thanks Al
when I say deletes the file I don't mean deletes the records in the file - I mean the whole file went missing out of the directory.
it has happened twice with two different files (ie dbf tables). It's like it was reading the first word 'delete' and didn't bother with the rest of the command. So by the time it found the next line 'pack' there was no file left to pack.

k


>>I am having an issue that has just suddenly surfaced
>>in programming when line reads
>>

>>Delete for namet = "XNAME"
>>pack
>>

>>
>>instead of deleting the records selected - VFP deletes the whole file.
>>
>>What's going on here?????? Halp!!!!
>
>If your field "NameT" is longer than 5 characters (the length of your search string), be aware of partial/inexact string matches. By default, SET EXACT is OFF in VFP.
>

>CLEAR
>
>CREATE CURSOR Test ;
>	( NameT C( 6 ) )
>
>INSERT INTO Test ( NameT ) VALUES ( "XTEST " )
>INSERT INTO Test ( NameT ) VALUES ( "XTEST2" )
>INSERT INTO Test ( NameT ) VALUES ( "XTEST3" )
>INSERT INTO Test ( NameT ) VALUES ( "XTEST4" )
>INSERT INTO Test ( NameT ) VALUES ( "XTEST5" )
>
>COUNT FOR NameT = "XTEST" TO Result1
>COUNT FOR NameT == "XTEST" TO Result2
>COUNT FOR NameT == "XTEST " TO Result3
>
>?Result1 && 5
>?Result2 && 0
>?Result3 && 1
>
>USE IN Test
>