>>>If the table is a dbf and not too big:

>>>lcData=Filetostr('timep.dbf')
>>>lnCount=Occurs('|',lcData)

>>>
>>>>I have 250 records in a database called timep.
>>>>Each record has 100 fields called p1,p2,p3 ..... p100
>>>>
>>>>Is there a global search i can do for a tally of the numbers of times the symbol "|" appears in the whole database - without having to count through each field of each record - ie without using scan or for-endfor. ie one or two lines of code.
>>>>
>>>>thanks for any suggestions
>>>>k
>>
>>
>>Maybe I'm wrong, but is this will accurate if the value "|" (0x7C or 124 decimal) appear in .DBF header?
>>
>>I think this code below will prevent that case
>>
>>

>>lcData=FILETOSTR("timep.dbf")
>>
>>*!* skip until first record
>>lnFirstRecordOffset = CTOBIN(SUBSTR(m.lcData, 9, 2), "2RS")
>>
>>lnCount=OCCURS("|", SUBSTR(m.lcData, m.lnFirstRecordOffset + 1))
>>

>
>Yes, I know, but karen wanted a maximum of two lines of code. :-)


As Sergey reply, your sample and my addition can't solve the real problem, in case if any numeric field / value in the records.
:D