1) Do the different departments need to share data? If not, separate systems would seem like the bet way to go. If they would like to share some of the data, there are many approaches you could take.

2) Most changes can be implemented with just a compile to EXE and copying the EXE over.

3) Is sounds like you are near-by to make changes to table structures, etc. So you may not have to worry about that. As far as making sure the right EXE is being used, one idea is a loader program that checks the EXE for something and if a new EXE has been created, it is copied over the old EXE that will load after the loader program. You can also have a config table that checks for the current version, and if your EXE is not current, it spits out a message "Not current version. Please update." and bails out. The user would then have to run the BATch file that copies the update of the older version. This all depends on how much time you want to spend of this and what you specific requirements are...

>many of you were kind enough to suffer along with me on my first foxpro project last month. well, now that it's implemented it's easy to see where improvement is needed, however other departments want to use the same application. not anticipating this i now need to make changes to the application. my questions are as follows:
>
>1) since each department could use the same tables, what would be the best way to restrict access by department?, ie. should i add a field to the table as a departmental identifier such as ADMIN, FINANCE, HR, and base access on the department or should i create a separate table for each department?
>
>2) anytime i make changes to the application (for example form mods) do i need to totally recreate and redistribute the application or do i just install the new form?
>
>3) what is the best way to apply revision control?
>
>thanks in advance for your assistance.