That works very nicely - thanks Dorris and Borislav
Got a little better understanding of how the array works now - thanks for that.
k

.
>

>...
>ndate = mdy(lafielist[1,3])
>IF ALEN(lafielist, 1 ) >= 1
>  SecondFileName = lafieldlist[2,1]
>  Secondndate = mdy(lafielist[2,3])
>  WAIT WINDOW Secondndate
>ENDIF
>..
>

>
>
>>thanks borislav
>>I understand you are giving me the second to last date. how would I get the name of the second to last FILE linked with that date?
>>
>>k
>>
>>>>this is a followup to a solution I received from Sergey and Naomi (with thanks). It gives the title and date of the last changed database in a directory.
>>>>
>>>>I don't know if this is possible but could I select the one BEFORE the last database -
>>>>The database that always comes up is called tasks.dbf and is actually always s changed. I would like the code to read
>>>>if the last file is tasks.dbf then show me the one before that and it's date of change.
>>>>
>>>>I can make it to the if clause - and even that is probably not the most effective route.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>if lafielist='tasks.dbf'
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>

>>>>ltZeroTime = CTOT("00:00:00")
>>>>= ADIR(laFieList, 'c:\db\prg\menu\*.dbf')
>>>>FOR i= 1 TO ALEN(laFieList,1)
>>>>laFieList[i,5] = DTOT(laFieList[i,3]) + (CTOT(laFieList[i,4]) - ltZeroTime)
>>>>ENDFOR
>>>>= ASORT(laFieList, 5,0,5)
>>>>ndate = mdy(lafielist(1,3))
>>>>ndm = "Last database file change: "+ndate+" "+lafielist
>>>>

>>>>
>>>>tnx
>>>>k
>>>
>>>
>>>

>>>...
>>>ndate = mdy(lafielist[1,3])
>>>IF ALEN(lafielist, 1 ) > 1
>>>  Secondndate = mdy(lafielist[2,3])
>>>  WAIT WINDOW Secondndate
>>>ENDIF
>>>..
>>>