that works - thanks Al. btw should i set compatible ON after this - i assume that is the default.

>>i am creating link to past records and as time has passed i have added new fields to the more recent databases.
>>is there a way i can test for the presence of a field before i display it so i don't get the error message [variable 'newfield' not found].
>
>You can check the size of the field using FSIZE() - be sure SET COMPATIBLE is OFF before trying to use it for this purpose.
>
>If the field exists it will return a value greater than zero, if it doesn't, the return value is zero.