnHandle)
>

>
>With best regards,
>
>Steve.

Steve,
For a moment I thought if it was me who placed fclose() wrongly:) Why do you need to 'adapt' the code I wrote, it was already clear (except file's name):

local lInUse
lnHandle = fopen("c:\myPath\myFile.xls",12)
if m.lnHandle > 0
 fclose(m.lnHandle)
else
 lInUse = .t.
endif
* add messagebox here
MessageBox( "File is"+ iif(m.lInUse,""," NOT") + " open." )

Cetin