>>
>>how about
>>
>>IF RECCOUNT(THIS.RecordSource) = 0
>
>RECCOUNT ignores SET DELETED status so if I deleted a child record, RECCOUNT will always come back with at least 1.

Ok, still trying here...

IF EOF(THIS.RecordSource) OR BOF(THIS.RecordSource) OR DELETED(THIS.RecordSource)
    GO TOP IN (This.RecordSource)
    IF EOF(THIS.RecordSource)
       APPEND BLANK IN (THIS.RecordSource)
    ENDIF
ENDIF