It depends where you need such info. In T-SQL you can use EXISTS operator, otherwise you can use 'TOP 1' clause and check for # of record returned (1/0)

- In SP/T-SQL
IF EXISTS (SELECT 1 from mytable where myid = @lcid)
...

-- From VFP
SELECT TOP 1 myid from mytable where myid = ?lcid

>what is the best/ quickest way to check if a record exists in a table? thats all I want to know, ie "select from mytable where myid =lcid " and myId is not a primary key