>Is there a way to test that a device is capable of writing data before trying to write to it and get a program error? I have clients who don't know or understand that you can't write to a distribution CD but they select it from the directory and then my program tries to write to it and then displays program errors.
ANY interaction with something outside your program might fail. An interaction with a disk may fail for several reasons: R/O, missing privileges, no disk space, etc.
Therefore, this is a good opportunity to test for errors. In VFP 9, you can use TRY ... CATCH. If you can't write, just inform the user that you can't write.
Difference in opinions hath cost many millions of lives: for instance, whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh; whether whistling be a vice or a virtue; whether it be better to kiss a post, or throw it into the fire... (from Gulliver's Travels)