>it still wont work. it keeps telling me that it cannot find variable
> xcustno(name of the index tag)
>
>here is what I try to do:
>
>set default to alltrim(syncinfo.vamcopath) &&directory where the table is
>open database amw shared
>use arcust shared in 0
>set order to tag xcustno

Are you sure that's the tag name?

After you USE the table do a DISPLAY STATUS and see what the names of the tags are and what the keys are made up of for those tags. Maybe you have a tag that was created with a variable or a User Defined Function (UDF). That would cause those same kind of problems.