excellent - thanks sergey.
k
>

>SELECT 1 FROM mytable WHERE room1 <> LOWER(room1) TO SCREEN NOCONSOLE
>IF _TALLY > 0
>   * _TALLY records have uppercase letters
>ENDIF
>

>
>>i have a field called room1 with about 100 records. the field should contain lower case characters and numbers.
>>i would like to run quick checks on all entries to make sure there are no upper case in the filed entries. is there a way to do this collectively without running through the whole file. i wrote this, which works, but i suspect there is a way to do this without going through the file piecemeal.
>>all i want is an alert, not an inventory.
>>
>>

>>use mytable
>>scan for room1 # " " 
>>if IsUpper(room1) = .t.
>>wait window "upper"
>>endif
>>endscan
>>

>>
>>thanks for any suggestions.
>>
>>k