>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Blanking the record would remove any data that might be pulled in a select. She doesn't want the information in that record, so blanking the record is kind of a belt and suspenders approach. If she has some code that turns set deleted off, she could get unexpected results. Also, some people let others have access to their tables from VB or other products and the data could be reported there because that app might not know how to handle the deletion marks, etc.
>>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>I am just curious, in what manner would you access VFP tables from another product that wouldn't "understand" deleted records?
>>>>
>>>>Joe
>>>
>>>Actually, this happened to me. We had some people write a routing program in MapBasic. The table I sent it had some deleted records. I didn't think it was any big deal because I always have DELETED on. It crashed their program.
>>>
>>>-Michelle
>>
>>In what form was the table? A DBF?
>>
>>Joe
>
>Yeah, just a regular VFP table. Maybe I should clarify that it wasn't the fact that there were deleted records by itself that crashed it. It was because their program didn't differentiate between deleted and not deleted, and the records were deleted because they didn't have all the needed info. So when their program read in the data, it found some fields to have an unacceptable value and crashed. Personally, I think their program's not very good if it crashes so easily, but of course they're gods and can do no wrong... (Ok, rant mode off...)
>
>-MIchelle

Well, in reply to John and Michelle, I would contend that if someone is going to use VFP tables, they should have an understanding of records marked for deletion. If we have to worry about not having deleted records around, we lose some of the advantages of having deleted records. There are situations where I use deleted records as a type of temporary backup. And besides, I prefer not to have to worry about it. If another system is going to use my tables, it better deal with records marked for deletion.

This, of course, and as always, is in my humble opinion only.

Take it easy,

Joe