>>You are, of course, right--I mean the Valid event. In any method, I mean event, yes, I have used the LostFocus successfully. I just thought I was being stupid. Of what possible use is the Valid event if it fires 2-3 times when the control loses focus?
>>
> there is nothig wrong with the valid event it only fires once -
>one of the msgbox you see is VFP default reaction to a return .f. in the valid event (u can bypass it with return 0)
>basically it seems though, that the valid event is there as a legacy from the valid snippet in previous versions
>
>Arnon

I have moved the code to the from the Valid to the LostFocus event. Now, however, I can't get the focus back to the control when the user enters a non-existent inventory #. SetFocus doesn't work; neither does Return(1). No matter what I do, the focus shifts to the next control, so that I have to click back to the item # control to re-input the item #. I even tried, in desperation, to TABLEREVERT the record and add another new one. Focus is STILL on the next control. I am, BTW, working with columns in a grid. HELP!

John