>>>

>>>scatter memvar memo blank
>>>      .GatherFrom("<ALIAS>B_SCHED</ALIAS>" + tcActionList)
>>>      .write_log('m.Booking_ID = ' + alltrim(str(m.booking_id,16))+;
>>>         ' m.Resource1='+m.resource1+' m.start_time='+transform(m.start_time)+;
>>>         ' m.end_time='+transform(m.end_time)+' m.layer='+transform(m.layer)+;
>>>         ' m.lessontype='+transform(m.lessontype)+' m.podbktype='+transform(m.podbktype),;
>>>         program(), '5')

>>>
>>>So, I would need the values in the row and to me it's easier to use them as datarow.
>>>
>>>Here is part of what I wrote so far:
>>>
>>>

>>>String cActionList = GetParameterString(parameters, "tcActionList");
>>>
>>>            DataSet rowData = new DataSet();
>>>
>>>            rowData.ReadXml(new XmlTextReader(new StringReader(String.Format("{0}{1}{/0}", "b_sched", cActionList))));
>>>
>>>            Boolean max4s_over = database.GetPreferenceBoolean("prefs_bk", "max4s_over");
>>>            DataRow  row = rowData.Tables[0].Rows[0];
>>>
>>>            Logging.LogFormat(5, "m.Booking_ID = {0} m.Resource1={1} m.start_time={2} m.end_time={3} m.layer={4} m.lessontype={5} m.podbktype={6}",

Sorry, still doesn't make sense to me. No idea what the VFP .GatherFrom() is and still don't know why you need a DataTable. What do you eventually want to do with the XML content ?
>
>The GatherFrom method generates variables for each column, e.g.
>
>m.booking_id, m.layer, etc.
>
>These values are used down below in the method for different manipulations. In other words, I need to get columns values.
>
>Say, a bit down bellow I have
>
>

> if m.booking_id > 0 and m.podbktype=2     && are we changing the schedule of a "book entire" booking?
>&& are there any existing max4sale restrictions (besides the current one)?  If so, that's a conflict
>            lcSQLReturn=.mysqlexec("select start_time, end_time, type, lessontype, max_sale, "+;
>               "id, e_mail_l1, mail1_sent, e_mail_l2, mail2_sent "+;
>               "from dbo.max4sale where start_time<"+.VFP2SQL(m.end_time)+" and end_time>"+;
>               .VFP2SQL(m.start_time)+" and type=5 and pod_id="+;
>               .VFP2SQL(padr(m.resource1,12))+" and not exists(select booking_id from dbo.b_sched where start_time<"+;
>               .VFP2SQL(m.end_time)+" and end_time>"+.VFP2SQL(m.start_time)+" and podbktype=2 and resource1="+;
>               .VFP2SQL(padr(m.resource1,12))+" and booking_id = "+.VFP2SQL(m.booking_id)+")", 'csrMax', program())
>

>
>In other words, in VFP I converted passed XML string into individual variables for each column.

Not important, but I still don't see it. AFAICS you just need to grab a few values from the XML to use in a SQL statement. If that's the case why bother building a comparatively heavy datatable to do the job. Linq to XML, for example, would be simpler and cleaner.