Fantastic Tamar. Anything titled 'we used to do it that way, but...' is just the kind of thing I need right now. Thanks a lot for the link.

k

>>Yes I tried both and they both work. I am not familiar with padr and it's missing from my vfp help. is it pad right?
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>Karen - if you're not familiar with PADR(), there may be other additions you missed along the way. You might find my paper http://www.tomorrowssolutionsllc.com/Conference%20Sessions/We%20Used%20to%20Do%20it%20That%20Way%20But.pdf useful.
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>Tamar