Tracy, if you can wait for MSSQL2008, there is a time field type. ;-)

Assuming you need to move ahead now: if you're absolutely sure you don't need the date(!) then storing the time as a char field has advantages- not least that it allows blank values as per a VFP table, which a MSSQL date or datetime field does not.

Assuming you use a char field: If the user is selecting from an array/drop-down then it's easy to populate the field, using 24hr time of course.

You could include the : values as per your TIME() suggestion, or rely on chrtran(time(),[:],[]) or SUBSTR(TTOC(DATETIME(),1),9) if you're feeling concise. ;-)

The SQL is easy:

lcTime=chrtran(time(),[:],[])
lcMySQL=[select * from dbo.mytable where cTime<=?lctime]
...
...
...

Note that if you are allowing blank time values, the blanks will be pulled by the above SQL. If this matters you might *want* to use a NULL value so that blank entries aren't caught.

FWIW the above parameterized query will be cached by SQL Server, giving performance advantages over concatenated SQL. It is also injection-proof. ;-)

Finally, you might also consider using an integer field if you want to store the whole time value without wasting bytes, but the cost of conversions etc probably exceeds the cost of a few bytes per record. ;-)