>>>>Of course, you're right, VFP determines the length of the column based on the first column value. Another solution will be to use
>>>>
>>>>cast(... as C(10))
>>>
>>>Well, I was kind of surprised you didn't think of that
>>
>>There is a Russian saying:
>>
>>И на старуху бывает проруха
>>
>>:))
>
>
>And this translates to : The old woman is on the decline ?

No, not really. I'm not sure if there is an English idiom with the same meaning. It translates into: 'even an old woman makes mistakes'. The word 'proruxa' is a hole in a cloth, as far as I know, but in this expression it just means that.