>if i do something like
>
>create cursor qsomething(Nnos n(6))
>appe blank (5 times)
>list
>
>i cannot see the 0 in the field Nnos
>
>however if i browse and press on the delete key and then do a list i can see the 0
>
>my question is can i programatically find out if the 0 exists , meaning can i find out if the field has been physically visited.

Append blank does what it is asked to, namely appending "blank" records! You can use ISBLANK() to check whether a field is blank, or holds a value. However, almost all VFP commands and functions treats a blank numeric field as 0. Just like blank logical fields are treated as .F.